Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to amend the (a) Commons Act 2006 and (b) related legislation to (i) introduce a mandatory requirement for formal public consultation on proposals to undertake works on common land, (ii) require the provision of equivalent exchange land when common land is deregistered and (iii) review restrictions in section 16 of the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 on the right to register land as a (A) town and (B) village green.

The Department currently has no plans to amend the Commons Act 2006 or related legislation.

A requirement for formal public consultation on proposals to carry out works on common land is already in place. Under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006, consent is required for any works that would impede access or alter the character of common land. Applicants are expected to consult interested parties—including landowners, commoners, parish and district councils, Natural England, and the Open Spaces Society—and to publish notices both locally and on site. The requirement to provide equivalent exchange land when common land is deregistered is also well established. Section 16 of the Commons Act 2006 requires applicants to offer suitable exchange land where the deregistered area exceeds 200 square metres.

We have no plans to review the restrictions introduced by section 16 of the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013.

Further information on carrying out works on common land is available here on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/carrying-out-works-on-common-land.