The Battle for Broxhead Common
The Case for Hampshire County Council – PART 19
1. 26th November 1991 is the date of a reply from Edward Mason, Assistant County Secretary, to the treacherous Mr. Connell. It was he who had sold his rights of common over the 80 acres to the even more perfidious landlord. He had written to ask about the fencing around his own property Lindford Bridge House.
2. In paragraph 2 of this letter, Edward Mason states: “The simple fact is that Mr Squibb the Chief Commons Commissioner directed the land in question to be registered as Common Land; Section 10 of the 1965 Act operates to make the register entry conclusive for all purposes.” He goes on to say; “The notice refers to two plans…. I have not copied GDS2 which is a very much larger (and difficult to copy) ‘plan,’ but shows outlined in red the land which had been fenced by Mr Whitfield.”
HCC Ted Mason letter to Connell27012016
3. Three points to note here:
– By the “notice” I believe he is referring to the Final Determination Notice (FDN). That refers not to two plans but to ‘a plan’ or ‘the plan’ in the singular. Confirmed in the Land Decision 1, third paragraph.
– Importantly he acknowledges that Mr Squibb’s decision is final and cannot be changed.
– Reference to the exceedingly small plans used by the CCC have been recorded. (see Part 18), therefore any large plans have been created by HCC for themselves.
4. The third paragraph of the letter from Mason states that, “the erection of a fence, for whatever reason, requires the consent of the Secretary of State because it denies access for the commoners who have rights over the land in question.” It therefore cannot be said that he did not know that the consent of the Secretary of State was required for the fencing around the 80 acres especially as the Consent Order of the CA confirms application would be needed under Sec.194 LPA 1925, to retain the fencing. In choosing to ignore that requirement, HCC are again in contempt of court.
Next time: Mrs Bobby Lake receives an answer to her enquiries from the Commons Commissioner’s Office.