Sixteen different groups say Government action is needed on commons

A coalition of diverse activists ranging from the head of the British Mountaineering Council to a National Farmers’ Union representative is urging the Government to put into action a law passed six years ago to record common land.

The Common Land Coalition has 16 members from various countryside interests.

The group had a letter published in today’s The Times calling on Environment Minister Richard Benyon to implement the law that would update England’s register of commons.

Common land in England and Wales is subject to rights of common, to graze animals or collect wood for instance, or waste land of the manor not subject to rights.

The definitions go back to mediaeval times but under the Commons Registration Act 1965 all commons had to be registered during a three-year period and any that failed to be registered then ceased to be common.

Commons are protected from development because any works on commons in England need consent from the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

38 per cent of open access land is common land

There is a public right to walk on all commons, and a right to ride on some, in particular those in former urban districts and those where the landowner has granted a deed of access which includes horse-riders.

Natural England, the Government’s advisory body on the outdoors established that 55 per cent of common land by area in England is designated as sites of special scientific interest and 20 per cent of SSSIs are common land.

Figures show 48 per cent by area fall within a national park and 31 per cent by area fall within an area of outstanding natural beauty. 38 per cent of open access land is common land, and 11 per cent of scheduled ancient monuments are on common land.

Campaigners said common land is suffering because there is no definitive, up-to-date record of the land and rights. A spokesperson for the Open Spaces Society, one of the groups in the new coalition, said: “The Commons Act was passed with cross-party and cross-sectoral support in 2006 specifically to address this and other issues.

“Yet part 1 of the Act, which provides for updating the registers, has only been implemented in seven ‘pioneer’ areas: Blackburn with Darwen, Cornwall, Devon, Hereford, Hertfordshire, Kent and Lancashire, in October 2008.

“Ministers recently announced the deferral of further implementation until at least 2016.

“Common land is one of England’s finest assets. There are 7,000 commons in England covering nearly 400,000ha (988,400 acres), an area roughly the size of Suffolk.

“They are nationally and internationally important for their wildlife, landscape and archaeology and virtually all the land is available for public access. Commons are the last remnants of unenclosed land from the mediaeval period and cover all types of landscape and habitat.

“However, without an up-to-date record it is difficult for commons to benefit from proper management to protect their value for nature conservation and public access, and the livelihoods of those who depend on them as grazing land.

“There is a right to walk on nearly all the commons but if they are not recorded on the register that right may not be available to the public.”

Kate Ashbrook: dismayed at Parliament inaction. Photo: Andrew McCloy

OSS general secretary Kate Ashbrook, one of the signatories to the letter, said: “The Open Spaces Society is keen for the registers to be reopened throughout England so that we can reclaim the lost commons and thereby secure the public’s rights to walk, and perhaps to ride, there.

“We believe there are many commons which were wrongly excluded from registration. Part 1 of the Commons Act enables us to win them back.

“We are dismayed that Parliament should pass such important and valuable legislation and then fail to implement it.

“So together with organisations representing graziers, the commons registration authorities, landscape and access interests, we have called on the minister to reconsider his decision of deferral, and to implement part 1 of the Commons Act 2006 without further delay.”

Members of the Common Land Coalition are: Julia Aglionby, chairman, Foundation for Common Land; Kate Ashbrook, general secretary, Open Spaces Society; John Thorley, director Pastoral Alliance; Helen Jackson, chief executive Campaign for National Parks; Helen Gilbert, chairman Association of Commons Registration Authorities; Benedict Southworth, chief executive Ramblers; Mark Weston, director British Horse Society; Robin Milton, chairman NFU Uplands Forum; Jan Darrall, policy officer, Friends of the Lake District;

Dave Turnbull, one of the letter's signatories

Howard Davies, chief executive, National Association for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty; John Waldon, South West Uplands Federation; Phil Stocker, chief executive, National Sheep Association; Jeremy Moody, secretary Central Association of Agricultural Valuers; Ian Mercer, chairman Dartmoor Commoners’ Council; Dave Smith, chairman Federation of Cumbrian Commoners; Dave Turnbull, chief executive, British Mountaineering Council.