OSS on BBC Countryfile
The society was featured on BBC One Countryfile on 11 November, arguing that the government’s proposed changes to village-greens law in the Growth and Infrastructure Bill are over the top, and will kill off genuine applications as well as dealing with vexatious ones. You can watch the programme here.
Read More
Changes to village green law will not fit the bill
The excessive measures in the Growth and Infrastructure Bill to change the law on registering land as a town or village green should be reconsidered. So say the Open Spaces Society and the Campaign to Protect Rural England who, among others, are campaigning to amend clause 13 of the Bill. Without changes, the Bill would…
Read MoreCrystal Palace campaigners win right to appeal
We are delighted that our member the Crystal Palace Community Association (CPCA) has been granted permission to appeal against the High Court ruling that the unique, Bromley Council owned, Crystal Palace Park can be sacrificed for commercial development. The CPCA’s case for an appeal was heard before Lord Justice Lewison on 31 October. He found…
Read MoreThreat to Hereford open space
We have objected to Hereford Council’s plan to dispose of a valued open space at Goodrich Grove, Hereford. The space is the former Vortex site and is much used and enjoyed by local people. The council has advertised its plans to appropriate and dispose of the open space, and objections must be submitted to the…
Read More
Unlawful fence across Brecon Beacons—gone at last
The Open Spaces Society, Ramblers Cymru and other organisations are delighted that a four-and-a-half-mile fence, the ‘Gap Road’ fence, across the fine open landscape of the Brecon Beacons National Park, has been removed after a six-year campaign. The fence, which crossed common land, was unlawful because it did not have the Welsh Government’s consent. It…
Read More
We fight threat to Chiltern landscape
We have objected to a private equestrian-development in the lovely Skirmett valley, in the heart of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Buckinghamshire. The society has sent an objection to Wycombe District Council. The plan is to demolish the buildings at Stud Farm (now pointlessly renamed Valentine Farm) and replace them with an…
Read More
Call to save England’s commons
The newly-formed Common Land Coalition of 16 diverse countryside bodies* has called on environment minister Richard Benyon urgently to implement the law to update England’s registers of common land. They have written to the minister, and a letter is published in The Times today (Saturday 27 October). Common land is suffering because there is no…
Read More
Crystal Palace campaigners fight on
The Crystal Palace Community Association (CPCA) is pursuing its fight through the courts to save the unique, Bromley Council owned, Crystal Palace Park from commercial development. The Open Spaces Society, of which CPCA is a member, has backed the association in its fight. The CPCA has been granted leave to appeal against the High Court’s…
Read MoreGrowth and Infrastructure Bill: threat to greens
The Growth and Infrastructure Bill clause 13 will make it more difficult, if not downright impossible, to register land as a town or village green once it has been identified for development. The Bill says that a ‘trigger event’—which includes first publication of a planning application or identification of the land for potential development in…
Read MoreGovernment rides roughshod over rights of local people
The Growth and Infrastructure Bill has today been introduced in the House of Commons. Says Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary, ‘It contains damaging measures which will severely restrict the opportunity for local people to register rights they have established over a twenty year period (1), where they have used land for recreation, and to have…
Read More