Open Spaces Society fights development on Ellonby Common
The Open Spaces Society, Britain’s leading pressure-group for common land, has objected to a planning appeal which would damage Ellonby Common, in the parish of Skelton five miles north-west of Penrith in Cumbria. The application for a dwelling next to the common with a driveway across it was rejected by Eden District Council last September,…
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New Hampshire trail commemorates path worker
On Saturday 23 April Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary, paid tribute to Brenda Parker, who did so much for walkers in Hampshire. Kate cut the ribbon to open the Brenda Parker Way, a 78-mile long-distance path through north Hampshire between Andover and Aldershot. The route has been devised, created and waymarked by the Ramblers, Hampshire…
Read MoreThreat to Kendal’s village green
We have objected to the planning application from Kendal Golf Club for a golf driving-range on Kendal’s extensive village green in Cumbria. The green is on the side of Kendal Fell which lies above the town to the north-west. For more than two centuries the land has been enjoyed by the public for informal recreation.…
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Our blueprint for green-space law
We have made a bid to save unconsidered scraps and patches of land from development and neglect. Responding to the government’s proposal for ‘a new designation to protect green areas of particular importance to local communities’(1) the society points out that these are likely to be small and often not very green─but of great value…
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Public inquiry opens into plan to enclose chiltern common
On 19 April a public inquiry opens into plans by the Nettlebed and District Commons Conservators to erect more than two kilometres of fencing around the lovely Kingwood Common in the Oxfordshire Chilterns. We are among the objectors. The society has objected on three counts. 1. We believe that the law does not allow Kingwood…
Read MoreBristol to consult on process for new greens
Bristol City Council’s Public Rights of Way and Greens Committee, on 18 April, deferred a decision on a new process for determining applications to register land as a town or village greens and agreed instead to conduct a public consultation. We had objected to the council’s proposal to refer applications to a council subcommittee, advised…
Read MoreUnique Staines Moor is saved
Heathrow Airtrack has abandoned its plans for a new rail-link which would have taken a chunk of Staines Moor common in Surrey. Last year we strongly opposed the application for a land swap to enable the common to be used. We argued that the land being offered in exchange was grossly inferior to the land…
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Kington Footpath Scheme celebrates twentieth birthday
The Kington Footpath Scheme, which has led to the reopening and refurbishment of countless public paths in 16 parishes in north west Herefordshire, this year celebrates its twentieth anniversary. Peter Newman, a trustee of the society and our local correspondent for north-west Herefordshire, invented the scheme and has led it for the past 20 years. …
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Valuable highway under threat of alley-gating
The Open Spaces Society has objected to a draft alley-gating order, made by Windsor & Maidenhead Council, which would close a valuable footpath between Culley Way and Farmers Close in Cox Green. The council’s Alley Gating Panel considered that the path should be gated because of alleged crime and anti-social behaviour in the area, despite…
Read MoreHorse-development rejected in Chatham countryside
We have helped to prevent a damaging development, at Capstone Road, Chatham in Medway, from going ahead. The application was for the excavation of land for the creation of a riding ménage and construction of a stable block next to Drowlhill Woods. Our Medway local correspondent, the indefatigable 94-year-old Pat Wilson, opposed the plan when…
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