A community website from WCRA - the Westfield Common Residents' Association - based in Westfield, Woking, UK » Common Land

Xmas Holly Event

the WCRA Editor — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:02:24 +0000

Westfield Common, Woking, Sunday 11th December, 11am

If you want to get a little bit festive and make a difference at the same time – Come and join in our Holly Event at Westfield Common

We’ll be thinning the holly on a site using hand tools and then making some festive wreaths with the cuttings which are free for you to take home.

Meet at the corner of Rose Bank Cottages and Moor Lane at 11.00am

Bring suitable outdoor clothes and a packed lunch

You’ll need: lunch (depending on how long you’re staying), sturdy footwear and clothes suitable for the outdoors. If you’ve got a thick pair of work gloves bring them too!

We’ll supply all the tools and training as well as hot drinks, biscuits and crafty bits n bobs to embellish the wreaths.

Under 16s very welcome but must be accompanied by an adult.

For more information call Frances Halstead on 07891 514574

Big Tidy Up 2 – A grand success!

the WCRA Editor — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 16:17:22 +0000

A big thank you to all of the volunteers who helped tidy Westfield Common and woodlands from rubbish and flytipping.

The event was a grand success despite the unusually hot and sunny weather.

40 volunteers turned out helping to remove 30 bags of general rubbish and well as 20 bags of recyclables.

A press release from Surrey Wildlife Trust, the co-organisers with WCRA is attached below for your interest.

Press Release Westfield Tidyup 2nd oct 2011

Objection letter re: Local development framework strategy

the WCRA Editor — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 09:06:41 +0000

Woking Borough Council (WBC) have been running a consultation on their draft strategy Local Development Framework (LDF) otherwise known as Woking 2027. The LDF (once formally adopted) will replace the previous system of Regional Planning Guidance, Structure Plans and Local Plans.

WCRA submitted a submission to WBC regarding this as we were particularly concerned regarding the following matters:

Previously saved local plan policies regarding housing development were being ignored,
The lack of recognition that Westfield Common was a special place worthy of holistic management,
Protection of the Greenbelt
Flooding

A copy of our submission letter is attached for reference.

WCRA – Woking 2027 Consultation final 22 September

SWT: Tour of Westfield Common

the WCRA Editor — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 09:00:06 +0000

Frances Halsted of SWT has kindly offered to provide residents with advice and guidance on how to improve Westfield Common.

The tour will commence at 10:30 on the Common opposite Rosebank Cottages.

All are welcome to attend.

Ponies tethered on the Common

the WCRA Editor — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 12:32:48 +0000

It won’t have escaped your notice that Ponies have been tethered to graze on the Common. Judging from the photos below these are the same ones that were previously grazing on the farm land at Little Moor Lane farm.

It one of those issues that potentially polarises local opinion:

On the one hand, the use of the common for grazing by commoners is what it was originally intended for.
On the other, people get concerned that the animals are being crazed by outsiders who don’t have rights to graze here and they get concerned about the well-being of the animals.

Clearly if the animals appear to be in distress then please inform the RSPCA or provide them with some water.

Feel free to collect the horsepoo to fertilise your roses!

Natural England – Map of Westfield Common

the WCRA Editor — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 08:57:53 +0000

Common Land protest

the WCRA Editor — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 19:22:49 +0000

A protest by WCRA residents has been featured on page 4 of the Woking News & Mail (dates 27th January 2011) under a headline of “Anger at plans to de-register ‘vital’ common”.

The article features comments from WCRA and from Kate Ashbrook from the Open Spaces Society (OSS) in objection.

Available from all good Newsagents.

Go buy a copy – its good value for money!

Update (10 Apr 2011)

With the demise of the Woking News and Mail we can now present the article in its entirety.

WCRA Object to Common Land Swap

the WCRA Editor — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 10:49:37 +0000

Transcript of WCRA objection letter to proposed Common Land Exchange at Westfield Common.

20 January 2011
Peter Bryant
Head of Legal Services
Woking Borough Council
Civic Offices
Gloucester Square
Woking
Surrey GU21 6YL
Dear Peter,
Consultation on Proposed Exchange of Common Land at Westfield Common (dated 21 December 2010)
Thank you for your letter of 21 December 2010 concerning the proposal for the exchange of common land referenced in your letter.
On behalf of the Westfield Common Residents’ Association (WCRA) I would like to notify you of our objection to any future application to the Planning Inspectorate for de-registration of the common land outlined in your letter.
On this occasion I will limit my comments to a few observations regarding the consultation letter sent to local residents and the supporting documents referenced within the letter.
1. Within your justification for the requirement for the release of the land you make reference to provision of 190 affordable housing units but fail to mention that the scale of the proposed development is much larger than this thus giving an incomplete rationale for the land swap and its potential impact on the Common and SNCI.
2. You also state that the alternative would either require demolition of two houses or require the use of more common land and that there is no planning consent for these alternatives. Whilst the statement on planning consent is correct the rest of the statement is somewhat misleading and alarmist as it suggests to the general public that the alternatives had been considered but rejected at planning committee or that they are in fact deliverable via local planning. In particular the release of Common Land is not subject to control by the local planning committee.
3. RE: the WBC resolution to adopt a formal management plan for a portion of Westfield Common and the referenced documents produced by Surrey Wildlife trust. The referenced documents by SWT comprise a summary of the ecological appraisals completed to date by a variety of agencies together with a shopping list of objectives for improving the long term management of Westfield Common and the SNCI. In particular these key points are made by SWT:
The report warns should the associated housing development proceed it will impact upon the ecology of the common, SNCI and adjacent area and that this should be examined by WBC;
That the impact of the full housing development should be addressed in the overall management plan for the Common and the area of development;
The management objectives outlined by SWT cover the whole of Westfield Common and the SNCI;
The SWT report (section 8.4) states that implementation of their proposed management scheme will incur substantial cost over a substantial period of time.
Despite this:
We are unaware of any investigations into the the combined impact of the access, land swap, and housing development upon the Common and SNCI;
WBC are intending to bring forward a management scheme to look after only a small portion of the Common and the SNCI;
There are no details of how WBC intends to practically implement the recommendations, i.e. no details of what you will do, who you will sub-contract this to, how much this will cost and for how long the management scheme will operate.
I am disappointed to see Woking Borough Council conduct yet another hasty and incomplete consultation exercise.
Regards
Bill Corney
Chairman
WCRA

Open Spaces Society Object to Common Land Swap

the WCRA Editor — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:34:12 +0000

Press Release from the Open Spaces Society dates 21 January 2011.

See website

OPEN SPACES SOCIETY NEWS RELEASE

WESTFIELD COMMON, WOKING, THREATENED AGAIN
The Open Spaces Society,⁽¹⁾ the top pressure-group for common land, has submitted an objection to Woking Borough Council which is consulting interest groups and local people on plans to swap part of Westfield Common.⁽²⁾ The intention is to provide an access road to a potential new housing development north of Moor Lane.
Woking Council wanted to deregister 387 square metres of the common. It is wet woodland and a Site of Nature Conservation Interest. The plan to exchange common land was rejected by the Planning Inspectorate, following a public inquiry last year. Now Woking Council has revived its plans offering an additional area of land in exchange as a sweetener, the two sites totalling954 square metres. The Open Spaces Society, the Westfield Common Residents’ Association and many local residents have objected.
Says Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society: ‘We do not consider that the public is gaining anything from this proposed swap.
‘The council is offering two areas of common land in exchange for the chunk being taken. The first is almost identical to the original proposal which was rejected partly because it was inferior for nature conservation. The council now claims that it will comply with a management plan recommended by the Surrey Wildlife Trust to improve the nature conservation of this site. However, there is no guarantee that this improvement will actually happen.
‘The second area of exchange land, immediately to the east of the pond at Willow Bank, may well already be registered common land. We understand that it was scheduled for development some years ago, but we are not aware that it has been deregistered.
‘If it is still common land, clearly it cannot be offered in exchange. If it is not common land, it is still of little benefit because people already use it freely. It’s a recreation ground and is crossed by a public footpath. It is treated as a public open space.
‘We are dismayed that Woking Council seems set on allowing use of part of Westfield Common for development. Our commons are of vital importance, for their history as well as their landscape, recreational and wildlife value. Walkers and riders have the rights to enjoy the whole of Westfield Common, and we feel this special land should be protected, not frittered away for development.
ENDS
Notes for editors
1. The Open Spaces Society (formally the Commons, Open Spaces and Footpaths Preservation Society) was founded in 1865 and is Britain’s oldest national conservation body. It campaigns to protect common land, village greens, open spaces and public paths, and people’s right to enjoy them.
2. Common land is land subject to rights of common, to graze animals or collect wood for instance, or waste land of the manor not subject to rights. There are approximately 1.3 million acres of common land in England and Wales. The public has the right to walk on all commons and the right to ride on Westfield Common, among others.
All common land is shown on registers, held by the county councils. If someone wants to remove the land from the register they must follow a legal process, which includes advertisement and the opportunity for the public to object. An application under section 16 of the Commons Act 2006 for the deregistration and exchange of common land is made to the Planning Inspectorate, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who must have regard to the interests of persons having rights on the land which is proposed to be taken, the interests of the neighbourhood and the public interest.

Common Land Enforcement Order actioned against Mayford Grange

the WCRA Editor — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 10:04:32 +0000

Councillor Derek McCrum working with Enforcement Officer Dave Calvert have written to Mayford Grange instructing them to remove company signage that had been erected on Common Land without permission and contrary to the Common land legislation.

The Mayford Grange was instructed to remove the signage on the 23^rd Dec 2010 and the sign was removed on the 6^th Jan 2011.

A small success story in the ongoing struggle to protect the Common from inappropriate development