Hands Off Hartlebury Common

Residents split over plans to fence common - Henley Standard 27 July 2009

PLANS to graze cattle on Kingwood Common have been attacked by residents.

The proposals include fencing off the land and putting about six animals there for six to eight weeks from March to May and September to November in a bid to encourage heathland.

Public consulation is taking place on the plans put forward by the Commons Conservators group and the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.

Ann Pearce, who lives in Kingwood Common, said: “I am not very happy about it. I use the common every day with my own dogs and I do some dog walking there too. A farmer friend of mine said that dogs and cows don’t mix. The dogs can spook the cows and vice-versa.

“The other issue is the fencing. You would no longer be able to cut across the common, which is the best thing about it — you can go anywhere you want now.


“I would be happy to contribute to a fund to maintain the common. I am not sure all of the ideas have been thought about.” In a letter to this week’s Standard, Mike King, of Colmore Lane, says the fence would be more than two miles long and “punctuated at intervals by large, ugly gates”.

He continues: “The cost of enclosure will be tens of thousands of pounds which, together with maintenance costs, the cost of cattle and cost of looking after them could be better spent employing a contractor to maintain the common by strimming, as is done at present. It is a nonsense to spend all this money and blight our countryside... this attempt to enclose common land, which for centuries has remained part of our heritage, should be resisted.”

Peppard parish councillor Tony Cotton, also of Colmore Lane, said: “I think this is against the spirit of commons. They are there for people to use. By putting a fence around it you are going to make it look unsightly.”

But Nigel Wooding, who chairs the commons committee on Peppard Parish Council and lives in Kingwood Common, backed the plans.

He said: “This is a hugely important conservation project. We need to curtail the invasive growth of grasses, bracken and brambles and to continue to promote heathland plants such as heather. Kingwood Common is a rare example of lowland heath in Oxfordshire.

“The only sustainable way forward is to reintroduce grazing of which there are numerous successful examples in other parts of the country. To do this, we have to install fencing so that other animals and humans can continue to roam.

“We are not excluding anyone, quite the contrary — we are trying to encourage people to enjoy the beauty of Kingwood. We have the support of all the local parish councils, South Oxfordshire district and Oxfordshire county councils and the Chilterns Conservation Board.

A final public consultation meeting will take place at the sports pavilion in Stoke Row Road on Sunday from 1pm to 5pm.


Published on 27 July 2009