Oxford’s green spaces make the city one of the most desirable places to live and work. Yet they are under constant threat from housing and commercial development.

The Oxford Green Spaces Circular Walk has been created by Friends of Warneford Meadow, Friends of the Trap Grounds, Friends of Oxpens Meadow and CPRE Oxford City with assistance from The Ramblers' Association to increase awareness of these green spaces.

Local communities are fighting to protect their much-loved and often little-known areas by registering them as Town Greens. The Trap Grounds in north Oxford was successfully registered as a Town Green in 2006 and is now protected for the public to enjoy. The Friends of Oxpens Meadow and the Friends of Warneford Meadow are currently fighting to have their local green spaces protected in the same way.

Oxpens Meadow is a five-acre public open space owned by Oxford City Council. It is located near the centre of Oxford, beside and behind the ice rink on Oxpens Road. Fringed by trees and shrubs along the banks of the Thames and the Castle Mill Stream, Oxpens Meadow is a natural grassy flood plain with an interesting variety of plants and birdlife. For decades the public has enjoyed the meadow for informal recreation such as walking, bird-watching, kite-flying and sports. Formal uses include visits by the circus, hot air balloon launches, the annual Oxford Pride event and the finish line for an annual cycling event.

The area is currently under threat of development as part of the City Council's regeneration scheme for the West End. For more information visit: www.oxpensmeadow.org The Trap Grounds (six acres of reedbed, ponds and woodland in suburban north Oxford) were registered as a Town Green after a four-year legal campaign by the local community, ending in the House of Lords in 2006. The future of this wildlife haven is now assured — not only for the resident glow worms and water voles, but for walkers and bird-watchers in search of peace and quiet. For more information, contact the secretary of the Friends of The Trap Grounds on 01865 511307 or visit the website: www.trap-grounds.org.uk

Warneford Meadow is a well-loved semi-rural area of open land alongside Boundary Brook, behind Warneford Hospital in east Oxford. Part of the site is a large orchard producing an annual crop of many varieties of apple. The meadow was originally bought to provide a healthy environment for patients from the hospital and is now a haven for wildlife of all kinds. In April 2009, Oxfordshire County Council voted to register Warneford Meadow as a Town Green. The NHS, the owners of the land, subsequently lost a Judicial Review into the legal case for registration and announced it would not be taking the matter further. It is now expected that OCC will proceed with registration of the meadow as a Town Green.

The Friends of Warneford Meadow exists to preserve the meadow for present and future recreation and enjoyment and to promote its biodiversity. For more information visit the website: www.friendsofwarnefordmeadow.

org.uk CPRE Oxford City campaigns to protect green spaces in the city and to promote access to the surrounding Green Belt. CPRE is working with organisations such as the Friends of Oxpens Meadow and the Friends of Warneford Meadow to raise money to fight for the legal protection of green spaces. Visit the CPRE Oxfordshire website: www.cpreoxon.org.uk CPRE Oxford is holding a sponsored walk to help support its campaigning activities on June 27.

For more information, and to download a sponsorship form, visit: www.cpreoxon.org.uk, or contact CPRE Oxfordshire, Punches Barn, Waterperry Road, Holton, Oxon, OX33 1PP, call 01865 874780