Rush Common Commission
Rush Common is a much valued and historic area of land whose open spaces and character provides a valuable amenity for Brixton Town Centre and the area to the south of it.
It is protected by an ancient law, the Rush Common Act, which means it must be kept as common land and building work is not allowed to take place on it. However, there has been damage and deterioration caused by minor planning infringements over several years. In February 2008 the Council published a policy and guidance note for businesses and residents advising them of the requirements of the Act.
In January 2009 the Environment and Community Safety Scrutiny Sub-Committee was set up to look at how the council can take action to restore and prevent further erosion of the Rush Common land. The Commission members held information gathering sessions with officers and members of the public. Residents were also invited to submit evidence of infringements of the Act and tell the members how they thought the area could be preserved.
The commission members used this evidence to produce a final report which made recommendations to assist the council to enforce the requirements of the Rush Common Act. The report was adopted by the Environment and Community Safety Subcommittee at its meeting on Tuesday 13 July 2010.
Recommendations in the commission's final report included:
- several calling for a re-assessment of the council's legal position including the construction of a test case
- a number asking the council to communicate better with residents and landlords and work with them to correct previous breaches and establish preventative measures
- that a full dated conditions survey of Rush Common land be undertaken and the Environment and Community Safety Scrutiny Sub-Committee be consulted on the terms of reference and timetable for the conduct of the survey
- that a full costed appraisal of the full range of options available to the council to encourage (or force if necessary) residents of Rush Common to maintain their properties and land.
You can read the report at the following link:
The recommendations formed the basis of an Action Plan, produced by departmental officers in response to the Commission's report. The Action Plan was approved by the Cabinet at its meeting on 13 September 2010.
The Environment and Community Safety Scrutiny Sub Committee received a 6-month update on the implementation of the commission's findings in March 2011. As the committee was not satisfied that sufficient progress had been made in the implementation of the of the commission's findings, a further report was requested to the June 2011 meeting.