Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000
Sections 68
Vehicular access over common land
Section 68 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and regulations made under that section (The Vehicular Access Across Common and Other Land (England) Regulations 2002 [SI 2002/1711]), have been repealed in England by section 51 of the Commons Act 2006, with effect from 1 October 2006.
The provisions were enacted because of the decision of the Court of Appeal in 1993 in Hanning v Top Deck Travel. Householders were being asked to pay large sums of money to establish a right to drive to their property over open land such as commons or greens. Section 68 provided a means by which the payments necessary to secure easements for this purpose could be capped.
The judgment of the House of Lords in Bakewell Management v Brandwood in 2004 overruled Hanning. It confirmed that in certain cases where it was possible to grant lawful authority to drive over the common, a prescriptive right could be acquired. Subsequently, in 2005, Defra consulted on proposals to repeal section 68, having concluded that the provision and the regulations had no further purpose in the light of the Bakewell Management judgment. An amendment was included in the Commons Bill for that purpose, and section 51 of the Commons Act 2006 has now been brought into force in England.
Following the repeal of section 68, Defra has no role in relation to vehicular access across common land and town or village greens. We have published a guidance note about the issues involved (available below), but cannot advise on individual cases.
- Non-Statutory Guidance Note
[80 KB] on vehicular access across common land and town or village greens - 
1 October 2007 - House of Lords judgment on Bakewell Management Ltd v Brandwood (1 April 2004) - Parliament website
- Defra letter on impact of House of Lords judgement (18 May 2004)
[15 KB] and
- Defra statement on intention to repeal section
68 (July 2006)
[20 KB]
- Defra letter confirming repeal of section 68 (9 August 2006) [34 KB]
- Summary
analysis of responses to 2005 consultation on repeal of section 68 [62 KB]
- More about common land
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Page last modified: 4 July 2007