Our new campaigner in Buckinghamshire’s former Chiltern district
We have appointed Aidan Harris as our local correspondent for the former Chiltern district in Buckinghamshire. On behalf of the society, Aidan will champion public paths, and commons, greens and other open spaces in his patch. He will respond to proposals to alter the routes of public paths and advise the society and its members…
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An open letter to Cornwall Councillors from Open Spaces Society member, Hugh Gladden
Open Spaces Society member, Hugh Gladden, recently wrote to the Cornish Times, expressing his disappointment at the council’s failure in its duty to prevent paths being obstructed. You can read his letter below. Hundreds of landowners commit criminal offences, but Cornwall Council and its councillors look the other way. Under the Highways Act (1980) local…
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This Christmas, paths and open spaces matter- now more than ever
The climate emergency and the government’s recent onslaught on the environment, nature, and our enjoyment of them, highlight the importance of the outdoors for our health and well-being, and for growth. Now more than ever we must keep fighting for village greens, commons, rights of way and for public access to open spaces for everyone…
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New village greens at Dorchester on Thames and Little Wittenham, Oxfordshire
We are celebrating the registration of two new village green at Dorchester on Thames and Little Wittenham in Oxfordshire. The greens at the historic Dyke Hills (3.03 hectares), a scheduled Iron Age settlement, and at Day’s Lock Meadow (2.37 hectares) beside the River Thames. They have been voluntarily registered by a beneficent landowner, Keith Ives.…
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Autumn crisis
Our general secretary Kate Ashbrook reflects on the current attack on the environment. ‘… now it is time unequivocally to act’ wrote Louis MacNeice in Autumn Journal in 1938. And so it is in this autumn, when government has suddenly made a full-frontal onslaught on the environment, nature, and our enjoyment of them. First there…
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Loss of Longhorsley green refused
We have welcomed a decision to retain part of Longhorsley village green, which the parish council wanted to convert to a private driveway. Longhorsley Parish Council wanted to sell off around 54 square metres of Longhorsley green, in this case part of the verge of East Road, in the Northumberland village east of the junction…
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Hertfordshire green to garden gambit rejected
We have welcomed a decision to preserve part of Preston recreation ground, in Hertfordshire, which the parish council wanted to convert to a private garden. Preston Parish Council wanted to sell off around 70 square metres of Preston recreation ground, which lies on the west side of Hitchin Road, in the village west of Stevenage. …
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We rescue two lost commons in Hertfordshire
We welcome the decision of Hertfordshire County Council, the commons registration authority, to grant our applications to register as common two pieces of land about two miles south-east of Walkern near Stevenage. These commons failed to be finally registered during the three-year period allowed by the Commons Registration Act 1965. Part 1 of the Commons…
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Manifesto for the next generation
We were delighted to be invited to join the Resurgence Summit on 24 September at the Knepp estate in West Sussex. Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, reports on the day. The event was organised by Heal Rewilding, Youngwilders, and Knepp Wildland Foundation. Its aim was to enable young people to discuss public access and nature,…
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Our new activist in Gloucestershire
We have appointed Chas Townley as our local correspondent for Stroud District in Gloucestershire. Chas lives in Stroud and is a retired social-housing manager and former Stroud District and Town councillor. He has been working on the registration of unrecorded rights of ways in Stroud and surrounding parishes. As a result, 27 applications have been…
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