Common Lands

The Parish Council manages three areas of common land in the parish. These are:

Mill Common (CL163)
This area of land is situated north of Waterfall House and consists of 3.758 hectares of land. It was regsitered as Common Land in 1965 andthis was finalisedin 1972. Whilst the Commons Commissioner was not satisfied that any person was the owner of the land, the land remains under the protection of the Parish Council.
In 1992 the upper and middle reaches of the River Wensum were deemed as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Mill Common was incorporated within this as an 'unimproved meadow'.
In 2007 the Parish Council was granted Higher Levek Stewardship on this land, whereby funding is available form the Government to help manage this land. Using this funding, fencing has been installed to keep grazing cattle in the area for part of the year. The movement of the hooves of these rare breed White Park cattle encourages native orchids to grow.
Work is currently being undertaken to clear scrub from the ditch to enable clear water to flow through the common.

Burgh Common (CL164 and CL387)
Burgh Common consists are two areas of land of 0.899 and 0.217 hectares respectively. The first is a strip along the Worthing Road, between the road and the Rover Wensum, and the second is a smaller area acros shte river, but still within the Parish boundary. Like Mill Coomon, both areas of land were registered as common land adn thus remained under the protection of the parish council, however a legal dispute with Atlas Aggregates in 1988 led to the Commons Commissioner granting the Parish Council true ownership of the small parcel of land across the river.
These areas of common land are one of the few areas where fishing is possible on land that is not in private hands. As a result there is an ongoung project by the Environment Agnecy, supported by the Parish Council to make access for people wishing to fish there better. Glides and riffles have been installed in the river and there are currently boardwalks to assist less able people being planned.

Little Common (CL165)
This area of land is situated between Mill Street and the River Wensum and consists of 0.125 hectares of land. It was registerd as Common Land in 1968 and confirmed in 1975 that, as no person was the regsitered owner it would come under the protection of hte Parish Council. This wooded area is also part of the River Wensum SSSI.