Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill (the bill) was introduced into parliament on 11 May 2022. The second reading will take place on 8 June. The stated ambition of the bill is to reverse the geographical disparities between different parts of the UK by spreading opportunity more equally. The bill includes a broad range of measures…
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Railings refused on Hare Lane Green, Surrey
We have welcomed a decision of a planning inspector to turn down a proposal for raised walkway and railings on Hare Lane Green at Esher in Surrey. The Luminous Property Group had applied to the Secretary of State for consent to construct a raised and widened footway on Littleworth Road south of Claygate House, extending…
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A statement on the Queen’s Speech
A statement on today’s Queen’s Speech from our General Secretary, Kate Ashbrook. ‘The society is pleased that the Queen’s Speech, made on 10 May, includes a Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill, but is adamant that levelling up must include public access to green spaces and to nature. The society criticised the Levelling-Up White Paper in February…
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Criminalising bottles on the beach at Whitstable, Kent
We have criticised a draft public spaces protection order [1] for Whitstable [2] in Kent which will make criminals of many of its residents and visitors. Canterbury City Council has consulted on a draft order which would apply to the ‘Whitstable and Herne Bay Coastal Zone’. It would create new criminal offences to address activities having…
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Blackbushe aerodrome remains a common
We have welcomed the decision of the supreme court not to grant leave to appeal against a decision that Blackbushe aerodrome should remain registered as common land. The aerodrome lies on Yateley Common in Hampshire. It was established as a temporary wartime measure.[1] It is now operated by Blackbushe Airport Limited (BAL). Yateley Common,…
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A juggling act
Tywardreath and Par Parish Council (between Fowey and St Austell in Cornwall) set up a neighbourhood development plan (NDP) steering group. It has created a plan which protects open spaces (land and water) in the parish, setting an example to other communities. Alison White, the group’s secretary and a member of the society, provides tips…
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‘Natural Health Service’ proposed by access campaigners on anniversary of Kinder trespass
Access campaigners have called for a new movement to campaign for a ‘Natural Heath Service’ through greater access to our countryside. The proposal was presented at the 90th anniversary celebrations of the Kinder Scout Mass Trespass at Hayfield on Saturday (April 23). Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary, told a packed audience in The Royal Hotel:…
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Herefordshire’s historic Boat Lane, near Ross-On-Wye, is now on the map
We are delighted that the ancient Boat Lane, in the parishes of Goodrich and Walford south of Ross-on-Wye, has been added to Herefordshire Council’s definitive map of public paths, after a 20-year campaign. The route was claimed in 2003 by the society’s former local correspondent for south Herefordshire, Owen Morgan. He argued that the lane…
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Our new guide to saving green spaces
We have published a new edition of Getting Greens Registered, our step-by-step guide to registering land in England and Wales as a town or village green. Once registered, the land is protected from development and encroachment, and local people have rights of recreation there. The new (fourth) edition explains how local people must gather evidence…
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Happy returns?
Anniversaries are opportunities. So writes our general secretary Kate Ashbrook in her Opinion piece in the spring issue of Open Space. Ninety years ago this April, the trespassers on Kinder Scout in the Peak District made a brave bid for freedom. It is sad that government has not marked this event with a strong statement…
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