We save Shropshire footpath from diversion
We have saved 100 metres of a footpath at Berrington, about four miles south-east of Shrewsbury, from being moved. Shropshire Council promoted the proposal on behalf of the landowner. Because we objected to the formal order, it was referred to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Planning Inspectorate determined…
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Mass protest against missing Thames-side footbridge at Fawley
On Saturday 16 November more than 150 people, from Henley-on-Thames and beyond, joined a rally to protest at the year-long closure of Fawley footpath 12 due to a missing footbridge at Fawley Court in Buckinghamshire. The closure is forcing walkers onto the dangerous A4155 Henley-to-Marlow road. The protest was organised by the Ramblers Henley and…
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The Ethical Gift
Would you like to find a present for outdoorsy friends or family with a conscience? Ethical and environmentally friendly gifts are increasingly popular and rightly so. The Open Spaces Society is a small charity that fights to conserve and promote our environment by seeking protection for paths and open spaces, so that everyone can enjoy…
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We fight Henley Festival footpath closure
We have objected to plans by the Henley Festival for the temporary closure of the Thames Path National Trail in July 2020. Every year since 1998 the Festival has applied to Wokingham Borough Council, the highway authority, for the temporary closure of the path before, during and after the Festival—and the council has agreed. The…
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Welsh government must ensure new payments to farmers lead to better public access
We have called on the Welsh government to ensure that the payment of public money under the new Sustainable Land Management scheme will benefit the public who wish to gain access to Wales’s farmed land. The society has responded to the Welsh government’s consultation paper Sustainable Farming and our Land. The society wishes to see…
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We save path at Honing and East Ruston in Norfolk
A footpath in the parishes of Honing and East Ruston in north Norfolk has been reopened, thanks to the persistence of our local correspondent Ian Witham. In 2012 Ian reported to the highway authority, Norfolk County Council, that part of footpath 15 in Honing and 27 in East Ruston was under water from the construction…
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We win greater width for Mayfield footpath
Brendan Clegg, our local correspondent for Wealden District in East Sussex, has won a five-metre width on a footpath at Mayfield. The county council promoted a plan to move the path, but proposed that the new route had a width of only two and a half metres. Brendan argued that this was insufficient, particularly if…
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York Council agrees to step up its work on public paths
York City Council has agreed to step up its work on public paths. The decision was made by the council’s executive on 18 July, in response to a complaint by our member, Mr Graham Cheyne, to the local government ombudsman (LGO). On 9 May the LGO told the City of York Council that it must…
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We Save Bridleway Across School Grounds
We have helped to save a 935-metre-long section of public bridleway across the grounds of Christ’s Hospital School, near Horsham in West Sussex. Our local correspondent, Paul Brown, and society member Ruth Fletcher (of the Horsham District Cycling Forum) were among the objectors who fought the change at a public inquiry—and won. The existing bridleway…
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Call For England Coast Path To Extend Up The Hamble Estuary
We have called on Natural England to extend the England Coast Path up the Hamble estuary in Hampshire to cross at the A27 bridge. Tn Natural England, which is defining the route of the path, proposes to rely on the Hamble-Warsash ferry to provide a suitable crossing point. It has not proposed to extend…
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