Written question asked by Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Henley (Conservative) on Wednesday, 9 February 2011.

Commons Act 2006

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether applications for registration of town and village greens under Section 15(8) of the Commons Act 2006 must be subject to public advertisement for objections; and whether any weight can be given to objections from third parties in determining the applications.

Answer: In England the procedure which a commons registration authority must follow in deciding an application for voluntary registration of land by the owner under Section 15(8) of the Commons Act 2006 differs depending on whether the application relates to one of the seven areas pioneering the implementation of Part 1 of the 2006 Act. In the pioneer areas, notice of an application must be published on the authority's website and sent to certain other persons who may have an interest in the application. Elsewhere, the authority is not required to advertise the application, but must proceed to grant it if satisfied that the application complies with the relevant regulations. Where an application is made in the pioneer areas, the commons registration authority need give weight to objections only if it tends to show that the application is not made by the owner of the land, is not compliant with the relevant regulations, or where the necessary consent of any relevant leaseholder, or proprietor of any relevant charge over the land, has not been obtained in accordance with Section 15(9). In our view, an authority may also consider objections which relate to the applicant's description of any locality or the neighbourhood within a locality of which the inhabitants are to have the right to indulge in lawful sports and pastimes on the land.

Secondary information