Latest News

New ammunition for fighting landowners’ path-diversions

December 28, 2012

Ever since we received a favourable opinion from George Laurence QC on the interpretation of ‘expedient’ in section 119 of the Highways Act 1980 (the section which deals with the diversion of public paths), the Ramblers and ourselves have been looking for a suitable case on which to test this. The case emerged when the…

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Slow down! It’s a common!

October 12, 2012

This article was published on the Headline Environment website, On the Agenda, 12 October 2012. Responding to a recent Department of Transport consultation, Kate Ashbrook explains why the Open Spaces Society has advocated a 40mph limit on all roads through commons and how this is an important step in maintaining the open and unenclosed nature…

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Public Inquiry on Westfield Playing Fields, Harpenden, Hertfordshire

October 8, 2012

This will take place on December 10th. The Playing Field is a landlocked 2 hectare site, and has been used by local people for over a hundred years for sports and informal recreation. The land comprises the last remaining part of what was formerly Westfield Common. WAG (Westfield Action Group) under its Chair, Harpenden resident…

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Rights of Way: Restoring the Record

October 3, 2012

Want to check historic rights on a track but don’t know where to start? Need to find extra evidence before a public inquiry? Worried about your first visit to an archive office? Experienced, but just want to check which Act authorised which activities? Then you need Rights of Way: Restoring the Record, the new research…

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Common ground not battleground

September 12, 2012

Article published on Headline Environment website, On the Agenda, 11 September 2012   Commons are unique and precious places to be treasured by all, says Kate Ashbrook, of the Open Spaces Society, as she welcomes the publication of a revised version of A Common Purpose. Kate Ashbrook writes: Common land has for centuries been a…

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Hound Tor, Dartmoor, Devon by Bob Milton

Painting of Hound Tor, Dartmoor, Devon

July 13, 2012

We are pleased to offer this unique opportunity to own an original painting and thereby support the work of the Open Spaces Society. Our local correspondent, Bob Milton, has kindly offered his original painting of Hound Tor on Dartmoor, Devon, for auction to raise funds for the society. Please send sealed bids to: Ellen Froggatt,…

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Our campaign challenges for the year ahead

July 11, 2012

‘We should never forget that the Open Spaces Society is a hard hitting, agile and quick reacting campaigning organisation, able and willing to be controversial, radical and perhaps at times unpopular in pursuit of its charitable objects.’ So said Tim Crowther, our chairman, in moving the adoption of the society’s annual report at our annual…

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Autumn 2011 – New threats to green spaces

May 16, 2012

Autumn Appeal 2011 – the new threats to green spaces Click here to read our response to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with regard to their consultation on village greens. Click here to read our response to government on the National Planning Policy Framework. Please complete and return the form below if…

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Chorleywood Common

May 4, 2012

Chorleywood Common is an amazing place.  Within a mile of the M25 and surrounded by roads and railways, it survives as a wild oasis, breathtakingly lovely with its wide open spaces and mixed woodland.  It is a reminder, in miniature, of our pre-inclosure landscapes.  It is enjoyed by walkers and riders, residents and visitors of…

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New golfing-plans on Walton Heath Common

April 19, 2012

We have objected to plans by Walton Heath Golf Club to use part of Walton Heath Common, in Surrey, as a ‘golf-practice facility’. The golf club has submitted a planning application to Reigate and Banstead Borough Council. The land is registered common land and the public has the right to walk and ride here. We…

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