An interview with the IASC
Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, recently spoke to the International Association for the Study of the Commons to give a history of Open Spaces Society and our work. The article below appeared in the IASC newsletter. I am Kate Ashbrook, and have been the general secretary (chief executive) of the Open Spaces Society since 1984. …
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What quantum shift?
Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, writes of the government’s failure to deliver on public access. Last July Natural England (NE) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) invited us to contribute to Lord Agnew’s ‘Commission on levelling-up access to the outdoors for all’. They wished to ‘gather views and consider the development…
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Thomas Hardy paths reopened
Our member Tony Fincham has achieved success in a long campaign to get two obstructed paths reopened at Stinsford, a mile east of Dorchester in Dorset. Tony is a vice-president of the Thomas Hardy Society and regularly leads walks for the society in the vicinity of Hardy’s home at Stinsford. He has found two paths…
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Challenging disposal of open space
Greenfields Recreation Ground (GRG) in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, has been used by local people since the 1960s. The land was owned and managed by the council and held as open space under a statutory trust for recreation, but in 2017 it was sold to a developer. Sadly this is a situation that we see all too…
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Access and land justice
In February 2022, the society contributed to a project about access and land justice. This was run by Dr Camilla Penney and Dr Elsa Noterman from Cambridge University, and included a two-day workshop in which the society participated. Day one started with a walk to the Cambridge rugby ground with the Cambridge group of the…
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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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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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‘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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