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…
Read MoreShortlist for our Open Space Award
We have announced the shortlist for our first-ever Open Space Award. Those in the running are: The Bishop’s Meadow Trust at Farnham in Surrey, Full Frontal in Medway, the Our Green Space Project in Cumbria, and Royd Regeneration in Mytholmroyd, Calderdale. The society was delighted with the response to its request for nominations for the…
Read MoreKeep the Kinder torch aflame
‘We must keep the Kinder trespassers’ torch aflame,’ declared Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society, speaking at the launch of the 80th anniversary celebrations of the Kinder Scout Mass Trespass, in Edale on Tuesday 24 April. ‘We cannot be complacent, we cannot treat Kinder as mere history. The threats which the trespassers…
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New protection for common land in Wales
We welcome the new measures brought into force in Wales on 1 April. These will give better protection to all registered common land—more than eight per cent of the land area of Wales. Welsh ministers have enacted part 3 of the Commons Act 2006, which sets out the process for obtaining consent from the Minister…
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Kinder 80 – celebrating the trespass
The Open Spaces Society will be celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Kinder Scout Mass Trespass which took place on 24 April 1932. Our general secretary Kate Ashbrook is speaking at the launch event on Tuesday 24 April and the society has contributed to the programme. Says Kate: ‘There is nothing like the right to…
Read MoreNew golfing-plans on Walton Heath Common
We have objected to plans by Walton Heath Golf Club to use part of Walton Heath Common, in Surrey, as a ‘golf-practice facility’. The golf club has submitted a planning application to Reigate and Banstead Borough Council. The land is registered common land and the public has the right to walk and ride here. We…
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Milestone court-ruling: cattle-grids on public paths
We are delighted with the successful outcome to Alan Kind’s appeal to the High Court, to clarify whether or not a council can lawfully authorise a cattle-grid across the full width of a footpath or bridleway. This decision will provide additional protection for our public paths and better safety for the people using them. Capheaton…
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South Downs National Park anniversary celebrated
‘The South Downs National Park was achieved by a mixture of vision and persistence.’ So said Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society, Britain’s oldest national conservation body, at a rally organised on 1 April by the Hampshire and Sussex Ramblers at Queen Elizabeth Country Park, Petersfield. The event was to mark the…
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