Harrogate Borough Council backs down on Stray plans
We warmly welcome Harrogate Borough Council’s decision to drop its plans to extend and expand the use of Harrogate Stray for commercial activities. The Stray is a historic green space at the heart of the town. The council was proposing to extend beyond 35 days the number of days on which events could be…
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We press government to take urgent action to save parks
We are disappointed that the House of Commons Communities and Local Government (CLG) Committee, in its recent report on public parks, has rejected the proposal that a statutory duty be placed on local authorities to provide and maintain parks. The CLG Committee held an inquiry into public parks and asked three questions: why parks matter, what…
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Red card for Merton Council over blacktop on green
A member of the Open Spaces Society, Mitcham Cricket Green Community & Heritage, has today published a report on works undertaken on the Mitcham town greens by Merton Council which accuses the council of ignoring statutory controls and illegally developing valuable open space. The works, undertaken in June 2016, involved operations along Cranmer Road and…
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Wisley interchange upgrade: Highways England must put its own house in order first
We have responded to the consultation on an upgrade to Wisley M25/A3 interchange by calling on Highways England to put its own house in order first. The society is opposed to the upgrade, but also notes that, more than 30 years after the construction of the M25 through Wisley common and Chatley Heath, the motorway…
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Our new representatives in Cornwall
We have appointed two new representatives in Cornwall: Jacqueline Merrick for Kerrier and Lucy Wilson for North Cornwall. As local correspondents, Jacqueline and Lucy will be the society’s eyes and ears, keeping a close watch on paths, commons, greens and open spaces in their areas and intervening as necessary. Among other activities, they will object…
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Friends of Coldhams Common celebrate removal of barbed wire fencing
Our member, Friends of Coldhams Common, is celebrating the removal of over 330m of barbed wire fence on the common. The fencing was a serious hazard to dogs and walkers on the common and probably dated from a 1980s City Council grant for tree planting. The barbed wire was erected to protect the trees from…
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Packed village hall for launch of campaign for Dorchester’s paths and open spaces
The village hall at Dorchester on Thames in Oxfordshire was packed on Tuesday evening (10 January) for the launch of the village’s campaign to preserve the footpaths and open access to the historic Dyke Hills and Day’s Lock Meadow close to the River Thames. Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary, and Dorchester resident Becky Waller spoke…
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Fencing rejected on Snettisham Common
The Secretary of State for Environment has refused an application for fencing on Snettisham Common in north Norfolk. Snettisham Parish Council, which owns the common, had applied for retrospective consent for two lengths of fencing on the common, one around the top of a sandpit and the other between the car-parking area and the picnic…
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Saving open spaces and footpaths at Dorchester-on-Thames
Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, and local correspondent for Oxfordshire, Chris Hall, will be speaking at a public meeting in Dorchester Village Hall on Tuesday 10th January as part of a local initiative to preserve footpaths and open access to the Dyke Hills and Days Lock area near Dorchester-on-Thames. Local resident, and OSS member Becky…
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Kent County Council to retain its country parks
We are delighted that Kent County Council (KCC) has decided not to sell its country parks, including Blue Bell Hill picnic site, near Burham on the North Downs. Last February the society objected in response to KCC’s public notice announcing its intention to dispose of the land at Blue Bell Hill. The society argued that…
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