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The Search Sheets

 

The Search Sheets provide a comprehensive list, for each registration area, of applications under the 1965 Act that may be eligible for reconsideration under Schedule 2(4). They need , however, to be understood in the context of the original registration process.

 

Registration under the 1965 Act

Applications under the 1965 Act were submitted to the Commons Registration Authorities over a period of three years (1967–70). The land was at first registered provisionally. Where a registration was not challenged, it would become ‘final’ automatically at the end of the relevant objections period. Where it was disputed, the registration authority acted as a go-between in negotiating the modification or withdrawal of the application. Disputes that could not be resolved in this way were referred to the Commons Commissioners for a Hearing to be arranged. Negotiations, however, might still continue, in the hope of avoiding a Hearing by agreeing a ‘Decision by Consent’. It was also still possible (at the risk of an award of costs) for the applicant to withdraw unilaterally. In many cases, the Hearing met simply to confirm a withdrawal. In some, the applicant failed to appear and the application was summarily dismissed. (It remains to be seen whether this final class will qualify as a ‘request’ or ‘agreement’ to cancel under Schedule 2(4)(5)).

The Schedule 2(4) Criteria

Any application under the 1965 Act that was withdrawn or modified (part-withdrawn) in response to an objection may be eligible for re-consideration under Schedule 2(4)(5). All that needs to be shown is that the land qualifies as ‘waste land of a manor’ (see below). If the application was withdrawn before referral to a commissioner, there will be no Decision Letter. Where the withdrawal was made after referral (Decision by Consent; unilateral act on the part of  the applicant) there will invariably be a ‘confirmatory’ Decision Letter. These Letters simply record what happened. They differ in this respect from the Decision Letters produced as the result of a Hearing. The latter were required to include a summary of the evidence, the arguments and the reasons for the decision. Where an application is subject to a ‘reasoned’ decision of this kind, it must be shown that it comes within the criteria defined by Schedule 2(4)(3) or (4)(4), i.e. that either (i) the application was rejected because the land was not, at the date of the hearing, ‘of a manor’ (though it can, in fact, be shown to be of manorial origin); or (ii) the commissioner did not consider whether the land was ‘waste land of a manor’. In all cases, it must be demonstrated that the land to be re-registered still qualifies as ‘waste land of a manor’. For this to be true, it must retain the physical characteristics of ‘waste land’ at the time of the Schedule 2(4) application; and must have been ‘waste land of a manor’ at some time in the past. For further details of these requirements see: Waste Land of a Manor.

 

Using the Search Sheets

A key to the abbreviations used in the Search Sheets is included at the foot of each document. The entries are grouped according to whether the application was: (i) withdrawn before referral; (ii) cancelled by a commons commissioner; (iii) modified (part-withdrawn) or part-cancelled. These categories need to be understood in the light of the ABOVE discussion. Where a commissioner was involved in confirming or deciding the outcome of a case, the Search Sheets incorporate hyperlinks to the relevant Decision Letter(s).