What happened to balance?
When the Commons Bill was published in 2005 we were concerned, among other things, about part 1, which allows for correction and updating of the common-land registers. We feared that in the process we might lose more than we gained. However, ministers continually assured us, and parliament, that the bill was balanced and affected landowners…
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Landmark judgment on highway obstruction
A High Court judge has ruled that gates erected across Barcroft Lane by Mr Brian Herrick, owner of the £3.8-million Barcroft Hall at South Petherton in Somerset, are unlawful. They must now be removed. On 17 February Mr Justice Cranston handed down his judgment in Herrick v Kidner and Somerset County Council, which is the…
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Open space at Longbenton, North Tyneside protected as village green
The Fusilier Field at Longbenton in North Tyneside has been registered as a village green, and can be enjoyed by local people for ever more. The application to register was made to North Tyneside Council by Christine Kay and Alasdair & Dorothy Wilson with support from the Fusilier Field Action Group, a member of the…
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Presentation to winners of OS Award 2013
Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, was delighted to visit Widmer Fields in Buckinghamshire recently to present our Open Space Award 2013 to Grange Area Trust for their campaigning work to save the fields which have been threatened many times with development. The Trust, which was established with the aim of conserving the 16-hectare fields as…
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Inclosure revived
Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, writes about the revival of the inclosure movement. A century and a half ago we thought the inclosures were coming to an end—about the time that the Open Spaces Society was formed. Indeed, I said as much in Japan recently to an international audience on commons, and commiserated with those…
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Brendon Commons, Exmoor, set to become first commons council under new law
We have backed a proposal to create a commons council for the Brendon Commons in the Exmoor National Park. This would be the first-ever commons council under the Commons Act 2006. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is consulting on whether to establish the commons council and will only do so…
Read MoreNo authority for alien hedge on Hertfordshire common
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has refused consent to Mr James Wright for a conifer hedge on registered common land at the former Old Chequers pub near Flamstead in Hertfordshire. The society and Flamstead Parish Council were among the nine objectors to the application for works on common land, under…
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Another nail in the village greens’ coffin
We have warned communities throughout England that on 1 October new laws take effect which will further erode their rights to save their green spaces by registering them as a town or village green. The society fears that the changes will be particularly detrimental at a time when open space for communities is so vulnerable.…
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South Bristol link road’s damage to commons and paths
We have objected to the proposed South Bristol Link Road, because of the damage it will cause to Highridge Common, south-west of Bristol, and to the public-path network. Our local correspondent for Bristol, Chris Bloor, has submitted a robust objection to Bristol and North Somerset Councils who are promoting the scheme. Says Chris: ‘We are…
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Section 56 and all that …………
Alan Lyne, our local correspondent for Carlisle City, tells of his success in getting rights of way opened with the threat of a notice under section 56 of the Highways Act 1980. Trawling back through the Redspearlands Footpaths Group’s archives, Alan came across the papers from a meeting of the Cumbria County Council Development Control…
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