Don’t cut the countryside!
England’s conservation organisations have joined forces to paint a grim picture of a countryside starved of money by budget cuts. On the 30th anniversary of the Wildlife and Countryside Link, of which the Open Spaces Society is a member, its members have issued an unprecedented warning about what the future would hold should the Government…
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Our founder honoured on Hightown Common
We joined the National Trust and the Ringwood and Fordingbridge Footpath Society on 29 June in marking the restoration by the trust of an important seat on Hightown Common in the New Forest. We toasted the society’s founder, Lord Eversley, in whose memory the 40-acre common was acquired in 1929, the year after his death.…
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Our open day
OSS members enjoyed the society’s open day, at Netley Abbey in Hampshire, on 26 June. The event was hosted by our member, the Bursledon Rights of Way and Amenities Preservation Group which is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year. There were talks and discussion about open spaces and paths in the morning, with a choice…
Read MoreConservation not cuts
We are calling on the government to recognise in its spending review the value to the nation of green spaces, lovely places and public paths and access. Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, was speaking at an open day at Netley Abbey, Hampshire, organised by the Bursledon rights of Way and Amenities Preservation Group and opened…
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Brent should reopen blocked golf-course path
We have called on Councillor Ann John, chairman of Brent Council’s General Purposes Committee, to resolve to reopen the blocked path across Northwick Park golf course, rather than persist in trying to close it. The committee will consider a recommendation from its Director of Environment and Culture tomorrow (29 June) to remake the flawed order…
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Chailey Commons to be fenced
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has permitted East Sussex County Council to fence the Chailey Commons at North Chailey, two miles south-west of Newick.(3) The application, to which we objected, was considered at a public inquiry in March 2010, at which the inspector was Mr Peter Millman. The council applied…
Read MorePublic inquiry into path closure at site of Swansea’s historic slip-bridge
A public inquiry opens on Tuesday (22 June) into Swansea Council’s plan to close the public footpath over the former slip-bridge on the seafront in Swansea. We are among the objectors to the proposals. The council has made an order to close the path on the grounds that it is not needed for public use…
Read MoreWe fight common-land swap on unique Staines Moor
We have objected to plans by Heathrow Airport Ltd to take common land and open space at Staines Moor in Surrey for the construction of a new rail-link. The promoters are offering land in exchange, but we consider this to be grossly inadequate. Staines Moor is a unique, medieval landscape, surviving as a previous wilderness…
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Protest walk highlights unfair bar to public access on Sussex Downs
On 12 June a band of 60 walkers joined the Action for Access protest walk to highlight the unfair banning of public access to open downland in the new South Downs National Park. The land is at Breaky Bottom, on the chalk escarpment between Brighton and Lewes in East Sussex, owned by Peter Hall of…
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New step in campaign for Yeovil Rec
Somerset County Council has agreed that there will be a public inquiry into the application to register Yeovil Rec (Mudford Recreation Ground), Yeovil, as a town green. The council has resolved to hold an inquiry at which barrister Leslie Blohm QC will act as inspector. The inquiry will be held over the summer. We have…
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