Common Land in parish of kedington

Question

Good afternoon

Our parish council maintain a very small piece of common land that is within a hamlet of a few houses.  The problem we have,  is the residents would like us to place some small posts up to stop vehicles driving over the grass area, which is getting damaged.  We are happy to do this (Now until the spring when grass cutting commences)  I have read numerous pieces of legislation - question is is this ok to do ?

Answer 1

I think the first question I would ask is who owns the land? Most of our parish's common land is owned by a local club. As a first step, I think I would want to talk to the owners.
If there really are no owners, it might be worth taking ownership legally?

Comments

We are the lawful owners as such.   The land is registered at West Suffolk Council.  The confusion, for me, comes when you want to erect some temp posts.  Legislation is not clear and it refers to gaining permission from secretary of state....... Thanks Ann

Answer 2

Common Land is a registrable land charge and this presumably has West Suffolk as the registering authority. As long as the bollards don't stop people accessing and  roaming on it and using it for enjoyment, it should not be ok. But check with West Suffolk Legal Department.

Comments

Thanks graham   I have emailed the team but they are not good a responding........ been waiting weeks

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Contact the Open Spaces Society.  I used to be a trustee although my interest was mainly PROWs.  They do however have lots of Commons expertise  https://www.oss.org.uk/?s=commons

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many thanks
Ann