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We welcome Cornwall Council’s decision to grant an application to register as common 0.26 hectares of woodland at Lower Banns, Mount Hawke, two miles south of St Agnes in Cornwall. The land comprises two parcels of land. One is situated on the north side of Banns Road and the other immediately opposite on the south side of the road.
Picture of the newly-registered land. Parcel of land on the south side of Banns Road. Photo: Tomas Hill.
In 1970, The Ramblers’ Association made an application to register the land at Lower Banns as a common. Following an agreement made at a hearing held by the commons commissioner, the application to register the land was withdrawn and the land was not registered as common.
Part 1 of the Commons Act 2006 reopened the opportunity to rescue lost commons which were excluded from registration in these circumstances. Under paragraph 4 of schedule 2 to the 2006 act the land became eligible for re-registration. The application made by Tomas Hill on behalf of the society showed that all the land is of manorial origin. However, following the society’s liaison with the landowners it was agreed that part of the land was enclosed and therefore not eligible for registration, while the remainder met the criteria.
Says Frances Kerner, the Open Spaces Society’s commons re-registration officer: ‘We recognise that the landowners care deeply about the woodland, and we extend our thanks to them for working with us to reach agreement. We are delighted that much of the land has been registered as common and that in due course the public will have the right to walk here.’