Latest News

Open Spaces Society celebrates new town green in Swaffham, Norfolk

December 23, 2025

We’re delighted to have won a new town green in Swaffham, Norfolk.  The land is to the east of the town between Norwich Road and North Pickenham Road.    The society negotiated the registration of the green within BDW Trading Ltd’s development in exchange for withdrawing its objection to the diversion of a footpath across the site.  The society’s…

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New village green at Maes Glasfryn, St Davids, Pembrokeshire

November 25, 2025

We are celebrating the generosity of brothers Malcolm, Andrew and Stuart Gray, who voluntarily registered some of their land as a village green. This is at Ty Glasfryn (known locally as Maes Glasfryn) in the heart of the city of St Davids, Pembrokeshire, and it is thereby protected for ever for local people to enjoy.…

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Hawkhurst Moor, Kent, protected for ever 

October 28, 2025

Hawkhurst Moor, Kent, protected for ever  We have welcomed the restoration of Hawkhurst Moor to the register of town or village greens which will confer lasting protection.  Hawkhurst is 19 kilometres south-east of Tunbridge Wells. The Moor was registered by Hawkhurst Parish Council in 1967 without objection as a town or village green.  But Wye…

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We call for Wilmot Gardens, Plymouth, to be made a town green 

July 28, 2025

We are delighted that Plymouth City Councillors have rejected the proposed development of Wilmot Gardens, Crownhill, and now call on the council to register it as a town green.    After a long debate at the planning committee meeting on 24 July, members voted by 10 to 2 to reject the application for five houses,…

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Parish council sets the record straight for North Yorkshire village green

October 28, 2024

Azerley Parish Council has persuaded North Yorkshire County Council correctly to record Bogs and Hodgson Top, at Winksley, five miles west of Ripon, as a village green rather than a common.  The land lies to the north of the road from Winksley village to Winksley Bridge, between the River Laver and the road.  In 1969,…

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New village green at One Tree Hill

April 25, 2024

We are celebrating the decision by Surrey County Council to register One Tree Hill at Long Ditton as a village green, thereby protecting it for ever. The land comprises about 10 hectares of mixed woodland, open grassland, and scrub intersected by numerous paths. About seven years ago, Elmbridge Borough Council’s consultants, Ove Arup and Partners,…

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New green at Long Ditton, Surrey

April 3, 2023

We are delighted that Elmbridge Borough Council in Surrey has voluntarily registered Stokes Field, Long Ditton, as a village green. This follows a long campaign by the society. Comprising about eight hectares of mixed woodland, open grassland and scrub intersected by numerous paths, the land is also a Local Nature Reserve. After Elmbridge Council’s consultants…

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New village green at Portishead, North Somerset

December 22, 2022

We are delighted that a new village green has been registered at Portishead’s former golf course in North Somerset, thereby securing it for ever. The land has been enjoyed for informal recreation for decades. It was purchased from Bristol City Council by the then Woodspring District Council, with a covenant which said that it was…

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Norfolk common saved from electricity development

June 28, 2022

We are delighted that a Norfolk parish council has withdrawn consent for works on the local common, ensuring that the land can remain free and unencumbered. The common is a tiny (one-eighth of a hectare) patch of land south of Broomsthorpe Road in East Rudham, six miles west of Fakenham.  It is owned by the…

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