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We have welcomed the decision to refuse consent for fencing on Shereford Common in Norfolk.
This is a small, five-hectare common south of St Nicholas’ church, Shereford (near Fakenham), and largely sandwiched between a country lane and the River Wensum.
Shereford Common showing the dilapidated fencing which must be removed. The proposed fence would have been along the right-hand side of the road. Photo: Open Spaces Society
In August 2023, the Raynham estate, owned by Charles Townshend, sought the consent of the Defra Secretary of State, via the Planning Inspectorate, to erect a barbed-wire road-side fence ‘to keep the land in good agricultural and environmental condition’.
The society objected, pointing out that the common is subject to a public right of access on foot, and as there was no provision to enable access, the fence also would keep the public out. The society also lamented the prospective loss of another area of open and unenclosed waste from the Norfolk landscape.
Inspector C Beeby observed that the alleged nature-conservation benefits of the fencing were ‘not substantiated’ and the proposed fencing ‘highly visible’ and ‘would erode the open and unenclosed appearance of the common as a whole’. The inspector concluded that ‘the application would have no positive impacts on the neighbourhood, and would result in a moderate adverse effect on the conservation of the landscape.’ Alternatives to permanent fencing had not been properly examined. Consent was refused.
One of our case officers Hugh Craddock says: ‘We are delighted that consent has been withheld. We suggested that the estate could use electronic technology to keep cattle on the common, or seek funding from Countryside Stewardship for cattle grids. Commendably, Natural England agreed that the proposals had not adequately been discussed with them. If landowners want to pursue fencing schemes in the interests of conservation, they need to have Natural England fully on board.’
Hugh continues: ‘The estate has had a fence here for much of the post-war period. We have not been able to find any evidence of consent for it. A couple of stiles were put in some years ago only after our complaints, and these are in poor condition. Now that the inspector has ruled against new fencing, we expect the estate to remove the existing dilapidated fence and embrace some new thinking about how the common should be managed.’
Our local correspondent Ian Witham researched the application and attended the inspector’s site visit.