We welcome greenspace plan for Kendal’s New Road common
STOP PRESS 31 AUGUST 2017: We are pleased to report that on 30 August the South Lakeland District Council’s cabinet unanimously approved the scheme for the restoration of New Road Common. We are delighted that South Lakeland District Council in Cumbria proposes to reinstate Kendal’s New Road common as a green space. For many years this…
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We welcome designation of Lake District as World Heritage Site
As Britain’s leading pressure-group for open spaces and common land, we welcome the announcement that the Lake District National Park will be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The society’s chairman, Graham Bathe(1), said: ‘This announcement brings the fullest recognition that the Lake District is a cultural landscape of global importance, forged by the interplay…
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Cumbrian commons face biggest threat since enclosure movement
Local and national organisations (1) are campaigning to stop the Ministry of Defence from destroying a vast area of Cumbria’s cultural history. The MoD wants to deregister three large upland commons (2) and turn them into private land. Objectors say the deregistration would be unlawful and flies in the face of undertakings made by the…
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We join the battle against Lake District pylons
We have joined the Friends of the Lake District and other objectors in fighting National Grid’s plan to erect gigantic pylons on the western boundary of the Lake District National Park. The pylons are part of the North West Coast Connections project. National Grid wants to impose them along the Whicham valley and around the…
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Our new activist for Cheshire East
We have appointed Mr Chris Meewezen as our local correspondent for Cheshire East. Chris will be the society’s eyes and ears, keeping a close watch on paths, commons, greens and open spaces in the area and intervening as necessary. Chris, who lives at Wheelock near Sandbach, has until recently been footpath secretary for the Ramblers’…
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Mary Traynor takes on South Lakeland, Cumbria
Mary Traynor is our new local correspondent for South Lakeland District in Cumbria. She lives at High Tenterfell near Kendal. Her interest in the Open Spaces Society was sparked by her concern for the local town green, Kendal Fell, which is of natural history and archaeological interest, and is used as a golf course. There…
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Lake District heartland saved from commercial development
We are delighted that plans for the commercial development of Lake District common land have been rejected following a public inquiry. Jim Lowther of the Lowther Estate wanted to build a ‘visitor hub’ at White Moss, on the A591 near Grasmere in the Lake District National Park. The development included an events venue, retail outlet,…
Read MoreThreat to public paths in the Rochdale area
Our newly-appointed local correspondent for Rochdale, Yvonne Hunt, looks at the threat to public paths in her area, including the Rochdale Way. The Rochdale Way and parts of its connecting network of paths are under threat by developers who do not seem to understand their importance. The Rochdale Way is a circular 45-mile (72-km)…
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Public inquiry into damaging development on Lake District common land
We shall appear as an objector at a public inquiry on Tuesday (9 August) into plans by Jim Lowther to develop common land at White Moss near Grasmere in the Lake District National Park. The inquiry is being held at the Lake District National Park Authority offices, Murley Moss, Oxenholme Road, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 7RL,…
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Moorside Fields, Lancaster are a village green
The High Court has ruled that Moorside Fields in south Lancaster are a village green. This means that they will be protected from development and can be enjoyed by the community by right for informal recreation. Local resident Janine Bebbington, acting for the Moorside Fields Community Group, applied to register five fields as a green…
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