Kate Ashbrook shortlisted as Outdoor Personality of the Year
We are delighted that our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, has been shortlisted as Outdoor Personality of the Year in The Great Outdoors (TGO) Awards which are run annually by TGO magazine and voted for by members of the public. Kate became general secretary of the society in 1984. A former member of the Countryside Agency…
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Sir Robert Hunter, 1844-1913
6 November 2013 is the centenary of the death of Robert Hunter, the society’s solicitor from 1868 to 1882. Robert Hunter was an early luminary of the Commons Preservation Society (CPS), as the Open Spaces Society was first known. He later became solicitor to the General Post Office and founded the National Trust. He was…
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Common land reclaimed at St Just, Cornwall
More than 100 hectares of common land at Carn Kenidjack, north of St Just in Penwith, Cornwall, have been reclaimed as registered common land, using legislation which is being pioneered in Cornwall (part 1 of the Commons Act 2006). Following a public inquiry in September, planning inspector Martin Elliott ruled that the land should be…
Read MoreWe object to Defra’s plans to justify development
We have objected to plans by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for ‘biodiversity offsetting’, by which alternative sites and habitats are provided to replace those lost through development. The society responded to Defra’s consultation Biodiversity offsetting in England, green paper. We believe that offsetting will lead to a net loss of…
Read MoreA gross injustice
We have submitted a robust response to the Ministry of Justice’s consultation, Judicial review—proposals for further reform. The consultation closed on 1 November. The proposals are an attack on the freedom of charities to pursue action in the courts. The ministry proposes to make it more difficult for charities such as ours to take cases…
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Inclosure revived
Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, writes about the revival of the inclosure movement. A century and a half ago we thought the inclosures were coming to an end—about the time that the Open Spaces Society was formed. Indeed, I said as much in Japan recently to an international audience on commons, and commiserated with those…
Read MoreNew law could ban public from open spaces and paths
We have called on Peers to challenge provisions in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill which empower local authorities to restrict people’s use of public spaces in England. The Bill has its second reading in the House of Lords on 29 October. The Bill enables a local authority to make a Public Spaces Protection…
Read MoreLincoln stalwart retires
Mick Commons has recently resigned from the Lincoln City Commons Advisory Panel on which he served as the society’s representative for nearly 30 years. Mick, a professional footballer, became interested in the commons when he kept horses there. The committee was established thanks to the society’s opposition to the city council’s Lincoln City Council Bill…
Read MoreFurther fencing allowed on Allendale Common, Northumberland
We are sorry that the Planning Inspectorate has approved two miles of fencing alongside the east side of the Allendale/Carrshield road in Northumberland, in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Such works need the consent of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs under section 38 of the Commons Act…
Read MoreWe object to ice-cream van on Bristol Downs
We have objected to an application from Bristol City Council to site an ice-cream van on common land at Clifton Down, Bristol. The council has applied for consent for works on common land, under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006, to construct an asphalt surface, on the corner of Observatory Road and Suspension Bridge…
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