Our new advocate in the north west
We have appointed Ken Sharp as our local correspondent for West Lancashire and parts of Merseyside. Ken will be our watchdog here, keeping a close eye on paths, commons, greens, and open spaces. He will cover West Lancashire District, Knowsley, Liverpool City, St Helen’s Borough, and Sefton Metropolitan Borough. Following a 38-year career in information…
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A plum common
A fascinating common in Pembrokeshire is now receiving the care and attention it deserves. Plumstone Rock is the most prominent feature of the 145-hectare Plumstone Mountain common including the adjoining Dudwell Mountain, 1.5 kilometres south of Hayscastle Cross in Pembrokeshire. The outcrop commands fine views, from the Preseli Mountains to the Bristol Channel. The land…
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Planning for commons in the north
Open Spaces Society case officer Hugh Craddock and Friends of the Lake District planning officer Lorayne Wall MRTPI, on 7 June addressed members of the Royal Town Planning Institute on planning for commons. At the Institute’s rural update for north of England, members heard about ‘Planning and Common Land’, raising awareness of how and why…
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Maurice Philpot remembered
Maurice William Philpot was a good friend of the society, a member of our executive committee from 1982 to 1985, who gave the society a right of estovers on a Norfolk common. His friend of 20 years, Phyllis Mills pays tribute to him. Maurice was born on 28 June 1942 and grew up in a…
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Backword from Westminster
Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, reports on the latest backsliding from the Westminster government. There is a north-country phrase ‘to give backword’. In a devastating move, environment secretary Thérèse Coffey has done just that, reversing last year’s decision by environment minister Richard Benyon to repeal the 2026 deadline for recording lost paths in England. Instead,…
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Common land restored: ‘The Bunny Hill’ in Cornwall
We are delighted by the planning inspectorate’s decision to grant the society’s application to register as common land 3.86 hectares of land at The Bunny Hill and part of Fentongoose Common. The land is situated approximately four kilometres south-west of Truro in Cornwall, and north-west of Carrine Common. The land comprises trees interspersed with scrub…
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Dartmoor backpack camping: we join case in court of appeal
Update July 2023: the appeal was heard on July 18 2023. A summary and link to watch can be found here. Update June 2023: the society has submitted to the court a witness statement, made by case officer Hugh Craddock, and the society’s skeleton argument, courtesy of Richard Honey KC, Ned Westaway and Esther Drabkin-Reiter,…
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We condemn skyline development at Swansea beauty-spot
We have made a strong objection to plans to desecrate Kilvey Hill, east of Swansea. We have submitted our objection to Asbri Planning, acting for Swansea Skyline Ltd, which proposes to develop the hill and surrounding area with a leisure development. This comprises, among other infrastructure, gondola stations, a multi-purpose visitor building, luge tracks, chairlift,…
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Michèle Kohler, 1945-2022
Michèle Kohler, who has died aged 76, was a generous supporter of the Open Spaces Society. Michèle was born in California in 1945. The family moved to New York after the war where her parents were both family doctors. She read history at the University of Rochester, New York, when she was only 15. In…
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New green at Long Ditton, Surrey
We are delighted that Elmbridge Borough Council in Surrey has voluntarily registered Stokes Field, Long Ditton, as a village green. This follows a long campaign by the society. Comprising about eight hectares of mixed woodland, open grassland and scrub intersected by numerous paths, the land is also a Local Nature Reserve. After Elmbridge Council’s consultants…
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