West Yorkshire green space saved in appeal court
We are delighted that the Court of Appeal today overturned a High Court judgment, so that Clayton Fields at Birkby, Huddersfield, will now be registered as a village green. The 6.5 acres of sloping, partly-wooded, green space was first registered as a green in 1997, under the Commons Registration Act 1965. The registration was overturned…
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Court of Appeal judgment threatens village greens
We are disappointed that the Court of Appeal today upheld a decision of the High Court (23 November 2010) on Markham and Little Francis village green at Weymouth in Dorset. Read the judgment here. The judges determined that the land was wrongly registered as a green. It will be removed from the register, leaving it…
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Anne Wilks, 1918-2012
We are sad to report that our vice-president Anne Wilks has died aged 93. Anne lived for most of her life in Kent and was a tireless campaigner for commons, greens and public paths. She moved to Kent in 1924 and lived in Seasalter, Whitstable and finally Gravesend. Anne claimed countless paths for the official…
Read MoreChippenham Mead village green should be treasured not trashed
We have objected to an application from Monmouth Sports Association to erect a shelter on Chippenham Mead village green, Monmouth, in connection with the sporting activities there. The club has applied to the Welsh Government for consent for works on the village green. We are concerned that the shelter will intrude on the open space,…
Read MoreThreats to green spaces and public paths in farming ‘red tape’ cuts
We are concerned that the government’s response to the Farming Regulation Task Force report gives no assurance that it will protect our green spaces and public paths. Says Nicola Hodgson, our case officer: ‘The task force attacked the process for registering land as town or village greens, claiming that there was “a proliferation of inappropriate…
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Thames-side green space saved
We congratulate all those involved in the Save King’s Stairs Gardens’ campaign on their successful application to register this land at Rotherhithe as a town or village green. The group submitted the application to the London Borough of Southwark, the greens registration authority, in August 2011, with supporting evidence of local people’s use of the…
Read MoreAshton Vale green goes to High Court
We welcome the news that the High Court will review Bristol City Council’s decision to register only part of the 42-acre site at Ashton Vale, Bedminster, as a town or village green. The application for judicial review was made by the Save Ashton Vale Environment (SAVE) group. Bristol City Football Club wants to build a…
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‘Get a green’—our new-year call to communities
We have called on communities throughout England to ‘get a green’ as part of the new neighbourhood planning system. This year communities throughout England will be developing their new neighbourhood development plans under the Localism Act 2011. This involves identifying where development should and should not take place. However, the law prevents development on land…
Read MoreWe commemorate our path pioneer, Octavia Hill
The year 2012 marks the centenary of the death of Octavia Hill, an early activist of the Open Spaces Society. Octavia became involved in the society in about 1875 shortly after her unsuccessful campaign to buy the fields between Swiss Cottage and Hampstead in west London. She joined the committee of the society, urging it…
Read MoreOSS responds to local government association’s attack on new village greens
We have responded robustly to an outburst from the Local Government Association today on new village greens. Says Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary: ‘The LGA has not produced hard evidence to back its allegation that people are applying for village green status in order to block development. ‘The LGA implies that this happens frequently. In…
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