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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New footpath in Leicestershire
Chris Peat (a member of the society and clerk to Carlton Parish Council) organised a special celebration for the opening of a new definitive right of way on land between the villages of Carlton and Barton in the Beans, about ten miles west of Leicester. The new path links footpath S68 (on the well-known Leicestershire…
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Mega-nosedive for microlights in mid Bucks
A planning inspector, John Felgate, has rejected plans by Mr Mark Fowler to fly microlight aircraft from Bernwood Farm, Botolph Claydon in mid Bucks. Mr Fowler had appealed against Aylesbury Vale District Council’s refusal of consent in December 2010. The application was retrospective: Mr Fowler, the tenant of Bernwood Farm, was already flying aircraft there…
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Government should learn from Cumbrian green-space project
‘The government could learn a lot from the Our Green Space project in Cumbria.’ So declares our general secretary Kate Ashbrook, who spoke at the project’s celebratory event in Penrith on 11 November. ‘Here five communities*, with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Friends of the Lake District, have revitalised their local green…
Read MoreCelebrating success in saving and creating spaces for the public
We have launched our first Open Space Award. The society is inviting applicants who can demonstrate an activity that protects, increases, enhances and champions common land, town and village greens, open spaces and public paths in England and Wales, and the public’s right to enjoy them. Details are on our website here or phone 01491…
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Chorleywood Common fencing plan withdrawn
We are relieved that Chorleywood Parish Council has withdrawn its application for fencing on the lovely Chorleywood Common in Hertfordshire. The council had applied to the Secretary of State for Environment for consent, under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006, to erect 1,152 metres of permanent fencing and 352 metres of temporary fencing, enclosing…
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