Hertfordshire council has decided that an area of land owned by the Marquess of Salisbury is common land and should be open to the public.
Earlier this year, the Open Spaces Society (OSS) applied to register an area of land on the Hatfield Estate as common land. This was opposed by the owner, the Marquess of Salisbury, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil.
Common land is land over which third parties are entitled to exercise certain rights such as the right to roam. In 1969 the area in question, was provisionally registered as common. However, this was cancelled due to opposition. Whilst it was too late to register under the Commons Registration Act 1965 (which only gave a three year window of opportunity to do so), the opportunity to rescue lost commons was restored with the Commons Act 2006. Under Section 4 of Schedule 2 of the Act the excluded land became eligible for re-registration if it was waste land of a manor which had provisionally been registered as common land. The OSS defined the area of the Hatfield estate as common land on the basis that the land was of poor quality which the lord or lady of the manor could not cultivate. This land, which comprises a mixture of grass, shrub and trees, is now freely accessible and the public has the right to walk there. It has also been added to the common-land register.
The issue is likely to remain on the Government's agenda. Public Health England have estimated that £2.1 billion per year could be saved in health costs if everyone in England had good access to green spaces. It should also be noted that the Labour party have vowed to introduce Scottish style rights to roam (only 8% of England has a right to roam, whereas in Scotland right to roam covers almost all areas).
Such measures could see further chunks of private estates become common land.
