Development on scenic Surrey common
We are dismayed that the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has granted Southern Gas Networks permission for a gas installation on Broad Street and Rydes Hill Commons, near Guildford in Surrey. Southern Gas applied to the environment secretary in 2008 to place a gas installation on the common, replacing an existing…
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The campaign to save the view from Richmond Hill
We have joined campaigners fighting to save the magnificent view from Richmond Hill. This view is threatened by a high-rise residential block as part of the redevelopment of Twickenham station. The objectors include the Twickenham Residents’ Action Group, TRAG. Richmond Council has accepted a proposal from Network Rail and Solum Regeneration for this development. The…
Read MoreWe commemorate our path pioneer, Octavia Hill
The year 2012 marks the centenary of the death of Octavia Hill, an early activist of the Open Spaces Society. Octavia became involved in the society in about 1875 shortly after her unsuccessful campaign to buy the fields between Swiss Cottage and Hampstead in west London. She joined the committee of the society, urging it…
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Open Spaces Society becomes a company
On 1 January 2012 the Open Spaces Society gains company status, registered in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee, number 7846516. This follows our special general meeting on 23 November where members voted unanimously that the society should become a company. The society will continue to be known as the Open Spaces…
Read MoreWe fight development on treasured Picket Mead common
Carrington Moore Estates wants to build four houses next to Picket Mead Common at Murton, Swansea, with a driveway over the common and cabling underneath it. Last December Welsh ministers rejected appeals by the company against the refusal of permission for a similar application, but the developers are trying again to get consent. We have…
Read MoreCelebrating success in saving and creating spaces for the public
We have launched our first Open Space Award. The society is inviting applicants who can demonstrate an activity that protects, increases, enhances and champions common land, town and village greens, open spaces and public paths in England and Wales, and the public’s right to enjoy them. Details are on our website here or phone 01491…
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Chorleywood Common fencing plan withdrawn
We are relieved that Chorleywood Parish Council has withdrawn its application for fencing on the lovely Chorleywood Common in Hertfordshire. The council had applied to the Secretary of State for Environment for consent, under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006, to erect 1,152 metres of permanent fencing and 352 metres of temporary fencing, enclosing…
Read MoreWe say no to car park on Suffolk common
We have objected to an application from Wortham & Burgate Parish Council to construct a tarmac car-park on Long Green Common, Wortham in Suffolk. The council has applied for the consent of the Secretary of State for Environment for works on common land, under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006. The tarmac surface will…
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Fighting fencing on Padworth Common
We have joined the British Horse Society and over 120 other local objectors in opposing plans by West Berkshire Council to fence Padworth Common, west of Mortimer in West Berkshire. The council, which owns the land, wants to graze livestock there to improve the biodiversity and has applied to the Planning Inspectorate for consent for…
Read MoreBraintree Green Common freed from unlawful fence
We are delighted to have helped achieve the prompt removal of the unlawful picket-fence around part of Braintree Green Common at Rayne, one mile west of Braintree in Essex. At the end of September, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs refused retrospective consent for the 1.1-metre-high fence on common land, around…
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