AN APPLICATION to strike off land near Llanfair Caereinion that had been registered as common land has been successful.
At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Planning, Taxi Licensing and Rights of Way committee on Wednesday, February 21 councillors received an application to rectify the commons register by Mr and Mrs Griffiths.
They applied for 62 acres of land known as Fawnog Tanybryn which is to the southeast of Llanfair Caereinion, between the town and Cefn Coch, to be “de-registered” as common land.
They claimed the land had been wrongly registered in 1968.
To back up their claim that the land had never been used as a common they provided evidence including land registry maps, tithe maps, letters from Llanfair Caereinion Town Council, land conveyancing and even census records from as far back as 1841.
At the start of the meeting county councillor for Llanfair Caereinion and committee vice-chairman, Cllr Gareth D Jones said: “It’s something I have been involved with at a number of stages in the process, I will declare an interest and leave the meeting.”
Registration and definitive maps officer, Claire Lewis said: “This land is identified by the applicants as Bryn Du land and is farmed with their main holding.”
She explained that in 1968 the registration of the land as common was not “disputed” and because of this had not been looked at by a commons commissioner.
Ms Lewis said that an area where common grazing rights were to be exercised had not been correctly identified in this case.
Ms Lewis explained that a letter from 1972 had come to light which said that John Penri Jones had intended registering a different area of land as common. than he had identified “on the plan” accompanying the application.
This was two years after his application had been successful in 1970.
Mrs Lewis said: “We have lots of conveyances supplied in relation to the land dating from August 3, 1869.
“None of these make reference to the land being common or subject to right of common but being in private ownership.
“The Open Spaces Society concluded there was no reason to object to the application being granted, the first three legal criteria are matters of fact that are evidenced from the register of common land itself.
“It is considered that this application meets the criteria, and it was wrongly registered as common land.”
She recommended the land be de-registered.
Cllr Heulwen Hulme proposed that the committee agree the officer’s recommendation which was seconded by Cllr Edwin Roderick and was voted through unanimously.
