At the February meeting of Portreath Parish Council members considered the application for 14.572 hectares of land at Nance Woods and Illogan Woods under The Commons Act 2006, Mistaken registration under the 1965 Act, Schedule 2 (7), Land wrongly registered as common land.
Martin Wright, Common Land and Village Greens Registration Officer from Cornwall Council was invited to the meeting and addressed councillors and public present. Mr Wright gave a comprehensive overview of the common’s laws, the application itself, the implications of having the common status removed from the land and information on how to make representation to Cornwall Council. Mr Wright explained that the decision for this application would be made by Cornwall Council, unless a person with a legal interest in the land came forward, and in the case of this happening the decision would be transfer to the Planning Inspectorate. Mr Wright gave examples of those who have legal interest in the land. Mr Wright explained the protections that would remain on the land should be removed from the commons register, highlighting that the woodland is within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and that the majority of the woodland was a Tree Protection Order Area.
Parishioners were given the opportunity to ask questions. Mr Wright confirmed the area of the application, stating that it did not encompass the whole woods and that the public footpaths were not in the application area and would not be affected in any way. Mr Wright confirmed that the law stated that unless Cornwall Council had an interest in the application, they would remain the decision-making body. Mr Wright explained the process for gaining planning consent on common land and that should the application be successful that any application for development would have to be considered by the planning authority and the parish council. Furthermore, due to the other protections of the land and the topography of the land that development was highly unlikely. Mr Wright stated that the remaining common land known as Illogan Wood and Nance Woods had a number of owners and should they also wish to make similar applications would have until the end of 2020 to do so. The Applicant also addressed the meeting confirming that the application was being made on the grounds of health and safety and that there was no plan for development of the site. The applicant explained that it was their wish to safeguard the SSSI and that of their farm land and the Iron Age Round that sits within the farm land. The Applicant confirmed that access to the round could still be arranged as before with themselves as is often done for educational visits.
Mr Wright explained again how to make representations on the case and explained that they would need to provide evidence that the land was not mistakenly registered and that signatures on a petition would not prove this. The final date for representation to be received is 2nd March 2020.
For full details on this application please see the link below to with the full notice of application:
https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/media/41947832/notice-2994-nance-illogan-woods.pdf
Details of Schedule 2(7) of the Commons Act 2006 can be found using the following link: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/26/schedule/2/crossheading/other-land-wrongly-registered-as-common-land
Explanatory Notes to Section 22 and the whole of Schedule 2: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/26/notes/division/6/1/6/1
If you require any further information please contact Martin Wright, Common Land and Village Greens Registration Officer, Cornwall Council. Environment Service, Cornwall Council, Telephone: 01872 224773, martin.wright@cornwall.gov.uk 4A Pydar House, Pydar Street, Truro TR1 1XU