Negotiating Management on Common Land

Common land is used by a wide range of individuals and groups with the primary uses being agriculture, recreation and sporting. It provides a wide range of benefits including open space, grazing land, grouse habitat, archaeological and historical features, energy generation and diverse ecosystems.

Due to the complex legal rights over common land, there are often multiple management objectives on commons. Meeting these simultaneously can cause tension and conflict. In other cases, commons are neglected and positive management needs to be introduced. The challenge facing effective management of common land is bringing together multiple parties with differing priorities and interests.

This information provides guidance on the key steps and principles to bring about successful management on commons. More detailed guidance is available in A Common Purpose: a guide to agreeing management on Common Land.

Tip: Negotiations always take longer than expected; allow plenty of time so that all parties have time to come to their own conclusion and then reach agreement. Putting people under too much time pressure can reinforce any conflicts.


Stakeholder identification and appraisal

  • There are three types of stakeholders on common land:

  • Legal interests including commoners, owners, sporting interests and rights of way

  • County, district and parish councils and National Park Authorities or equivalent

  • Other relevant interests such as:

    • Those with regulatory interests e.g. Natural England, Environment Agency

    • Those with lobbying interests e.g. CPRE, NFU, Open Spaces Society

    • Those with user interests e.g. walkers, cyclists, local history groups, wind turbine companies, RSPB

These groups can have a wide range of interests. For more information, click below.

Agreeing objectives

In an ideal world, stakeholders agree on a way forward but this may not be possible when interests conflict. Differences of opinion should not prevent a compromise or solution being sought as in many cases talking about and working through differences enables consensus to be reached. This is particularly true when sufficient time is allowed for stakeholders to reflect on their positions both in the long and short term. For more information about coming to an agreement, click below.

Scoping the legal position

At an early stage, check on any legal procedures that may be required.

Practical implications of management changes

Consider what implications the proposed management agreement may have on land use activities, both on the common land unit and on adjacent land and businesses. Often stakeholders oppose changes and negotiations break down as they anticipate specific negative impacts. Being aware of these details allows the underlying cause of objections to be addressed and negotiations to be resumed. Click below for more details about this.

Rozzie Weir