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Older CROW Act News Items 1999-2000 FREEDOM TO ROAM BILL BECOMES LAW Dec 00
OPEN SPACES SOCIETY WINS NEW LAW TO SAVE GREENS
COUNTRYSIDE AND RIGHTS OF WAY BILL –
OPEN SPACES SOCIETY CELEBRATES
FREEDOM-TO-ROAM LAW
OPEN SPACES SOCIETY RESPONDS TO GOVERNMENT top of page The Open Spaces Society is celebrating the new law which, for the first time, will give people the right to walk, responsibly, on four million acres of mountain, moor, heath, down and registered common land in England and Wales. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act received royal assent at 8pm on Thursday 30 November after a century-long campaign. The right will come into effect once the land has been mapped by the Countryside Agency and Countryside Council for Wales, and all the regulations and procedures for closures and restrictions are in place. This may take up to five years. The Act also amends the law on public rights of way and protection of sites of special scientific interest and areas of outstanding natural beauty. Link to CROW Act Summary
top of page OPEN SPACES SOCIETY WINS NEW LAW TO SAVE GREENS At the last minute, the government added a new section to the Countryside and Rights of Way Act to make it easier to register land as a 'new' green. This was as the result of an amendment which was moved, at committee stage in the House of Lords of the Countryside and Rights of Way Bill, at 2.20 am on Tuesday 17 October, by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer with full support from the Open Spaces Society. Lady Miller's amendment followed a similar one, which was rejected by the government, at the House of Commons Committee Stage of the bill last May. We are delighted that the government has now incorporated an amendment to the law in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act. Since we first drew Parliament's attention to the flaw in village greens law last May, at least five more treasured areas of land have been rejected as greens and are threatened by bulldozers. These are in Bath, Essex, Kent, Merseyside and Caerphilly.
Registering land as a town or village green protects it from development. People can apply to register the land if they have used it for informal recreation for 20 years. However, if those using the green have not come from a defined area - called "locality" in the legislation - the registration authority may reject the application. Nowadays, as towns expand, it is very difficult to define the "locality" from which users of an open space have come. The amendment to the Countryside and Rights of Way Bill alters the legal definition of green so that, provided some people who use the green come from that area, the land is capable of being registered. It removes the need to define a precise locality from which users come. This change in the law will save countless pieces of open space, treasured by local people and visitors, throughout England and Wales.'
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page COUNTRYSIDE AND RIGHTS OF WAY BILL – The Open Spaces Society is overjoyed at the publication of the Countryside and Rights of Way Bill, for which we have campaigned for the last century. The bill gives the public the right to walk, responsibly and subject to common-sense restrictions, on mountain, moor heath, down and common land in England and Wales. It requires highway authorities to draw up improvement plans for public rights of way. It creates a new category of highway – the restricted byway – and it gives owners and occupiers a right to apply for a diversion or closure order while retaining the objectors’ right to be heard by an independent inspector. The bill also contains important provisions for wildlife and sites of special scientific interest. The bill and accompanying notes are on the parliamentary
website:
top of page OPEN SPACES SOCIETY CELEBRATES FREEDOM-TO-ROAM LAW IN QUEEN'S SPEECH The Open Spaces Society is overjoyed at the news that a bill to give people freedom to roam responsibly on mountain, moor, heath, down and common land in England and Wales has been included in the Queen's Speech. The society has campaigned for decades for this new law to be enacted, and it has had a particular role to play with regard to common land (1.3 million acres of land in England and Wales which is privately-owned but on which certain property owners have rights of grazing, collecting wood. etc). In 1958, the Royal Commission on Common Land recommended a right to walk on all common land, but this never came about. Then in 1986, the Common Land Forum made a similar recommendation, but again it was not implemented. This government has listened to the voice of the people and has promised legislation in this session which will give everyone the right to roam on uncultivated land. It will be a very significant and popular measure.
OPEN SPACES SOCIETY RESPONDS TO GOVERNMENT Please read our response to the government's consultation paper, Improving Rights of Way in England and Wales.
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