Celebrate The 70th Anniversary Of National Parks In The Peak District
This year is the seventieth anniversary of the National Parks & Access to the Countryside Act 1949 which gave us national parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty, national nature reserves, long-distance paths (national trails) and definitive maps of rights of way among other things. None of these was achieved without a great deal of lobbying,…
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New Push To Find Lost Commons
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Frances Kerner from Buckinghamshire as our Commons Re-registration Officer. Frances will be researching lost commons which are eligible for registration as common land under part 1 of the Commons Act 2006. Under Part 1, there is a new opportunity to register lost commons which were provisionally…
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Jack & Irene Candy Bequest
Jack Candy, who died aged 95 in 2017, was a long-standing member and supporter of the OSS, serving as our Southampton local correspondent from 1999 to 2012. With his wife Irene, he was a champion of community heritage and open spaces in Southampton. Jack generously left us the residue of his estate, for the establishment…
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Our Appointment To The National Trust Council
The National Trust has resolved that the society should continue to have an appointee on its council. Beverley Penney served for nine years, and did a great job for us, but now her term has expired. The society has appointed its former chairman, Graham Bathe, in her place. Graham (right), who lives on the edge…
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We Fight Military’s Path-Closure Plan On Dartmoor
We have objected to a proposal by the Ministry of Defence to close the public footpath through Okehampton Camp on the northern side of the Dartmoor National Park. The society argues that this will be a blow to the public who will lose a direct footpath between Okehampton and the moor and be forced to…
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New Developments Must Provide Open Space
We have called for new developments to be designed to include protected open space for recreation. We were responding to the consultation on Net Gain from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Picnic on Nutsford Vale, Manchester The society argues that such open spaces should have long-term protection, and that they should be…
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25-Year Environment Plan Evasive About People’s Enjoyment Of The Outdoors
We have criticised the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for being vague about how it will measure its success in encouraging people to benefit from the natural environment. The society has responded to Defra’s consultation on measuring environmental change through its 25-year environment plan which was published in January 2018. In the…
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Getty Gives In And Withdraws Application To Fence Public Bridleway
Mr Tara Getty, grandson of oil tycoon John Paul Getty, has withdrawn his controversial planning application for deer fencing alongside and across a public bridleway, making the route appear private. The bridleway runs past Mr Getty’s Twigside Farm at Ibstone, in the heart of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Mr Getty wanted to…
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Kendal’s New Road Common Should Be Green Space Not Car Park
We have objected to plans to reinstate an unlawful car park on New Road Common, Kendal in Cumbria. Mr David Fone has applied to the Secretary of State for Environment, under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006, for consent for works on common land. Mr Fone is a private individual and the land is…
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Chilterns Plan Should Promote Public Access And Open Spaces
We have called for a greater recognition of the importance of common land in the new objectives in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’s management plan. We were commenting on the Chilterns Conservation Board’s draft management plan for 2019-2024. There are nearly 200 commons in the Chilterns covering 2,000 hectares. Many of them are…
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