Pennine walkers hit out at path cuts
Our general secretary Kate Ashbrook has slated government plans to cut local-council spending on public rights of way. Kate, who is also patron of the Walkers Are Welcome Town Network and a trustee of the Ramblers, was launching the South Pennines Walk & Ride Festival in the Walkers Are Welcome town of Ilkley, West Yorkshire,…
Read MoreDon’t cut the countryside!
England’s conservation organisations have joined forces to paint a grim picture of a countryside starved of money by budget cuts. On the 30th anniversary of the Wildlife and Countryside Link, of which the Open Spaces Society is a member, its members have issued an unprecedented warning about what the future would hold should the Government…
Read MoreGreens review rejected by experts’ gathering
The national seminar on common land and town and village greens on 1 July, at the University of Gloucester, rejected the notion of a wholesale review of the laws for the registration of new greens. Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society, proposed the motion This seminar believes that little change is needed…
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Our open day
OSS members enjoyed the society’s open day, at Netley Abbey in Hampshire, on 26 June. The event was hosted by our member, the Bursledon Rights of Way and Amenities Preservation Group which is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year. There were talks and discussion about open spaces and paths in the morning, with a choice…
Read MoreProtest walk
Join the protest walk at Breaky Bottom, near Rodmell, East Sussex on Saturday 12 June. Meet at Southease station (on the rail line from Lewes to Newhaven and Seaford) at 10.35 am. Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, with many walkers, will be demonstrating against the exclusion of the public from a piece of freedom-to-roam downland at…
Read MoreFencing go-ahead for Wolstanton Common
The environment secretary has approved a plan to erect fencing on common land at Wolstanton, Newcastle under Lyme. The application was from the headteacher of May Bank Infants School (Staffordshire County Council) for consent, under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006, to fence off an area of common land adjoining the school. There will…
Read MoreThanet’s plans to sell off open space
We have deplored plans by Thanet District Council to sell off open spaces, which will be discussed at an extraordinary cabinet meeting on 20 May. The cabinet will hear from members of the public on its ‘potential asset disposal sites’ and will take a decision on the sell-off at a later date. There are plans…
Read MoreCommons and greens event
The eighth national seminar on common land and town and village greens organised by the Countryside and Community Research Institute will be on Thursday 1 July at the University of Gloucestershire’s Park Campus in Cheltenham. It will focus on best practice in the management and protection of commons and greens. Our general secretary and case…
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Cavendish village green in Suffolk is voted liveliest in country
TruGreen, the world’s largest professional lawn care company, together with The Sunday Telegraph, Life, has named Cavendish Village Green in Suffolk the liveliest in the country. Entrants were invited to send a picture and 50 words on why they thought their nominated village green was the liveliest in the country to the judges at TruGreen…
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Oppressive fence to go
South Oxfordshire District Council has refused retrospective planning permission to a close-boarded fence, nearly two metres high, alongside the public footpath at Deanacre, off Deanfield Road in Henley-on-Thames. Mr Philip Turner, of 2 Deanacre applied to the council to legitimise the fence which was erected unlawfully, without planning permission, last year. It replaced a lower,…
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