Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
ground cover from native plants. Establishment is best in disturbed areas where the native vegetation has
been in some way disrupted, providing an opening in the plant cover. The seedlings also germinate well
in areas covered in moss, perhaps because of the water-holding capacity of the mosses. Mycorrhizal as-
sociations specific to ericaceous plants, including heathers, provide a competitive advantage and allow
rhododendron to flourish in nutrient-poor soils. It therefore has an advantage over other non-ericaceous
plants, which may not have their own mycorrhizal network. This explains why the plant is so successful
at colonising heathland, as the heathers which grow there have already established suitable networks. It is
not possible to control rhododendron by grazing as it contains potentially toxic chemicals.
THE FUTURE
In July 2002 the Government published its intentions for future legislation relating to common land and
town and village greens. This legislation is intended to enable the agricultural management of common
land by statutory commons associations, to set up regional representative advisory bodies to advise the
Welsh Assembly, to create new powers of last resort in relation to common land that is not being man-
aged sustainably and introduce controls on the lending, leasing or selling of rights of common and the
unilateralsurrenderofcommonrights.OfthesethemostcontentiousinrelationtotheGowercommonsis
the lending of rights of common, which breaks the centuries-old link between the common and adjacent
farms. It is not, however, a completely new issue. An increasing problem on English commons in the late
eighteenth century was 'surcharging': that is people outside a manor or parish, often from a distant town-
ship, buying a single field to which common rights were attached and then abusing their entitlement.
Until recently, there was considerable difficulty in establishing the extent to which common rights
might be licensed to another person. Following a judgment in the House of Lords in 2002, however, it
became clear that all rights of common registered under the Commons Registration Act 1965 may be li-
censed, sold or leased, and on some commons this has taken place. This can break the essential link with
thelocalcommunity andmakemanagement ofthecommonmuchmoredifficult.ThenewCommonsBill
(2005) will prohibit the severance of common rights, preventing commoners from selling, leasing or let-
ting their rights away from the property to which those rights are attached.
Until recently the public had a right of access to only around 20 per cent of common land in Britain.
Although in practice both the public and the landowner generally ignored the law, access to this privately
owned land, in line with the situation elsewhere, was legally confined to public rights of way. Away from
such routes the public never had any right even to simply walk across common land, except on Nation-
al Trust land or where a special access deed had been agreed. The implementation of the Countryside
and Rights of Way Act 2000, however, resulted in access to all registered common land in England and
Wales. All common land which was registered under the Commons Registration Act 1965 is now legally
available for public use, and detailed maps are available on the Countryside Council for Wales website.
At present it is uncertain whether people's awareness of their new rights will have a great impact on the
wildlife and the traditional management of these areas. Only time will tell if the unique character of the
Gower commons will remain for future generations to enjoy.
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