Two new greens are registered in Kent for local people to enjoy
Two new village greens have been registered in Kent: Four Acres Green in East Malling and Willow Road Green in Larkfield. Now they are protected for ever more. Four Acres Green was set aside as a play area when the council estate was built in the 1960s. It has been used for informal recreation ever…
Read MoreFence allowed on Lancashire common—but only for ten years
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has allowed fencing on Champion Moss in the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Lancashire but has limited the consent to ten years. The application was made by Mr Thomas Woodcock of Slaidburn for the erection of stock-proof fencing around 11 acres of…
Read MoreFootpaths at Cleeve, North Somerset, saved from alteration
Cleeve Parish Council, a member of the Open Spaces Society, and our local correspondent for North Somerset, John Ives, have succeeded in getting an Inspector to reject a proposal to move several footpaths at Main Road, Cleeve, two miles north-east of Congresbury. Originally the highway authority, North Somerset District Council, sought to overcome a longstanding…
Read More
Village green victory at Steyning, West Sussex
With the Friends of Memorial Playing Field at Steyning in the South Downs National Park, we are delighted that West Sussex County Council has resolved to extend village-green status to the whole of the Memorial Playing Field (MPF). The council took the decision on Tuesday 26 February, to register land adjoining the existing village green,…
Read More
Common land reclaimed at Zennor, Cornwall
Carn Galva Common, west of Zennor in west Cornwall, has been reclaimed as registered common land, using legislation which is being pioneered in Cornwall (part 1 of the Commons Act 2006). Following a public inquiry last month, planning inspector Mrs Helen Slade ruled that the land should be recorded on the commons register. Carn Galva Common…
Read More
Dick Hutchins—access man extraordinaire
Dick Hutchins: born 28 April 1915, died 19 January 2013 RN (Dick) Hutchins has died aged 97. He was a member of the society since the 1930s—while studying law at the London School of Economics he learnt about the campaigns for the right to roam (then gathering a head of steam) which inspired him to…
Read More
Open spaces need friends more than ever
‘Open spaces have never been more in need of friends.’ So declared Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary at a meeting of the London Green Spaces Friends Groups Network on Monday evening, 4 February, at City Hall, London. She was sharing her campaign experience of fighting threats to green spaces with friends groups from open spaces…
Read More
The spirit of Kinder lives on—81 years later
The first in what is hoped will be an annual celebration of Kinder Scout and the mass trespass will be held at New Mills Town Hall on Saturday 27 April. The Kinder & High Peak Advisory Group has decided that such was the enthusiasm engendered by the 80th anniversary celebrations last year, the event should…
Read MoreWe need a champion for the environment and public access
We have called for there to be a strong agency to champion the environment, landscape and public access to and enjoyment of the outdoors in England. The society was responding to the triennial review of the Environment Agency and Natural England being carried out by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The…
Read More
Open spaces to lose democratic protection
The government proposes to remove democratic protection from open spaces threatened with compulsory purchase. The House of Lords will debate these plans, which are in clause 22 of the Growth and Infrastructure Bill, on Monday (4 February). We are urging members of the House of Lords to oppose clause 22 because it puts open spaces…
Read More