Our new activist for Rhondda Cynon Taff
Jay Kynch of Efail Isaf, near Pontypridd in south Wales, is our new local correspondent for the southern part of Rhondda Cynon Taff. Jay is a retired development economist who has worked as a researcher at Oxford University and a lecturer at Swansea University; she has researched poverty in Indian villages and social exclusion and…
Read MoreOur action plan for the new Welsh Assembly Government
We have published our 12-point action plan for candidates in the Welsh Assembly Government election, urging them to commit themselves to our action points. We are contacting all the candidates through our members in Wales, and from our headquarters, to seek their pledges of support. Our 12 points include a better deal for the nation’s…
Read MoreFirst victory in battle to restore St Catherine’s Hill common
We have won the first round in the battle to restore parts of St Catherine’s Hill Common lost to illegal privatisation. We welcomed the decision by the Planning Inspectorate to reject an application from Guildford Borough Council, the owner of St Catherine’s Hill Common south of Guildford in Surrey, to plant a hollybush screen, three…
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Dorset’s Blackdown Woods saved for the nation
We joined the celebrations on Saturday 26 March at Portesham village hall, near Dorchester in Dorset, for the handover of Blackdown Woods from the Forestry Commission to Dorset County Council. The 117 hectares of woodland surround the Hardy monument (‘Kiss me Hardy’ of Trafalgar fame) on the Dorset Ridgeway in the Dorset Area of Outstanding…
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Herefordshire hilltop under threat
We have objected to plans by Bolsterstone Innovative Energy Ltd to deface the unspoilt Stonewall Hill (also known as Reeves Hill) in Herefordshire with four wind-turbines and associated development. The hill is between the towns of Knighton and Presteigne, and is close to the Powys border, so we have written to both Herefordshire and Powys…
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Our new chairman
Tim Crowther from Weybridge in Surrey is our new chairman. For the past 12 years Tim has been an active member of Elmbridge Borough Council. Prior to retirement he worked for a government property agency. He became a member of the Open Spaces Society over 25 years ago. A lifelong walker, Tim has completed many…
Read MoreMessage from India
In January 2011 the Open Spaces Society’s general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, attended the global conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC) in Hyderabad. She was the guest of IASC and of the co-host, the Indian Foundation for Ecological Security. She gives a snapshot of her eight days in India here.
Read MoreBBC Radio Oxford interview
On Sunday 6 February our general secretary had an hour-long interview with Bill Heine on BBC Radio Oxford. She chatted about public paths, forestry privatisation, village greens, common land and campaigning. You can listen to it here: BBC Radio Oxford interview.
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We’re not out of the woods yet
‘While today we can celebrate the government’s abandonment of plans to flog off England’s public forest estate, we are not out of the woods yet. There is still a campaign to be fought.’ So said Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary at a well-attended rally in Friston Forest, in the South Downs National Park (between Eastbourne…
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Plan to privatise public path at Cox Green
We have objected to a plan by Windsor & Maidenhead Council to close a footpath between Culley Way and Farmers Close in Cox Green. The council is recommending to its Alley Gating Panel on Tuesday 22 March that the path should be gated because of crime and anti-social behaviour in the area. The Berkshire Ramblers…
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