Common Land
Making an application for consent after 1 October 2007
From 1st of October 2007, the section dealing with common land and greens (protection) will be relocated from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to the Planning Inspectorate.
Anyone wishing to make an application after this date will need to apply to:
The Planning Inspectorate
Commons and Greens Protection Team
Rm 4/05
2 The Square
Temple Quay House
Temple Quay
Bristol
BS1 6PN
The move will coincide with the introduction of two new consenting regimes (and associated application forms) under the Commons Act 2006. Both will come into force on 1st October:
Section 38 of the Commons Act 2006
Section 38 replaces section 194 of the Law of Property Act 1925, which is repealed.
Under section 38, consent is generally needed from the Secretary of State for any restricted works on registered common land. Restricted works are those which prevent or impede access to or over the land, which might include erecting fencing, constructing buildings, digging ditches or resurfacing of land with tarmac and similar materials.
Section 16 of the Commons Act 2006
Section 16 replaces section 147 of the Inclosure Act 1845, which is repealed.
Under section 16, owners of registered common land or town or village greens can apply to have the land released from registration. If the ‘release land’ is more than 200 square metres in area, they must make an application at the same time to register ‘replacement land’ as common land or green in its place. If the release land is smaller than 200 square metres, a proposal to register replacement land may (but need not) be included.
For details of applications made before the 1st October please refer back to the Defra website.
