Newly-granted right to walk on common land in Woodbury
It's thanks to an agreement between the estate and the Open Spaces Society
Today (April 16) is the first time walkers can use newly-registered common land in Devon.
It follows an agreement between the Open Spaces Society and Clinton Devon Estates on Woodbury Common.
The OSS is Britain’s oldest national conservation body.
It all comes after the Clinton Devon Estates sought consent under section 16 of the Commons Act 2006 to deregister 1.7 hectares of degraded common land at Blackhill Quarry, and replace it with 3.4 hectares in total, consisting of six separate parcels nearby, back in November 202.3.
This existing common land was being used for industrial purposes.
Instead, the estate wanted to install a battery-energy storage facility and associated infrastructure there, on the land, which was not available to the public.
That's despite being registered as common with rights under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.
The proposed replacement land comprises long-standing, unregistered, wooded inclosures within the common.
The Open Spaces Society raised concerns that the right to walk on the exchange land would not kick in until the CROW maps were reviewed, probably around 2031, which the society felt was too long to wait.
So the Open Spaces Society suggested, and Clinton Devon agreed to provide, a deed of access under section 16 of CROW to give the public the right to walk on the exchange land six months after the date of the deed, ie on 16 April 2025. Horse riders and cyclists also have access to the exchange land on a permissive basis (as they do now to Woodbury Common as a whole).
Says Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society, said: "It is grand that from today the public has the right to walk on the replacement land and can enjoy exploring it.
"Clinton Devon has shown a fine example to other landowners of how they can expand public access."
John Varley, CEO of Clinton Devon Estates, said: ‘We are delighted to have been able to bring about this new right of walk on the land ahead of the review of the CROW maps.
"The new common land is accessible, larger, and of far higher amenity value than the industrial land which is being deregistered.
"This is a win all round.’