Defra undermined
Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, comments on the environment secretary’s recent announcements. The environment secretary George Eustice was on a high with his big announcements from Delamere Forest in Cheshire on 18 May. He grandly promised ‘to halt the decline of nature’ with a ‘legally-binding’ target for species abundance (to be defined) by 2030, restoration…
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Patricia’s heroic hike
Schoolgirl Patricia Wittbom chose to raise money for the society by a challenge walk. She tells her story. My name is Patricia Wittbom, I’m 11 years old and I am in year 7 at Tytherington School, Macclesfield, Cheshire. During the last year of covid lockdown I was lucky to be able to go out each…
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Old allies rekindle the campaign for national parks
With a government announcement on the review of England’s protected landscapes imminent, our general secretary Kate Ashbrook reflects on the seventieth anniversary of national parks and the work still to be done. Two years ago, I enjoyed a wonderful day in the Peak District—a place I love and to which I long to return once…
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High court puts a stop to zoo parking on Bristol downs
We have welcomed a high court order which, by 2022, will bring to an end decades of parking on Clifton and Durdham Downs to accommodate visitors to Bristol zoo. We celebrate the successful outcome of a High Court challenge to zoo parking on the Downs in Bristol. The group Downs for People, a member of…
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New activist in Kirklees
We have appointed Stephen Hill as our local correspondent for Kirklees in West Yorkshire. Stephen will keep a close watch on paths, commons, greens and open spaces. Stephen lives in East Bierley, four miles south-east of Bradford. He has recently retired from a long career in civil engineering, working on many large infrastructure projects in…
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Green spaces, open places
The Open Spaces Society’s call to candidates in the Senedd election, 6 May 2021. The pandemic has shown the importance of public paths and open spaces for recreation and relaxation, now is the time to invest in them for the health and well-being of the people of Wales. The Open Spaces Society[1] calls on candidates…
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Make London a more natural capital
The Open Spaces Society has joined 17 other environmental groups in urging the candidates in the London Mayoral election to back ‘A more natural capital’. The manifesto calls for support for our Charter for Open Spaces, and the dedication of green spaces as town or village greens. It advocates ten new district parks, and opposition…
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Welsh Government agriculture law must step up for access
The Welsh Government’s consultation paper on the future funding for agriculture fails to spell out how subsidies will be directed to securing more and better access, and how grants will be withheld from land managers who abuse the law on public paths and access. We argued for these objectives in our response to the earlier…
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Tony Greaves (27 July 1942-23 March 2021)
We are deeply saddened that our vice-president, Tony (Lord) Greaves, has died suddenly at his home at Trawden in Lancashire. He was 78. Tony was a Liberal Democrat peer and Pendle Borough Councillor, who spoke out strongly on behalf of the environment and people’s rights. He entered the House of Lords as a life peer…
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Countryside Code’s seventieth anniversary
The Open Spaces Society’s involvement with the Countryside Code precedes its first publication, as the Country Code, in 1951. In fact, with the Ramblers, we instigated it. The society has always wanted to see greater access to the countryside and everyone to feel welcome there. In 1945 we noted that one of the difficulties we…
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