For instance, under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006, a landowner must obtain the consent of the secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs or the Welsh government before erecting any works on a common, and the minister will take account of the public interest in considering the application.
Communities should be central to plans for managing the commons. Local people know their common, they are watchdogs.
So, I believe that in order to improve the lot of our precious commons, the English and Welsh governments should recognise the multiple benefits of commons so that their policies take account of them; fully implement part 1 of the Commons Act 2006 to enable the common-land registers to be updated; place a duty on local authorities to take action against unlawful works on commons; and introduce and enforce a 40mph speed limit on all unfenced roads across commons to protect livestock and the landscape.
Yet grazing is good for the viability of the common, its vegetation and its public enjoyment.
"We have called for a blanket speed limit of 40mph wherever a road crosses a common which is not fenced on both sides across Wales, and lower if the common is already within a speed-limit zone, for example, where it is within, or adjoins, a town or village.
"Then people will know that unfenced commons are special, they will recognise that they must slow down, for the good of the animals, the public and the unspoiled habitat of the common."
