A toothless watchdog?
Our case officer Nicola Hodgson is keeping a close watch on the Environment Bill. This was introduced to parliament on 30 January 2020 with second reading on 26 February. The public-bill committee’s scrutiny was cut short by the covid-19 crisis, and the committee was expected to report to parliament by the end of June, but…
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Historic Faversham footpath saved
One of our members, Andrew Osborne of Faversham in Kent, has played a crucial role in saving a public footpath from being deleted from Kent County Council’s definitive map of public paths. The decision removes the final legal obstacle to the opening of a continuous walk along Faversham Creek, for which Andrew has campaigned for…
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We fight access track across Oxfordshire common
We have objected strongly to an application for the construction of an access track, 66 metres long, across Baulking Common, near Faringdon in Oxfordshire. Miss Jessica Reid has applied to the Planning Inspectorate for consent under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006 to construct a track across the common. This would run between Baulking…
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Extend deadlines to rescue common land and village greens
We have urged the government to extend deadlines to enable the public to safeguard common land and town and village greens. This would be in line with the extension of deadlines to allow development to proceed, under the Business and Planning Bill 2019-21. The society has written to the environment minister, Lord Gardiner. We are…
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Secret deal on the Downs
We have supported the Downs for People in Bristol in its exposure of a secret deal between Bristol City Councillors and the Merchant Venturers to allow Bristol Zoo to continue to use the magnificent Durdham Downs for car parking until 2039. The society has opposed the parking for many years; the council’s renewal of the…
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Threat withdrawn to ancient road in South Downs National Park
We are delighted that Mr Hugh Sandie of Pegs and Pitches Camping has withdrawn his planning application for a campsite and buildings near Coldwaltham, West Sussex, in the South Downs National Park. The society objected to the development arguing that it conflicted with the purposes of the national park and would have an adverse impact…
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Vocal for local
Our general secretary Kate Ashbrook considers life for the Open Spaces Society during lockdown. As lockdown began, I foolishly thought we would have time to catch up with all those long-deferred jobs. I was wrong: we have been busier than ever. Developers are not deterred by a pandemic: open spaces remain at risk, perhaps more…
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Hanwell land-grab
Our member Steven Toft describes the fight by Hanwell residents to wrest their open space from land-grabbers In April 2019, residents of Hanwell in Ealing, west London, were dismayed that part of their park had been fenced off. St Margaret’s open space sits by the Grand Union Canal and is part of Brent River Park.…
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Our Campaigning Works in North Cornwall
Our local correspondents are never ones to give up on a challenge! Lucy Wilson, our volunteer for north Cornwall tells the story of how Poundstock footpath 7 came to be fully restored to public use. ‘This is one that Bob Fraser (of Cornwall Ramblers) passed on to me in 2018 after a local resident got…
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Archive progress
The Special Collections team at the University of Reading and the Museum of English Rural Life (the MERL) has been working with the society to care for, and to open, our archive to the public and to potential researchers. The completed cataloguing work, and the collected oral histories of key staff members, will reveal our…
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