Championing Chiltern commons
As the Chilterns Commons Project comes to an end, project officer Rachel Sanderson reflects on its achievements. In the south-east of England, a large number of small commons provide important recreational facilities for people in urban and semi-urban communities. Over the last four years, the Chilterns Commons Project, run by the Chilterns Conservation Board, has…
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The Royal Commission on Common Land at 60
Today, 25 July, marks the sixtieth anniversary of the establishment by parliament of the Royal Commission on Common Land in 1955. The commission made far-reaching recommendations for the future of commons in England and Wales. The society had been pressing for a royal commission for some time. In October 1953 it asked the Minister of Agriculture for…
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Wycombe Rye rescue a milestone in the Open Spaces Society’s 150-year history
‘We saved the incomparable Wycombe Rye 50 years ago through joint local and national effort,’ said Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary. Kate was giving a talk to the High Wycombe Society on 15 July. Says Kate: ‘In 1964 the secretary of the newly-formed Wycombe Rye Protection Society, forerunner of the High Wycombe Society, wrote to…
Read MoreOur AGM marks ups and downs for green spaces
‘The Open Spaces Society has never been more needed in its 150-year history than today, as green spaces are increasingly threatened.’ So declared our vice-president, open spaces expert Paul Clayden, at our annual general meeting today (9 July). ‘The society played a significant role in rescuing Welsh village greens from the damaging law which has prevented their…
Read MoreCommercial camping development on national park common is rejected
The Planning Inspectorate has rejected an application from Woodland Property Services to erect 10 camping pods (wooden cabins on post-mounted bases) on Blawith Common in the Lake District National Park. The society, with the Friends of the Lake District, the Lake District National Park Authority, Blawith and Subberthwaite Parish Council, Blawith and Subberthwaite Commoners’ Association…
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Talking commons in Canada
The biennial conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC) was held this year in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Kate Ashbrook attended, generously funded by the Elinor Ostrom Award of which the society was a winner in 2013. Here is her summary of her visit. I travelled with John Powell from the Countryside and…
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Fighting on
‘Opinion’ by our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, was published in the summer 2015 issue of Open Space. When David Cameron announced on 8 May that he was forming a government, he boasted of his achievements over the last five years and what he would do in the next five. Not surprisingly there was no mention…
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Yateley Common fencing-plan withdrawn
Hampshire County Council and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust have withdrawn their controversial plan to erect fencing on Yateley Common. They had applied to the Planning Inspectorate for consent, under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006, to erect 24 kilometres of fencing on the common to enable it to be grazed.…
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Major victory for green spaces of Wales
The Welsh Government has decided not to ape England’s village-greens law. In December 2013 we learnt that the Welsh Government was proposing, in its Planning (Wales) Bill, to copy the provisions of England’s egregious Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 for greens. In other words, it proposed that applications for greens should be outlawed when land had been identified for planning,…
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We fight fence on limestone beauty-spot
We are fighting an application from the Farleton Knott Commoners’ Association for a 550-metre fence along the west side of Puddlemire Lane across Farleton Knott common, in Cumbria. Farleton Knott, close to the M6 three miles east of Milnthorpe, is a limestone hill of outstanding natural beauty and interest for its geology and flora and…
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