In a blog late last year, I wrote about the Ministry of Defence’s application to deregister Warcop common in Cumbria, part of the army training estate. I observed then that Departmental views differed on the lawfulness of the application. I now understand that the application has been withdrawn. If so, the repeal in Cumbria of the Commons Registration Act 1965 means that the Ministry cannot at any time renew its application for deregistration under that Act: the opportunity has passed for good.
The Ministry may explore alternative options available to it, but none seems very promising: after all, the Commons Act 2006 was precisely intended to safeguard registered common land from deregistration.
Schedule 3 to the 2006 Act provides an opportunity to register historic events preceding the date of commencement, but it would be necessary to show that the compulsory acquisition of the rights of the commoners some years ago is a ‘disposition’ not only which caused Warcop common to cease to be common land, but the effect of which was not fully satisfied at the time by registering the extinguishment of the rights.
Hi Steph, sorry for the delay, as my host doesn’t notify me of new comments. I didn’t understand what was needed here, as although the common land has been compulsorily acquired, you refer to “subsequent completion of deregistration formalities under s13 CRA 1965 completed in the early 1990s”. How has that left anything to be removed from the register?
Section 19 CA 2006 is not in force in Wales as yet to enable rectification of registers. If a CRA has omitted to remove common land from the register and plan following a CPO of the and the subsequent completion of deregistration formalities under s13 CRA 1965 completed in the early 1990s, can the CRA/landowner now amend the register to remove the entry from the register and plan under S13 CRA 1965 or under the schedule 3 CA 2006 transitional arrangements. Thank you for any thoughts.