Malvern Hills Bill [HL] Committee

11 March 2026

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Malvern Hills Bill [HL] Committee Wed, 11 Mar 2026 House of Lords

00:04 - 00:21

Speaker 1

Good afternoon. This is the afternoon sitting of the select committee on the Morven Hills bill, and we are looking this afternoon at a petition by Barbara Wilkes, who is here to present her case to us and we look forward to hearing from you.

00:22 - 03:25

Speaker 2

Thank you, Marlo. I've taken advice a few days ago and after which I've added in an introduction and a conclusion which I've added these pages to the binder. So if the pages don't turn very well, I'm sorry, it's because the binder was already bound. I am grateful to your Lordships for the opportunity to present this my petition to you today and I have identified specific areas of the proposed new bill which add to the difficulties of being a practicing commoner. I am however deeply concerned that while I have made several objections to the Bill I have not in any sense expressed properly my heartfelt feelings about the Bill or the fact I feel the conservators as a body have a deeply embedded lack of proper understanding of the true value of the commons under their jurisdiction.

I would like to identify some of these. The Malvern Hills and the appended commons represent a lasting and vitally important part of the living history of Worcestershire and neighbouring counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. The area concerned, being a tangible and living monument to the ancient systems of rural life which has been part of rural England for centuries, a matter that is well understood by commoners and the residents who live there. At a time when so much effort is made to conserve important parts of our living history, I take a strong view that the common land and the way it is regulated and farmed occupy a special place which should not be tampered with and the working commons should be allowed to continue to play their part in the retention of a proper understanding of our history. In all of this, the commoners in all of this it is the commoners who should have control of the rights which they own and which they or their predecessors have bought and paid for.

I would like to add that while these rights remain in place, any question or action which allows erosion or which reduces their usefulness to commoners has the result of losing a valuable part of our history. I live at Upper Orchard Cottage on Hollybed Common with one of my adult sons and his young family. My daughter and her family also live very close by and they both help with the sheep I graze on the common, fitting it in with their full time jobs and families. It is intended that my property should eventually be inherited by my children as they wish to continue this traditional way of life. I have worked as a nurse for forty nine years, I've recently retired, and having lived in Carcer Morton for the last forty seven years have always taken an interest in the local area, especially the Commons, and have served as a parish counsellor for twelve years.

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