For information about who is entitled to use land registered as common land or town/village green please see the common land and village greens page on the GOV.UK website.
The County Council holds a register of common land and town and village greens within Cambridgeshire ('the Registers') which can be seen on our interactive online map, further down on this page.
The registers of common land and town and village greens were compiled under the Commons Registration Act 1965. Each registration is divided into sections showing details of:
- Land - this includes a description of the land, who registered it and when the registration took place. There are also related plans which show the boundaries of the land.
- Ownership - this includes details of owners of the land. However, entries in this section of the registers are not held to be conclusive.
And for the register of common land:
- Rights - this includes a description of the rights of common (such as the right to graze 100 sheep), over which area of the common the rights are exercisable, and the name of the person (the 'commoner') who holds those rights.
In many cases this information has not been updated since the Registers were prepared in the 1960s and 1970s.
The Council will only amend the common land register or the village green register in respect of land ownership when we are notified of a change in ownership by the Land Registry. The Council is not required by the current legislation to amend the rights section of the common land register.
The Council has no involvement in how commons and town and village greens are managed, or in enforcing or protecting rights of common, unless the Council itself owns the common or manages it by agreement.
If you wish to register land as a town or village green, please complete the registration application form and provide evidence of public use to support your application using the registration user evidence form
For further guidance please visit the Defra website.
(If the map does not load, please view it on the MapsCambridgeshire website.)
Current Town / Village Green notices
CR194 - Upend
Correcting an error on the Commons Register
Section 19(2)(a) and paragraphs 6 to 9 of Schedule 2 of the Commons Act 2006 enable applications to be made to correct mistakes and to remove buildings / land that were wrongly registered from the registers of Common Land and Town / Village Greens.
You can apply to:
- Remove wrongly registered common land or town or village greens
- Correct errors
- Remove duplicate entries
- Update names and addresses
- Update an entry to take account of accretion or dilution
You are strongly advised to read the Guidance to Applicants on the Gov.uk website before making an application. You may wish to obtain your own independent legal advice. The Council is unable to provide advice. Your application should be submitted with evidence that shows how the mistake or error was originally made.
A fee is payable for applications under paragraphs 6 to 9 of Schedule 2 and this should be included with the application. This fee is currently set at £3,509.
There is no fee for applications made under section 19(2)a.
Please note that if objections are received to your application, additional fees will be payable. It may be necessary to hold a public inquiry to assist in determination. If this is the case, additional fees to cover the cost of this will be payable.
In certain circumstances, your application may need to be referred to the Planning Inspectorate for determination. If this happens, additional fees are charged by the Planning Inspectorate of between £2,800 and £3,400 and full details of these are available here.
Please note any application made under Schedule 2 of the Commons Act 2006 for the purpose of correcting mistaken registration under the Commons Registration Act 1965 must be made on or before 15 March 2027.
Please email completed applications to highwaysassetmanagement@cambridgeshire.gov.uk or send to:
Definitive Map Team
Box No. STA2101
Cambridgeshire County Council
Huntingdon Highways Depot
Stanton Way
HUNTINGDON
PE29 6PY
Current applications to rectify Commons and Village Green Register
No current applications.
For commercial companies and individuals wishing to apply for a highway, public rights of way or common land and town/village green search please go to Highway Searches.
