‘Deeds, not words’
Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, urges the government to keep up the Labour tradition of legislation for public access in town and country. Jess Phillips, resigning on 12 May as Safeguarding Minister, summed it up well. She wrote to the Prime Minister: ‘Every Labour government in my and my family’s lifetime has forged progress that…
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Path protectors celebrate reopening of blocked Cornish footpath
The Ramblers and the Open Spaces Society are delighted to have achieved the reopening of a severely blocked public footpath, with broken clapper-bridge, in the parish of St Buryan Lamorna Paul, 3.5 miles south of Penzance in Cornwall. The half-mile path runs parallel to the England Coast Path/South West Coast Path, near Kemyel Crease nature reserve. The path, which had been inaccessible for several decades, is breath-taking, affording panoramic views of the coast, contouring the…
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Our nine-point plan for the new Senedd
We have sent our nine-point plan for the new Senedd to our members in Wales to use when speaking to their candidates in the forthcoming election. Here is the manifesto. (Cymraeg yma) ________________________________________________ The opportunity for people to enjoy open spaces and paths, for their relaxation, health, well-being, and appreciation of nature, has never been…
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Government drags feet on green-space review
A review of the laws protecting vital green spaces is urgently needed, yet despite a government promise last November to undertake this, nothing has happened. Meanwhile, the government has undermined its own promise by supporting an amendment (248) to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, due to be debated in the House of Lords on 13 April. …
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Every-day access for all
The long-delayed access to nature green paper must address the gross inequalities in public contact with the outdoors, says our general secretary Kate Ashbrook. The green paper was announced in the government’s Environmental Improvement Plan in December 2025—but regrettably given no priority. Kate writes in her Opinion in the spring issue of Open Space, our…
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Our new activist in Wiltshire
We have appointed Becky Dymond as our local correspondent in north-west Wiltshire. Becky takes on four parishes (Biddestone, Box, Colerne, and North Wraxall) where she will respond to proposals to alter the routes of public rights of way, assist in claiming paths for the definitive map, and defend commons, greens, and other open spaces for people to enjoy. Becky is a horse-rider and is out riding around the countryside…
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We deplore proposed cut to statutory-planning advisors
We have slated plans by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG) to strip powers from the Gardens Trust and Sport England, which are statutory consultees in the planning process. We say this poses a threat to vital green spaces throughout England. We were responding to MHCLG’s consultation on Reforms to the Statutory Consultee System. There are currently 27 bodies which are statutory…
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Our chairman, Phil Wadey, honoured
Our chairman, Phil Wadey, has been made an MBE in the New Year’s Honours, for services to rights of way. Phil, a walker and rider, specialises in historical research with the aim of adding paths to the official (definitive) maps. Having been working on this for more than 35 years, he has so far…
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Centenary of open-spaces law
Today, 1 January 2026, is the centenary of landmark legislation which, for the first time, created a right to walk and ride on significant areas of common land in town and country. This law was largely thanks to the Open Spaces Society (then the Commons and Footpaths Preservation Society). On this day 100 years ago…
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New National River Walk ‘a damp squib’
The proposed first new National River Walk, the government’s Boxing Day announcement, is a ‘damp squib’, we argue. The government claims that it will provide ‘21 kilometres of new paths’ along the Mersey Valley Way, between Stockport and Sale in Trafford. ‘It does nothing of the kind,’ says Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary. ‘The route…
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