There are many other forms of public land available as recreation ground and wildlife refuge. Usually these lands are owned by either local councils, forestry commission, local trusts, British armed forces, etc.
To note a few examples:
- Disused railway tracks
- Ex private land inherited by the state (via Escheat Law)
- Public footpaths
- Disused roads and riverside passes
- Parks and nature reserves
- Cemeteries & allotments
- Council building & school grounds
- Council or parish managed crown land
- SSSI tracts
- Moorland/upland and other former (deregistered) commons
- Ancient scheduled monuments
- Waste of manor and parish Land
- Council car parks
Where ever the public have right of way, hence ‘right to roam’ (not everywhere above), the logical summary of the intended purpose rests on just that. To change or moderate anything within the confines of the land is strictly forbidden and requires approval from its managing agent.
However, because of the nature of the Commons Act 2006, and its predecessor Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CROW Act 2000-05), under the newly defined word ‘open country’ all lands (down, heath, mountain, or moor) regardless of whether they are common or not, have this ‘right to roam’. And this is the key to everything!
Under the right of way provision, CROW Act enables much bigger access to the countryside than ever before. While giving credence to conservation management, local proprietors (councils, national trust and parishes in this case), leaseholders, government departments and its local residence, it encourages public access on a much bigger scale. By opening new routes to both inland areas and coastal tracts significant powers of authority essentially shifted from management agents to the wider public.
Wider Public’s role
Under Wildlife Crime Conservation Advisory Group (Setup 2003), the users of right of way (public) lands are given powers to monitor and assist the government in effective management of wildlife landscapes. Their role is to help; prevent crime against habitats, species or geological features. Under Criteria 4 (identifying wildlife crime priorities), local action groups (hence; local residence) become responsible for ‘complementary action to enhance conservation status’. Planting trees in that respect goes with ‘species recovery programmes’ as stipulated by the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations (CHSR 2010). Having said that, please be aware that this does not give the public the right to either piscary & forage (on all lands registered SSSI), as this would contradict afore mentioned wildlife conservation.
Concluding Argument
Planting trees on public spaces need prior consent from its managing agents. Although the law presumably compliments a good Samaritan, it is still in the public interest to ask for permission to do so. Although the benefits of planting and later foraging fruit from such sites outweight the damage it could cause, the 2010 regulations as stipulated and enforced by the ‘European Union’ remain unclear. Who is to say that an individual planting trees in a park without ‘consent’ will not be prosecuted by the council for being mistaken for a vandal (under CHSR Act)?!
This is why the advice remains. If you want to plant trees in other public lands that are not designated as common:
- Get a group of individuals from your local community to help you (when approaching unwilling councils and/or managing agents, it helps to both do it in a group & via formal letters of interest).
- Inform/ask your local planning department (of the council) and the managing agent maintaining the site(procedures, plans, opening times, etc)
- When on the land stay visible; (in terms of health and safety)
- Always dress well and use common sense
Future Forage 