Oxfordshire parish reopened
‘Three and a half years of negotiation, and finally legal pressure on Oxfordshire County Council and on landowners, have reopened several kilometres of long-blocked public paths in the parish of Tetsworth, south Oxfordshire’, says Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary. Kate adds: ‘Most people whizz past Tetsworth on the M40 in seconds, never noticing the spacious…
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Right to backpack camp on Dartmoor’s commons confirmed by appeal court
We are delighted that three judges in the court of appeal have unanimously overturned the high court ruling and resolved that there is a right to backpack (wild) camp on Dartmoor’s common land. The full judgment can be read here. The society intervened in the court of appeal to support the Dartmoor National Park Authority…
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An update on the Dartmoor backpack-camping appeal
The court of appeal hearing of Dartmoor National Park Authority and Open Spaces Society v Darwall was on 18 July, and can be watched here. Our aim was to overturn the ruling of Sir Julian Flaux in the high court in January that the term ‘open-air recreation’ in section 10 of the Dartmoor Commons Act…
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We slate government for lack of action on public access
‘The Open Spaces Society is often critical of the government’s approach to open access opportunities.’ So said our chairman, Phil Wadey, in his keynote speech our AGM on 6 July. He continued: ‘Back in January, the government announced an environmental improvement plan for England which aspired to having every household no more than “a 15-minutes’…
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Refused: road across Dunsfold Common, Surrey
We are delighted that a planning inspector has rejected a proposed access-road across Dunsfold Common, 14 kilometres south of Guildford in Surrey. The application for a 5.5-metre-wide road, with 1.5-metre-wide footway and associated works, was made for Sigma Homes Ltd, the prospective developer, by Batcheller Monkhouse, surveyors and town planners. The proposed road was to…
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Time for a new manifesto for public access
‘It is time for a new manifesto for public access in town and country,’ said Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary. Kate was giving the keynote speech at the event to mark the 91st anniversary of the mass trespass on Kinder Scout on 24 April 1932. The celebrations were held at Hayfield village hall, Derbyshire, at…
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Backpack camping: Dartmoor National Park Authority to appeal
We are delighted that the Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) members have unanimously agreed to appeal against the high court judgment on the Dartmoor backpack camping case. The owners of Stall Moor common. Alexander and Diana Darwall, challenged the DNPA’s argument that the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985, in giving the public the right to walk…
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Café plans for Bristol Downs abandoned
We have welcomed the decision to abandon plans for a café on the downs in Bristol close to the Avon Gorge. The society criticised the Downs Committee[1] , which put forward the plans, for squandering public money on unlawful and undesirable projects. Meanwhile the committee is failing adequately to carry out its statutory responsibilities. The Downs…
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Government’s lost chance to achieve levelling up
We have lamented the government’s failure to equalise the provision of green spaces for all. Responding to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ consultation on the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the society sets out its priorities for government in a five-point plan. The society wants to see: 1 an improvement in the process…
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Access at the heart of land-use policy
On 4 July our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, and the Ramblers director of advocacy and engagement, Tom Platt, gave evidence to the House of Lords Land Use in England Committee. They focused on the many benefits of greater public access, its lack of a home in government, and the potential for access to be central to…
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