Victory for Surrey campaigners who saved wild meadow
An ambitious community campaign to preserve a threatened 30-acre beauty spot in Farnham has been named winner of the first-ever Open Space Award. The amazing success of The Bishop’s Meadow Trust impressed judges from Open Spaces Society and earned it the top spot, despite strong competition nationwide. Jo Aylwin, chairman of the trust, attended the…
Read MoreOur campaign challenges for the year ahead
‘We should never forget that the Open Spaces Society is a hard hitting, agile and quick reacting campaigning organisation, able and willing to be controversial, radical and perhaps at times unpopular in pursuit of its charitable objects.’ So said Tim Crowther, our chairman, in moving the adoption of the society’s annual report at our annual…
Read MoreKentish green space saved
A lovely green space at Wittersham in south Kent has been protected for all time. We welcome the decision of the Planning Inspectorate to allow the correction of a mistake on the register of town and village greens. One and a half acres at Poplar Farm Field and Pond, Wittersham, Isle of Oxney in Kent is…
Read MorePublic inquiry for contentious land swap at Westfield Common, Woking
Woking Borough Council’s proposed land swap at Westfield Common, Woking in Surrey is the subject of a public inquiry which opens on Wednesday (27 June) at the H G Wells conference centre in Woking. Woking council wants to deregister part of the common to enable an access road to be built, serving a proposed housing…
Read MoreTurbines could trash Powys common
We have objected to an application from RWE Npower Renewables Ltd for nine wind turbines at Neuadd-goch Bank near Dolfor, Newtown in Powys. The society is particularly concerned that four of the wind turbines would be sited on registered common land, Cwmgwyn and Medwalleth Commons. We are dismayed that the applicants refer to the ‘minor…
Read MoreCornish common reclaimed
Carrine Common, near Kea, south of Truro in Cornwall has been reclaimed as registered common land, using legislation which is being pioneered in Cornwall (part 1 of the Commons Act 2006). Following a hearing in January 2012, planning inspector Mr Barney Grimshaw ruled that the land should be recorded on the commons register. Carrine Common…
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Lin Ostrom, commons champion (1933-2012)
We are deeply saddened at the death of international commons champion and Nobel prizewinner Elinor (Lin) Ostrom on 12 June. Lin was the first and only woman to win the Nobel prize for economics. This was in 2009 for her ground-breaking work on commons. She challenged the popular notion, ‘Tragedy of the commons’, that depletion…
Read MoreCommons Training Day
We will be running a training day with Footprint Ecology on Wednesday 27 June which is designed to help land managers and others with an interest in commons to understand their rights and responsibilities and how to go about preparing for, and taking forward, management planning and works on common land. It will be run…
Read MoreProtect the common land at Mumbles Pier
Swansea Council has granted planning consent to Amusement Equipment Ltd (Ameco) for the demolition of the existing storage shed and construction of a site office for Mumbles Pier. We objected to this because not only would the development suburbanise this attractive coastal area, but it was on registered common land and any works here would…
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Wealden woodland saved from private car-park plans
Wealden District Council has thrown out plans to build a private, gated car-park on the summit of Crowborough Common in East Sussex. On 31 May nine members of the planning committee voted against Crowborough Beacon Golf Club’s proposals. The Open Spaces Society, Save Our Common and the Ramblers’ High Weald Walkers Group were among the…
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