Our new path-protagonist for Guildford
We are pleased to announce that we have appointed Colin Sandford as our new local correspondent for the Borough of Guildford in Surrey. Colin, who lives in Effingham, has a lifelong interest in horse-riding and this inspired his interest in countryside access. Colin will be our eyes and ears in this area, keeping a close…
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High court allows privatisation of public park
We are dismayed that the High Court has ruled that part of Crystal Palace Park in the London Borough of Bromley can be sacrificed for commercial development. His Honour Mr Justice Keith has rejected an appeal from the Crystal Palace Community Association against the London Development Agency’s Crystal Palace Park Masterplan. This includes the sale…
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Lin Ostrom, commons champion (1933-2012)
We are deeply saddened at the death of international commons champion and Nobel prizewinner Elinor (Lin) Ostrom on 12 June. Lin was the first and only woman to win the Nobel prize for economics. This was in 2009 for her ground-breaking work on commons. She challenged the popular notion, ‘Tragedy of the commons’, that depletion…
Read MoreCommons Training Day
We will be running a training day with Footprint Ecology on Wednesday 27 June which is designed to help land managers and others with an interest in commons to understand their rights and responsibilities and how to go about preparing for, and taking forward, management planning and works on common land. It will be run…
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Wealden woodland saved from private car-park plans
Wealden District Council has thrown out plans to build a private, gated car-park on the summit of Crowborough Common in East Sussex. On 31 May nine members of the planning committee voted against Crowborough Beacon Golf Club’s proposals. The Open Spaces Society, Save Our Common and the Ramblers’ High Weald Walkers Group were among the…
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Give more recognition to Wales’s unique common land
The society is concerned that the Welsh Government’s Green Paper, Sustaining a Living Wales, pays insufficient regard to the nation’s superb common land and landscape, and people’s ability to enjoy it. The society has submitted a robust response to the consultation paper, calling for greater recognition of these important features. Says David Bateman, our spokesman…
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Yeadon Banks green space is safe for ever
We are delighted that the Supreme Court has refused to allow Leeds Group plc to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s ruling that Yeadon Banks, Leeds, should be registered as a green. This means that the registration of Yeadon Banks is confirmed, and the 2.2-hectare site is safe from development. We backed the applicant for…
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New plans for hidden highways
We are pleased that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is today (Monday 14 May) launching a public consultation about plans to make it easier to get England’s official map of public paths up to date. The ‘definitive’ maps of rights of way are lamentably incomplete. There are many public footpaths, bridleways…
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We call for new Wales body to focus on commons, spaces and paths
We have called for the new single environmental body in Wales to focus on common land, open spaces and public paths. The society has responded to the Welsh Government’s consultation paper, Natural Resources Wales. This invites views on the arrangements for establishing and directing a new body for the management of Wales’s natural resources, by…
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Chorleywood Common
Chorleywood Common is an amazing place. Within a mile of the M25 and surrounded by roads and railways, it survives as a wild oasis, breathtakingly lovely with its wide open spaces and mixed woodland. It is a reminder, in miniature, of our pre-inclosure landscapes. It is enjoyed by walkers and riders, residents and visitors of…
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