Ellen’s decade as the hub of our office
We are fortunate that Ellen Froggatt, who was planning to retire in early April, is still with us. She has generously agreed to carry on as office manager part-time until we can return to the office and appoint a replacement. Consequently, Ellen celebrated ten years with the society on 7 June. In her time with…
Read More
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…
Read More
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.…
Read More
Local correspondent authors new edition of Melbourne path history title
Our local correspondent for south Derbysire and north west Leicestershire since 2010, Barry Thomas, has updated his book ‘The old ways of Melbourne – the history of public rights of way in a Derbyshire village’. Barry describes the nature of public rights of way and the history of the path network in the parish of…
Read More
Canllawiau wedi’u diweddaru gan Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru
24 Ebrill 2020 Adolygiad o reoliadau a chanllawiau newydd Mae Llywodraeth Cymru heddiw (24/4) wedi cyhoeddi newidiadau i’r rheoliadau Covid, yn ogystal â chyhoeddi canllawiau newydd – dilyna hyn yr adolygiad 3-wythnos statudol o’r rheoliadau brys. Ceir dolenni i’r wybodaeth hyn, yn ogystal â nifer o ddolenni defnyddiol eraill isod:- Dolenni i’r rheolau adolygedig:-…
Read More
Blackburn group win support of borough council for new Asset of Community Value
A much loved open space at Whitehall Road in Blackburn, has been awarded Asset of Community Value (ACV) status by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council following a campaign by the Whitehall Road Neighbourhood Group. The benefit of achieving ACV listing is that this becomes a material planning consideration, a matter that should be taken into…
Read MoreA framework for green space
In autumn 2010, the Department for Communities and Local Goverment (DCLG) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) agreed to ‘create a new designation to protect green areas of particular importance to local communities’. However, by April 2011, the government has made no progress whatever in developing its ideas. The Open Spaces…
Read More
We fight fencing plan on Ugthorpe Common
The society has objected to an application from the Mulgrave Estate for nearly a mile of new fencing on Ugthorpe Common near Whitby in the North York Moors National Park. This is in addition to a retrospective application to replace more than two miles of fencing on the common. The estate applied to the Secretary…
Read More
A hand up from Glover
The report of the English landscapes review, led by Julian Glover, was published on 21 September 2019. We submitted evidence in 2018. The review covered national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONBs). It recognises the great importance of these landscapes and the affection for them, while noting that their founding mission has been…
Read More
The society in action – Six months on the National Trust council
Society trustee Graham Bathe is a council member of the National Trust and former director of the Foundation for Common Land. He gave a talk at our recent AGM about his role representing the society on the National Trust council. Governance Legally, the governance of the National Trust is in the hands of about 12…
Read More