Land saved for the community in Weston, Bath
The residents of Weston, Bath, and the Open Spaces Society are delighted that four hectares known as ‘The Field Behind Purlewent Drive’ in Weston have been registered as a village green. This means that local people have the right to enjoy the land for informal recreation and it is protected from development. Local people initiated…
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We announce winners of 2013 Open Space Award
We were delighted to announce the winners of our prestigious, national Open Space Award for 2013 at the society’s AGM in Birmingham on Tuesday (16 July). The winning entry was from the Grange Area Trust for its campaign to save Widmer Fields at Widmer End and Hazlemere in Bucks. The fields have been threatened many…
Read MoreOur vice-president deplores lack of protection for green spaces
‘It is deplorable that, 16 months after the government published its plans for protecting England’s green spaces through a new Local Green Space Designation, very few such designations have been made.’ So declared Paul Clayden, our vice-president, at the society’s AGM in Birmingham on Tuesday (16 July). ‘In March 2012 the government published its National…
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Appeal Court rules that village-greens law complies with human-rights law
We are pleased that the Court of Appeal has confirmed that the law for registering land as a town or village green complies with human rights legislation. The test case concerned land at West Beach, Newhaven, in East Sussex, where Newhaven Town Council has fought two legal challenges to its application to register the land…
Read MoreNew edition of our greens bible
We have published the third edition of Getting Green Registered, our handbook on how to register land as a town or village green in England and Wales. The book includes the changes to the law, made by the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 in April, which make it harder to register land as a green…
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Whitby village-green plan goes to Supreme Court
The Open Spaces Society and members of Helredale Neighbourhood Council (HNC) in Whitby, North Yorkshire, are delighted that the application to register Helredale playing fields as a village green will be heard in the Supreme Court. The news came last month that the applicants had won leave to appeal. The application for a green was…
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Tannen Land, Strete, is now a green
We are delighted that our member Richard Hacon and other local people have succeeded in registering Tannen Land, at Strete in south Devon, as a village green. Devon County Council approved the registration of the two-acre site last month. With advice from the society, Richard obtained evidence of use from local people and submitted this…
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OSS wins Elinor Ostrom Award
We have won a prestigious international award for our work on common land. Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, received the first-ever Elinor Ostrom Award at a global conference in Japan last week. The award was established by 15 institutions in memory of the renowned academic expert on commons, Elinor Ostrom of Indiana University, who died…
Read MoreNew bill threatens public’s rights to open spaces and paths
We are alarmed that the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill, which is to have its second reading in the House of Commons on Monday (10 June), could make trespass a criminal offence in public places in England. The Bill will enable a local authority to make a Public Spaces Protection Order on a public…
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International accolade for OSS
We have won a prestigious international award for our work on common land. Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, will receive the first-ever Elinor Ostrom Award at a global conference in Japan next month. The award was established by 15 institutions in memory of the renowned academic expert on commons, Elinor Ostrom of Indiana University, who…
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