Crucial Henley greenspace
We have opposed plans by the Secretary of State for Transport to stop up a 26-metre width of public highway adjacent to 94-102 Bell Street in Henley-on-Thames. The proposed highway-closure is to enable Chesterton Commercial to construct parking spaces here. We were among the objectors to the plans for car parking on the green space,…
Read MoreThe fight for Bromley’s Italian Garden
Bromley Council plans to sell the unique Italian Garden, an open space on the south side of Queen’s Gardens, so as to build restaurants there. We are backing our member, the Friends of Bromley Parks and Gardens, in opposing the scheme. Says our South London representative, Mark Green: ‘If the land is sold and restaurants…
Read MoreOur emails are working again
Apologies for the failure with our emails, they are now working. We may not have received any emails sent between midday on Wednesday 21 December and midday Friday 30 December, so please resend them to be sure. Happy new year.
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‘Get a green’—our new-year call to communities
We have called on communities throughout England to ‘get a green’ as part of the new neighbourhood planning system. This year communities throughout England will be developing their new neighbourhood development plans under the Localism Act 2011. This involves identifying where development should and should not take place. However, the law prevents development on land…
Read MoreWe commemorate our path pioneer, Octavia Hill
The year 2012 marks the centenary of the death of Octavia Hill, an early activist of the Open Spaces Society. Octavia became involved in the society in about 1875 shortly after her unsuccessful campaign to buy the fields between Swiss Cottage and Hampstead in west London. She joined the committee of the society, urging it…
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Open Spaces Society becomes a company
On 1 January 2012 the Open Spaces Society gains company status, registered in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee, number 7846516. This follows our special general meeting on 23 November where members voted unanimously that the society should become a company. The society will continue to be known as the Open Spaces…
Read MoreOSS responds to local government association’s attack on new village greens
We have responded robustly to an outburst from the Local Government Association today on new village greens. Says Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary: ‘The LGA has not produced hard evidence to back its allegation that people are applying for village green status in order to block development. ‘The LGA implies that this happens frequently. In…
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Plaque to celebrate Dartmouth’s new green
Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary, unveiled a plaque on Sugary Green, Dartmouth in south Devon on Friday 9 December, to celebrate registration of the land as a village green last June, and its protection from development. When the land near Castle Cove was threatened with major development in 2009, local publisher Richard Webb formed the…
Read MoreWe fight development on treasured Picket Mead common
Carrington Moore Estates wants to build four houses next to Picket Mead Common at Murton, Swansea, with a driveway over the common and cabling underneath it. Last December Welsh ministers rejected appeals by the company against the refusal of permission for a similar application, but the developers are trying again to get consent. We have…
Read MoreCourt win for Yeadon Banks town green
We are delighted that the case for registering Yeadon Banks as a town green has prevailed in the Court of Appeal. The five-acre Yeadon Banks is a much-loved open space on the outskirts of Leeds. On Friday (2 December) the Appeal Court rejected the arguments on behalf of the landowner, Leeds Group plc, that the…
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