Local Government Act 1972

189 Commons. E+W

(1) Without prejudice to the making of any new agreement under section 2(2) of the M1 Commons Registration Act 1965 (agreement for one local authority to be registration authority for land which spans the boundaries of two or more authorities) any agreement under that section which is in force immediately before 1st April 1974 shall cease to have effect on that day.

X1 (2) For subsection (5) of section 8 of the Commons Registration Act 1965 (council in which unclaimed land is to be vested) there shall be substituted the following subsections:—

“(5) Subject to subsection (6) of this section, the local authority in which any land is to be vested under this section is—

(a) if the land is in a parish or community where there is a parish or community council, that council, but, if the land is regulated by a scheme under the Commons Act 1899, only if the powers of management under Part I of that Act are, in accordance with arrangements under Part VI of the Local Government Act 1972, being exercised by the parish or community council;

(b) if the land is in a London borough, the council of that borough; and

(c) in any other case, the council of the district in which,the land is situated.

(6) Where—

(a) any land has been vested in a district council in accordance with subsection (5)(c) of this section, and

(b) after the land has been so vested a parish or community council comes into being for the parish or community in which the land is situated (whether by the establishment of a new council or by adding that parish or community to a group of parishes or communities for which a council has already been established),

then, if the circumstances are such that, had the direction under subsection (3) of this section been given at a time after the parish or community council had come into being, the land would in accordance with subsection (5)(a) of this section have been vested in the parish or community council, the district council shall, if requested to do so by the parish or community council, direct the registration authority to register the parish or community council, in place of the district council, as the owner of the land; and the registration authority shall comply with any such direction.

(7) The council of any district, parish or community affeected by any registration made in pursuance of subsection (6) above shall pay to the other of those councils so affected such sum, if any, as may be agreed between them to be appropriate to take account of any sums received or to be received, or any expenditure incurred or to be incurred, in respect of the land concerned, and, in default of agreement, the question of what sum, if any, is appropriate for that purpose shall be determined by arbitration.”

(3) The references in section 12 of the M2 Inclosure Act 1857 (prevention of nuisances in town and village greens, etc.,) to a churchwarden or overseer of the parish in which the town or village green or land is situated shall be construed—

(a) with respect to a green or land in a parish, as references to the parish council, or, where there is no parish council, the parish meeting;

(b) with respect to a green or land in a community where there is a community council, as references to the community council;

(c) with respect to any other green or land, as references to the council of the district [F1 or Welsh principal area] in which the green or land is situated;

and where those references fall to be construed in accordance with paragraph (c) above, the reference in the said section 12 to highways in the parish shall be construed as a reference to highways in the district [F2 or (as the case may be) area].

X1 (4) In section 193(1) of the M3 Law of Property Act 1925 (right of the public over certain commons, including those situated within a borough or urban district) after the words “situated within” there shall be inserted the words “ an area which immediately before 1st April 1974 was ”.

Editorial Information

X1 The text of s. 189(2)(4) is in the form in which it was originally enacted: it was not reproduced in Statutes in Force and does not reflect any amendments or repeals which may have been made prior to 1.2.1991.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 189(3)(c) inserted (1.4.1996) by 1994 c. 19, s. 66(5), Sch. 15 para. 38(a) (with ss. 54(5)(7), 55(5), Sch. 17 paras. 22(1), 23(2)); S.I. 1996/396, art. 4, Sch. 2

F2 Words in s. 189(3) inserted (1.4.1996) by 1994 c. 19, s. 66(5), Sch. 15 para. 38(b) (with ss. 54(5)(7), 55(5), Sch. 17 paras. 22(1), 23(2)); S.I. 1996/396, art. 4, Sch. 2

Marginal Citations

M1 1965 c. 64.

M2 1857 c. 31.

M3 1925 c 20.