THE Commons Registration Act 1965 was introduced to allow the formal registration of common land and village greens in England and Wales.
Following the implementation of the Act, any qualifying applicants were able to have land brought under the protection of designation as either ‘common land’ or as a ‘village green’. This would restrict future use of such areas to those set out in the Act and prevent the enclosure and development of such land.
In general terms, common land means land owned by one person over which another person is entitled to exercise 'rights of common', such as grazing animals. Rights of common have their origin in local custom. These rights are exercisable together with, or in common with, others.
Common land may be owned privately, by a local authority or by an organisation such as the National Trust. Sometimes it comes with a right to roam. It may be open access land but, again, the public’s rights will vary on what the owner permits and what is registered. For example, some may allow cycling or horse riding, but others may not.
Typically you can use town and village greens for sports and recreation.
Local authorities keep a ‘Register of Common Land and Village Greens’ and each entry in the register includes:
- a description of the land
- who has rights to use it, and what those rights are
- who owns it, or who owned it when it was first registered.
The Commons Act 2006, which will ultimately replace the 1965 Act, includes further statutory requirements and restrictions. It also allows for application to be made to correct errors in the register. However, this is a complex area of law and you should take specialist legal advice.
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