Our new Case Officer
We are delighted to welcome Hugh Craddock as our new Case Officer. Hugh will work alongside our present Case Officer, Nicola Hodgson, assisting members of the society on technical, legal and practical issues regarding commons, greens, open spaces and public paths. Hugh formerly worked for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and…
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We fight road threat to Surrey common
We are concerned that Miller Developments is threatening to build a road across Broad Street Common, near Guildford in Surrey, to serve a proposed new housing development of 220 properties. We have urged Surrey County Council to reject the plan. Broad Street Common is heavily protected. Not only is it registered common land with access rights…
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We launch our 12-point action plan for the new National Assembly for Wales
We have unveiled our 12-point action plan for the new National Assembly for Wales. We call on election candidates to lobby for a better deal for green spaces and public paths. Our Action Plan for Wales chimes with the seven principles in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. Open spaces and paths are…
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We become common rightholder in Norfolk
We have become the proud owner of a right of common on land known as St Clement’s Common at Rushall near Diss in Norfolk. The society’s right is of ‘estovers’, ie to collect furze and bracken. The right was originally granted by the late landowner, Daphne Buxton, to a local member of the society, Maurice…
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Commons – global and local
The Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) of the University of Gloucestershire has published its new book, Commons—Governance of Shared Assets, coinciding nicely with World Book Day. It can be downloaded as a pdf or as epub from the university’s website. The book is a collection of recent blog posts on the CCRI website, centred on…
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Stepping stones across the River Thame
Our local correspondent Chris Hall writes of the society’s efforts to record a route across the River Thame in Oxfordshire as a public footpath. Three miles east of industrial Cowley, deep and peacefully remote in the meadows of the Oxford green belt, is a legal battleground at grid reference SP 601 005. As recently as…
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We slate boozy event on Acton Green common
We have objected to an application from Carsten Raun to hold a German beer-festival on Acton Green common, Ealing, for five days this August. Ealing Council has written to local residents to say that it intends to allow this. We argue that the Oktoberfest is unlawful under the Greater London Parks and Open Spaces Order…
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Thwaite common fencing plan rejected
We are delighted that the Planning Inspectorate has rejected an application for fencing of Thwaite Common, near Erpingham, six miles south of Cromer. A year ago the Thwaite Common Management Committee, supported by North Norfolk District Council and Norfolk Wildlife Trust, applied to erect temporary fencing on three parts of the common, to enable the…
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Multi-million pound Firle Footpath ploughed up for the third time
For the third time, the Firle Estate has ploughed up a path that it gets a huge subsidy to keep open, despite promises to the Open Spaces Society given three months ago that it would be opened. The path, which runs south from the Barley Mow Pub at Selmeston, is one of the reasons that…
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Public inquiry to determine fate of treasured Mynydd y Gwair common
A public inquiry opens on Tuesday (16 February) into the controversial application by RWE Innogy UK Ltd to erect wind turbines and associated infrastructure on Mynydd y Gwair common north of Swansea. We object strongly to the application and will be represented by our member Clare Moseley. We deplore the proposed devastation of this magnificent, sweeping,…
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