THE top campaign group for common land, the Open Spaces Society, has called for speed restrictions where unfenced roads cross common land.

The society has written to transport ministers in England and Wales advocating a universal speed-limit of no more than 40 miles an hour for unfenced roads across common land. Where the commons are close to towns or villages, an existing speed-limit zone should be extended to include the common.

Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the society: explained: "Commons are important for their history, wildlife and opportunities for quiet recreation. Too many are now crossed by busy roads.

"In order to reintroduce grazing animals to benefit the habitat for wildlife and public access, the owners or managers (often a conservation body such as the National Trust or a wildlife trust) have to erect fencing to separate the stock from the speeding traffic.

"We should much prefer the traffic to be slowed than the common to be fenced - fencing is an eyesore and a physical and psychological barrier to public access. People should be able to enter the common at any point from the road, in accordance with their right under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and other legislation which gives the public the right to roam on commons. Even if gates and stiles are provided, the fencing is still a severe barrier to access."

Kate added: "Commons are traditionally open and unenclosed, and fencing destroys that historic concept.

"Fencing on a common requires the consent of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in England, and the National Assembly for Wales in Wales, under section 194 of the Law of Property Act 1925(3). The Open Spaces Society is informed of every application. We object unless there is an overriding need for the fencing which cannot be met by alternative means.

"Recently we have been consulted about many applications for fencing of roads across commons. In some cases we objected, in others we had, reluctantly, to accept that there was currently no alternative solution(4).

"However, if there was a universal, speed-limit of, say, 40mph where unfenced roads cross commons, there would be much less need for fencing. Of course such a speed limit would have to be enforced."

Kate said that excellent examples had been set in the New Forest and in the Dartmoor National Park where there were 40 mile-per-hour speed limits on the unfenced roads across the commons. Recently, the Dartmoor Livestock Protection Society and Devon County Council had supported the Dartmoor National Park Authority in providing flashing signs to remind the speeding motorist to slow down.

"If this works on Dartmoor, it should work on other commons too," she said.