Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Countryside society leader marks milestone
Kate Ashbrook has been at the helm of the Open Spaces Society for 40 years
THE general secretary of the Open Spaces Society, Britain’s oldest national conservation organisation, has celebrated the 40th anniversary of her appointment.
Kate Ashbrook is the longest-serving chief executive officer among bodies dedicated to the amenities and freedom of the countryside.
The Open Spaces Society was founded in 1865 and is Britain’s oldest national conservation body. It campaigns to protect common land, village greens, open spaces and public paths, and people’s right to enjoy them, throughout England and Wales.
In her time in office, she says she has worked for and welcomed remarkable changes in the safeguarding of commons, greens and public paths, the objects of the society’s care since it was founded.
Kate said: “We now have a right of access to all registered commons, and many town and village greens are registered and protected against development as never before. That was not true when I took the job.
“Public paths do not yet have the protection they deserve. Too often they are closed or moved at the whim of landowners. And there are local authorities whose record in failing to keep these country lifelines open is disgraceful. Worse still the Westminster government is determined to abolish hundreds of miles of unrecorded, historic paths in less than seven years’ time.
‘“I foresee plenty of fighting ahead, and I hope to be in the thick of it.”
The organisation has a staff of only nine – mostly part-time – and 45 volunteers spread around England and Wales.
“I am proud of them all,” Kate said. “We back them with training and advice: the law relating to commons, greens, open spaces, and public highways is complex and not easy to navigate. An email to the Henley
office from any of our volunteers or other members always gets a swift and constructive response.
“Our volunteers know that when the chips are down the society is always ready to go to law, to the Supreme Court if need be. Our record of legal victories is a distinguished one.”