Commentary on Sections Functions of commons councils Section 33 Consent
174.Subsection (1) makes it clear that where the consent of a person with an interest in the land is required for the commons council to do anything on the land for which it is established, nothing in Part 2 authorises a commons council to do anything on the land without that consent. For example, if commoners acting collectively would require the consent of the landowner to undertake works to improve the drainage on a common, then a commons council would also require the landowner’s consent to undertake the same activity. However, by virtue of subsections (2) and (3), a council does not need the consent of a person with a right of common before doing anything on the land, and it does not need consent for any activity which commoners could themselves undertake without consent.
175.Subsections (4) to (6) make provision about how a commons council can obtain consent, and includes provision that a failure on the part of the owner to respond in a timely manner to a notice served on him by the council, may be taken as the giving of his consent.
176.Where a person whose consent is required cannot be identified,subsection (7) enables a council to serve notice by posting a notice on the land, and again, where the owner fails to respond to such a notice in a timely manner, the council may take it that his consent has been given.