'Commoners' in the New Forest will receive much-needed financial support to continue their ancient way of life thanks to help from local land advisers.
A Commoner is a person who occupies land to which Common Rights in the New Forest are attached. A Right of Common is authority for the occupier of a plot of land (to which Rights are attached), to take specified material or products from somebody else's land. In the context of the New Forest, the principal product is grazing and the owner of the land is the Crown. Land with Common Rights is not confined to the perambulation of the Forest; many "holdings" are in villages on the periphery of the Forest.
The New Forest Land Advice Service has run sessions for more than 200 commoners over the past six months to help them apply for crucial funding from the new Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). The BPS is designed to support agriculture as part of the European-wide Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and replaced a previous scheme at the beginning of this year.
Commoners make use of ancient rights attached to their property to turn out livestock onto the open areas of the New Forest. Due to this unusual method of rearing and managing livestock, applying to the BPS for assistance is often more complicated than for those farming on their own land.
Most commoners own or rent small parcels of land, below the minimum amount needed to claim payments, as they mainly use the common land of the New Forest as a giant ‘farmer’s field’ to graze their stock. Some also don’t have access to broadband or computers to complete the application process, making it difficult for them to complete the online-only forms.
The Land Advice Service has helped by:
• advising on how the use of common land can be taken into account when assessing a commoner’s right to payments
• giving advice over the phone and in person to commoners and farmers;
• organising an information event with the National Farmers Union and the Rural Payments Agency to help 200 commoners understand the new rules of the scheme;
• providing internet access and IT support to those without computers.
New Forest Land Advice Service Manager Julie Melin-Stubbs, said: ‘We are funded through the Verderers’ New Forest Higher Level Stewardship Scheme to support commoning and offering advice on the BPS is one way we can do this.
‘The team will be available to help with applications in future years. In the meantime we would like to encourage commoners to contact us for any other support they may need with land management, understanding agricultural regulations or sourcing grants for environmental enhancements on their holdings.’
Commoners Richard and Caroline Stride, from Lyndhurst, said: ‘As a commoning family, we struggled with the new BPS application forms. Without the assistance of the Land Advice Service we would have found it extremely difficult to complete our claims with any confidence. We thank everyone from the Land Advice Service very much for their help.’
Commoner Anthony Pasmore, from Hale, said: ‘The Land Advice Service was extremely helpful to me in interpreting the complicated new subsidy system introduced this year by the Rural Payments Agency, as well as putting me in touch with other commoners who I could work with for mutual benefit.’
Dominic May, Official Verderer, said: ‘The unique beauty of our New Forest landscape has been created and is maintained by livestock grazing. It is therefore important that the Verderers support the preservation of this ancient form of pastoral farming by funding the Land Advice Service to provide guidance to commoners.’
Jonathan Gerrelli, Head Agister at the Verderers, said: ‘The Land Advice Service was a great help to all commoners, giving support in applying for the new Basic Payment Scheme this year.’
