Latest News

Commons: Commons Act 2006 – registration and deregistration

December 19, 2017

Registration and deregistration of land under the act The Open Spaces Society has been defending open spaces in England and Wales since 1865. Registration and deregistration of land under the Commons Act 2006 This fact sheet tells you about the registration and deregistration of common land and town or village greens, in England and Wales,…

Read More

Call for Gloucestershire councils to promote new greens

March 27, 2025

We have written to county and district councillors, and town and parish councils throughout Gloucestershire promoting the voluntary registration of open spaces as town and village greens (TVG) to benefit the public.    In his letter Chas Townley, the society’s local correspondent for Gloucestershire, says that ‘registration of open space as TVG means that it is…

Read More

Fencing refused on Norfolk common 

November 19, 2024

We have welcomed the decision to refuse consent for fencing on Shereford Common in Norfolk.  This is a small, five-hectare common south of St Nicholas’ church, Shereford (near Fakenham), and largely sandwiched between a country lane and the River Wensum.  In August 2023, the Raynham estate, owned by Charles Townshend, sought the consent of the Defra…

Read More

New guidance published on purging pointless path-paraphernalia 

October 21, 2024

We have published Removing and improving path paraphernalia guidance to local authorities, land managers, and rights-of-way volunteers on the provision of easy access to paths and countryside.  The information sheet aims to help those who share the society’s goal of reducing unnecessary and undesirable structures from our public paths.  Too often our way is barred…

Read More

Ringwood & Fordingbridge Footpath Society celebrates 50th anniversary

May 21, 2024

‘The Ringwood & Fordingbridge Footpath Society (RFFS) is a vital eyes and ears on the ground in this part of Hampshire, adjacent to the New Forest.’  So said Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary, speaking at the lunch in Ibsley to celebrate the RFFS’s 50th anniversary on Saturday (18 May). ‘The RFFS has been a member of…

Read More

New village green at One Tree Hill

April 25, 2024

We are celebrating the decision by Surrey County Council to register One Tree Hill at Long Ditton as a village green, thereby protecting it for ever. The land comprises about 10 hectares of mixed woodland, open grassland, and scrub intersected by numerous paths. About seven years ago, Elmbridge Borough Council’s consultants, Ove Arup and Partners,…

Read More

We help to save Mucklewick Hill, Shropshire, from disfigurement 

February 14, 2024

We are delighted that Shropshire Council’s planners have rejected an application for a 15-metre-high telecommunications mast with ancillary equipment on Mucklewick Hill in the Shropshire Hills National Landscape.  The hill is 15 miles south-west of Shrewsbury, and six miles north-east of Bishops Castle in south Shropshire.  The society, the Shropshire Area of the Ramblers, and…

Read More

Public rights of way blocked in 32,000 places

January 14, 2024

We’re shocked that walkers are finding public paths in England and Wales blocked in nearly 32,000 places—that’s one obstruction every four and a half miles, and they are getting worse. As Britain’s oldest national conservation body, we’ve been campaigning to protect footpaths, bridleways and byways – as well as other open spaces – since 1865,…

Read More

We help to save Sneedhams Green common, Gloucestershire, from encroachment 

December 21, 2023

We welcome an inspector’s decision to refuse commons consent for works on Sneedhams Green in Gloucestershire.  Black Box Planning Ltd, on behalf of the G W Hughes Will Trust, had applied to the Planning Inspectorate for approval to construct access ways across the common, which is south of Matson and close to the M5.  The…

Read More

Coffey kowtows to landowners and destroys public-path consensus

October 25, 2023

We are dismayed that the environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, has destroyed the 2010 consensus for the future of public paths. This consensus was forged by a stakeholder working group (SWG) set up to advise government. It is composed of experienced members reflecting the interests of users, local authorities, and landowners. Dr Coffey has cherry-picked from…

Read More