Our Common Land

An Open Spaces Society publication

The seventh edition of Our Common Land by Paul Clayden has been revised and updated to include the many changes in the law which have taken place since the previous edition in 2006.

These include the bringing into force of part 1 of the Commons Act 2006, and the divergence of the law in England and Wales. This book takes account of the most recent court cases, and policy guidance on common land issued by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Welsh government.

There is also a substantial section dealing with town and village greens, which complements the society’s manual, Getting Greens Registered.

The book puts the law into practice. It is of value to local authorities, landowners, common right-holders, and the public.

Contents

  1. An introduction to common land and rights of common
  2. Commons registration
  3. Common land—the rights of the parties
  4. Management and control of common land
  5. Statutory protection of common land
  6. Town and village greens

Appendix 1: Commons regulated under the Commons Act 1987

Appendix 2: Bibliography

Total 164 pages

Further resources about Commons

Our latest posts about commons

Commons deserve the highest protection

We have called for modernising legislation enabling the compulsory purchase of common land, while retaining the existing, vital, safeguard of Parliamentary scrutiny in exceptional cases. Responding to the Law Commission’s consultation on compulsory purchase[1], the society endorses the protection for common land and open space subject to a compulsory purchase order. Existing legislation, in the…
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Public access to new Woodbury Common land agreed

We are delighted to have reached agreement with Clinton Devon Estates whereby the public wins an almost immediate right to walk over newly-registered common land at Woodbury, east Devon, instead of having to wait, perhaps years, for the right to be confirmed(1). Clinton Devon Estates sought consent under section 16 of the Commons Act 2006…
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Dartmoor backpack-camping case is to go to Supreme Court 

We are deeply dismayed that the Supreme Court has granted the Dartmoor landowners, Alexander and Diana Darwall, leave to appeal in the Dartmoor backpack-camping case.  The society intervened in support of the Dartmoor National Park Authority in the Court of Appeal, and it was delighted when that court ruled that the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 gave…
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Our plan to secure urban green spaces for the public 

We made a host of recommendations to secure urban green spaces for public enjoyment.    These recommendations have been published by the House of Commons’ Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs Committee, which last year conducted an inquiry into the ecological, environmental, and human benefits of green space, and the most effective solutions to making cities greener…
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