Council defends plans to fence off Padworth Common

The main objectors has been the British Horse Society, which said that the inquiry would make it a legal test case on the access of horses to commons countrywide.
The council, which plans to fence off part of the 23-hectare site for the “sole purpose of containing livestock intended for use as conservation grazers”, intends using the area to graze a small number of cattle and ponies and said that, as it was largely unenclosed, especially near adjacent properties andmain roads, stock fencing was a necessity.
West Berkshire access and bridleway officer for the British Horse Society, Janice Bridger, said that the council’s proposals would fence horseriders off from a significant part of the south common, while allowing access to all other user groups.
She also said that the society’s legal counsel had advised that excluding horseriders from the common was unlawful.
The public inquiry is to be held at the main council chamber, West Berkshire Council offices, Cheap Street, on May 24 or 25, at a time yet to be confirmed.