Crocker End Green Common

• Crocker End Green was registered as Common Land in the 1899 Commons Act.
• In 1952 a regulation scheme had been granted putting the management of the common and the enforcement of the bye-laws in the hands of the former Henley Rural District Council. Following the abolition of HRDC in 1974 the regulation of the common was inherited by SODC; this regulation scheme is still in force.
• Following local inquiries in 1988 regarding the ownership of Crocker End Common and, as the land is registered and protected under Section 9 of the Commons Registration Act 1965, SODC advised the Clerk to NPC to write to Oxfordshire County Council (OCC). OCC advised NPC Clerk to ‘Requisition for an Official Search’.
• The Search Certificate identified the land in question as registered as Common Land under unit number CL18.
• As a registered common (CL18) Crocker End Common is subject to a number of Acts including the 2006 Commons Act.
• With regard to the ownership of the common land which is divided between three parties: in May 1988 the County Solicitor wrote as follows:

1. The first parcel ‘A’ owned by the owner of Soundess House – registration became final on 1 October 1970
2. The second parcel ‘B’ owned by the owner of Crocker End House – registration became final on 1 October 1970
3. However, the remaining land ‘C’ has no specific owner (‘untitled’ on the plan). As no person attended the hearing in 1978 (to establish ownership of parcel ‘C’) and following the Official Searches in 1988, the Chief Commons Commissioner ruled that he

“was not satisfied that any person was the owner of the land and decided it should remain subject to protection. Therefore, the Act (the Commons Registration Act of 1965) provides by Section 9 that any local authority in whose area such an ‘ownerless’ common is situated may take steps against unlawful interference as an owner in possession of the land could take.”

• In 2008/9, as SODC had not taken any active role in the maintenance of Crocker End Common, NPC approached SODC with a view to the possible delegation of the regulation scheme to NPC.
• In September 2011 NPC signed an Agreement with SODC to take over the management of Crocker End Green Common.
• SODC  commissioned BBOWT to produce a document entitled:

“Crocker End Green Common Management Suggestions October 2011”

• NPC set up the Crocker End Green Common Management Committee to oversee the management of all three parcels of Crocker End.
• 2022 NPC commissioned Future Nature to produce a 10 year management plan

References:

• Map of Common Land at Crocker End registered as CL18 regulated under 1899 Commons Act by Regulation Scheme 1952
• Commons Registration Act 1965: Register of Common Land
• Correspondence (February – May 1988) between NPC Clerk; SODC Chief Executive and Secretary; OCC County Solicitor
• Commons Registration Act 1965: Requisition for an Official Search
• Extracts from a Report to NPC (‘Common Land in the Parish of Nettlebed’) by Cllr Jeremy Simon – May 2011