New law could ban public from open spaces and paths
We have called on Peers to challenge provisions in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill which empower local authorities to restrict people’s use of public spaces in England. The Bill has its second reading in the House of Lords on 29 October. The Bill enables a local authority to make a Public Spaces Protection…
Read MoreLincoln stalwart retires
Mick Commons has recently resigned from the Lincoln City Commons Advisory Panel on which he served as the society’s representative for nearly 30 years. Mick, a professional footballer, became interested in the commons when he kept horses there. The committee was established thanks to the society’s opposition to the city council’s Lincoln City Council Bill…
Read MoreFurther fencing allowed on Allendale Common, Northumberland
We are sorry that the Planning Inspectorate has approved two miles of fencing alongside the east side of the Allendale/Carrshield road in Northumberland, in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Such works need the consent of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs under section 38 of the Commons Act…
Read MoreNo authority for alien hedge on Hertfordshire common
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has refused consent to Mr James Wright for a conifer hedge on registered common land at the former Old Chequers pub near Flamstead in Hertfordshire. The society and Flamstead Parish Council were among the nine objectors to the application for works on common land, under…
Read MoreWe object to ice-cream van on Bristol Downs
We have objected to an application from Bristol City Council to site an ice-cream van on common land at Clifton Down, Bristol. The council has applied for consent for works on common land, under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006, to construct an asphalt surface, on the corner of Observatory Road and Suspension Bridge…
Read More
Henley Festival’s u-turn shows contempt for international footpath
We have condemned Henley Festival’s u-turn on its location which is likely to result in the continued closure of the Thames Path National Trail during the festival in July. The Festival had been planning to move from the traditional Regatta site downstream to the Henley Business School. Now it has decided to remain on the…
Read MorePublic paths signposted in memory of Gloucestershire benefactor
The society and Gloucestershire Ramblers, working with the Gloucestershire County Council public rights of way team, are delighted that the county council is now making use of a 50-year-old fund for signposting footpaths around Cheltenham. The fund was established in 1959, on the death of Herbert Lucas Bradbury, a far-sighted Cheltenham benefactor. Mr Bradbury left…
Read MoreOSS debates greens on You and Yours
The society was on Radio 4’s You and Yours on Monday 7 October, debating new greens and the damaging effects of the recent law changes in England. You can listen to the debate here.
Read More
Competing demands on Chiltern commons
We are participating in the Chilterns Commons Day at Chorleywood Common, Hertfordshire, organised by the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Commons Project on 3 October. The day will focus on the dilemmas of managing sports and recreation on registered common land, and practical solutions. Chorleywood Common has a cricket-pitch, a nine-hole golf-course and a…
Read More
Village-green system not being increasingly abused: our response to Defra
We have responded robustly to Defra’s press release today (1 October), New measures to increase rural home-building. This is about the new regulations in England which have been introduced today to restrict applications to register land as a town or village green. Defra claims that the new measures will stop the village-green system from being…
Read More