Open Spaces Society delighted that Brent River Park, Ealing, is saved
We are delighted that Ealing Council’s planning committee on 17 March resolved to save Brent River Park. It rejected Be:Here Ealing Ltd’s application to erect a massive leisure centre, six high-rise housing blocks and other development on the Gurnell Leisure Centre site next to the park. Although the council’s planning officer recommended conditional approval, the…
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Blackbushe airfield stays common land
The court of appeal has dismissed a move by Blackbushe Airport Ltd (BAL) to remove the airfield from the register of common land.[1] The court refused to overturn the decision of the High Court that the land must remain registered as part of Yateley Common. That decision was defended by Hampshire County Council and the…
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New public freedoms at Dorchester on Thames, Oxon
We are celebrating new greens and paths at Dorchester on Thames in Oxfordshire, after a long campaign which we fought alongside local residents. A new landowner, Mr Keith Ives, has removed fences erected by his predecessor. These denied public access to the historic Dyke Hills, a scheduled Iron Age settlement, and Day’s Lock Meadow beside…
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Chesham Bois Common saved from degradation
We are delighted that a damaging plan to create a tarmac, vehicular accessway on Chesham Bois Common in the Buckinghamshire Chilterns has been withdrawn in the face of objections. Last year St Leonard’s Church Parochial Church Council applied for planning permission for an accessway to the parish centre as part of a larger development comprising…
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We help to save Surrey common from enclosure
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has refused consent to the Hon Peter Herbert for fencing and a gate across part of Blackheath Common in Surrey. Blackheath is four miles south-east of Guildford in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Peter Herbert, lord of the manor, wanted to erect…
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Hook Norton learns about common land
‘Common land is frequently misunderstood.’ So declared our commons re-registration officer, Frances Kerner, who gave an illustrated online talk ‘What is Common Land?’ to the Hook Norton Local History Group in north Oxfordshire on 2 February. ‘The word “common” does not mean that the land is commonly owned. Like all land in England and Wales…
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Our last-minute bid to rescue lost commons
We have made 78 applications to rescue lost commons in England’s seven pioneer areas[1] before the deadline of 31 December 2020. The applications are to register these precious spaces as common land. If successful, they will give the public the right to walk, and in some cases to ride, on the land and will protect…
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We win new green and new path for Witney
We have won a new town green and public footpath for the people of Witney in west Oxfordshire. These public amenities are on land at Coral Springs, between Thorney Leys and the A40, which four years ago was developed by Richmond Care Villages (RCV). In building an estate of retirement homes RCV illegally blocked a…
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Our new activist for the Isle of Wight
We have appointed Mrs Helen Slade as our local correspondent for the Isle of Wight. Helen, who lives in Ventnor, will be the society’s eyes and ears, keeping a close watch on paths, commons, greens, open spaces and the progress of the coastal path on the Island, and intervening as necessary. Helen has recently retired…
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