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Verderers' Court business

The history of the Verderers

Evidence from the 13^th century indicates that the Verderers were originally a court within the Forest, authorised by the Crown and elected by the County. They sat to hear cases of offences within the Sovereign's Forest. They could deal with minor offences directly (by fines) but more serious cases were referred to higher courts - ultimately the Forest Eyre.

Verderers' powers were enlarged in the 17^th & 18^th centuries to address offences undermining the planting and preservation of oak for ship-building (such as breaking Inclosure fences, encroachments on Crown land). Powers to deal with trespassers and abuses by Forest officers were also strengthened.

In 1877, the Verderers' Court was reconstituted by a New Forest Act of Parliament. The Act abolished the former oath of allegiance to the Crown. The Act required the appointment by the monarch of the Official Verderer and (originally) five Verderers to be chosen by the Commoners and Parliamentary voters in the New Forest parishes. They were to be the guardians of Commoners, common rights, and the Forest landscape.

The New Forest Act of 1949 increased the number of Verderers to comprise five elected, an Official Verderer, and four appointed members. The Act also gave the Verderers additional powers to make and amend byelaws.

Members of the Court

The members of the Verderers' Court are:

Mr. Oliver Crosthwaite Eyre	Official Verderer
Mr. Richard Deakin	Elected Verderer
The Hon. Ralph Montagu	Appointed Forestry Commission Verderer
Mr. Anthony Gerrelli	Elected Verderer
Mr. Jeffrey Kitcher	Elected Verderer
Ms. Dionis Macnair	Elected Verderer
Mr. Anthony Pasmore	Elected Verderer
Mrs. Patricia Thorne	Appointed DEFRA Verderer
Mrs. Diana Westerhoff	Appointed Natural England Verderer
Mr. Clive Maton	Appointed National Park Verderer

The Verderers' Court 2009

Court dates

The Court meets in public at the the Verderers' Hall, Queen's House, Lyndhurst at 10:00 a.m.. A Court Committee meeting to which the public are not admitted will be held on 15^th December 2010 and additionally as required. Court dates for 2010 are:

January 20^st - Open Court
February 17^th - Open Court
March 17^th - Open Court
April 21^th - Open Court
May 19^th - Open Court
June 16^th - Open Court
July 21^th - Open Court
August - No Court Session
September 15^th - Open Court
October 20^st - Open Court
November 17^th - Open Court
December 15^th - Committee Only

Members of the public may address the Court on any matter relevant to the management of the New Forest and subject to the Court Regulations listed below.

Agisters

The Agisters are employees of the Verderers. Their work is to assist in the management of Commoners' stock in the Forest. Specifically, they:

watch over the Forest to ensure that the owners of depastured stock, and others, meet the requirements of the Verderers in respect of stock welfare, payment of marking fees, etc.;
inform the Verderers of any possible breaches of the Verderers' byelaws;
attend road accidents and other incidents involving commoners' animals; deal with injured animals at the scene and humanely destroying animals if necessary;
organise the construction and ongoing maintenance of stock pounds within their area;
arrange and manage the rounding up of ponies and cattle in the autumn and at other times as required;
by regular inspection on foot, vehicle and horseback, an Agister will acquire, and maintain, a thorough and up to date knowledge of depastured stock and of ground conditions.

The Agisters

There are five Agisters, including a Head Agister, each covering a particular area within the Forest. Their contact details are:

Name	Phone	Mobile
Mr. Jonathan Gerrelli Head Agister	01590 682835	07836 602163
Mr. Andrew Napthine	02380 811567	07836 203883
Mr. Robert Maton	01590 612195	07836 500106
Mr. Peter Rix	01425 402171	07721 409755
Mr. Mike Lovell	02380 890596	07836 757579

Court minutes

The minutes of the Verderers' Court are available from 2003 to the present. The Court does not usually sit in August.

2010	January	February	March	April
	May	June	July	[August]
	September	October	November	December
2009	January	February †	March	April
	May	June	July	[August]
	September	October ‡	November	December
2008	January	February	March	April
	May	June	July	[August]
	September	October	November	December
2007	January	February	March	April
	May	June	July	August
	September	October	November	December
2006	January	February	March	April
	May	June	July	[August]
	September	October	November	December
2005	January	February	March	April
	May	June	July	[August]
	September	October	November	December
2004	January	February	March	April
	May	June	July	[August]
	September	October	November	December
2003	January	February	March	April
	May	June	July	[August]
	September	October	November	December

‡ - The minutes of October 2009 refer to a Akercome Bottom SSSI consultation meeting on 7 Sep 09. Download the report and map.

† - The minutes of February 2009 refer to reports on the Latchmore SSSI stream filling and realignment project. Download Mr. Anthony Pasmore's report and Mr. Peter Frost's report.

Accounts

The Report and Accounts of the Verderers of the New Forest, for the year ending 31^st March 2009 are available for download.

Memorandum of Understanding
between Forestry Commissioners & Verderers

In carrying out their statutory role as managers of the New Forest, the Forestry Commissioners are constrained by the existence of rights of common. However, these rights are subject to the Forestry Commissioners' statutory powers. The Commissioners have power, amongst other things, to authorise the use of land in the New Forest for the purpose of recreation and the appropriation of land in the New Forest for car parking and for camping sites. They also have powers to provide tourist, recreational or sporting facilities. The powers in the various New Forest Acts and those in the Countryside Act are only exercisable with the agreement of the Verderers.

In the context of the day-to-day management of the New Forest, it is necessary to decide how particular activities or other items which the Forestry Commissioners propose to permit, fall to be treated in the light of the legal rights and obligations outlined above. In particular, the parties have not always been able to agree whether particular items legally require the agreement of the Verderers. The purpose of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is to set out the parties' intended approach in respect of specific items which the Forestry Commissioners are likely to wish to permit in the New Forest in the future.

The full Memorandum of Understanding is available for download.

Regulations of the Court

Regulations Of The Verderers Of The New Forest Relating To The Courts Of Swainmote For The Dispatch Of Administrative And Judicial Business As Provided For In Section 24 Of The New Forest Act 1877 As Amended.

In accordance with long established tradition, in these Regulations a Court of Swainmote means a meeting of certain Verderers for the purposes of Section 8 of the New Forest Act 1949. Any other reference to the Court means a meeting for administrative purposes only.

The Conduct of all meetings of the Court shall be at the discretion of the chairman except in such matters as may be provided for by Act of Parliament, or laid down in these regulations.
The Verderers' Court shall meet monthly in Open Court followed by a closed committee meeting except for the month of August. Additional Open Courts, or committee meetings may be summoned by the Official Verderer or, in writing, by three Verderers for the transaction of urgent business.
Subject to restrictions on space, members of the public may attend any open meeting of the Court.
The dates of meetings of the Court shall be as determined from time to time by the Verderers and the dates of any meeting to which the public is admitted shall be advertised on the notice board outside the Court, at least fourteen days before the date of any such meeting.
The Clerk shall keep minutes of all the proceedings of the Court and maintain a register of all approvals granted under the New Forest Acts in such form as the Verderers shall determine from time to time. Copies of the minutes shall be sent to all Verderers before the following meeting of the Court. All approved minutes shall be available for inspection during normal office hours.
In addition to any presentment provided for by Act of Parliament, the Verderers will at any public meeting, receive presentments from any person provided that such presentments are: (1) relevant to some aspect of the New Forest or its management and (2) brief and (3) phrased in moderate language. Whether or not a presentment complies with this regulation shall be at the discretion of the chairman. Persons wishing to expand on their brief presentments may do so in writing, copies of which will be available for inspection. All persons making presentments are requested to hand written copies to the Clerk.
Where a presentment is made seeking the consent of the Verderers under the provisions of an Act of Parliament and the Verderers' consent would, in the opinion of the Court, have a significant effect upon the New Forest or be controversial, the Court will not make any decision on that presentment until after the succeeding public meeting in order that any person may have the opportunity of making a response expressing support or opposition to the presentment. The Verderers will apply this procedure to such other non-statutory applications as they may think fit.
Appointments to any sub-committee of the Court or any outside body on which the Verderers are represented shall be made by the Court. Where a Verderer has been appointed to an outside committee as a representative of the Court, a note of any relevant matters shall be made and circulated to members of the Court. Where possible copies of the official minutes of such outside committees shall be made available to the Clerk.
In the event of disorderly conduct by any person at a public meeting of the Court or of any person making a presentment failing to comply with a ruling of the chairman, the chairman may suspend the public meeting of the Court forthwith.
Subject to the overriding decision of the Court in any case, the Deputy Surveyor of the New Forest may be invited to attend committee meetings of the Court. Such other persons may be invited to attend as the Official Verderer may approve on the request of any Verderer or the Clerk. At the Court's discretion, the Deputy Surveyor or any person so invited, shall not be present when the matter in hand is debated and decided upon.
The proceedings of the Court of Swainmote shall, except as provided otherwise by Act of Parliament, be in accordance with the proceedings of a magistrates' court, as to which the chairman will take the professional advice of the Clerk to the Swainmote Court.
The preparation of all business to be considered by a Court of Swainmote shall be the sole responsibility of those Verderers who are not members of the Swainmote Court assisted by the Court's legal advisers and officers.
Applications by the Forestry Commission for the consent of the Court to minor matters shall be advised in advance, circulated and a recommendation prepared jointly by the Clerk and the Verderer(s) in whose area the application is.
When considering presentments the Verderers will not only take into consideration counter presentments but also have regard to their own published policies.
Decisions made by the Court will be advised directly to the persons or bodies involved and announced at the following Open Court.
Decisions will be recorded as Resolutions.
Development Applications - the Legal Position: There is a clear distinction between matters which must be referred to the Verderers by Presentment and those where it is desirable that a Presentment should be made in the public interest, but where there is no obligation on the applicant to do so. A summary of the legal position is set out below in respect of the more important powers:

Act	Section	Subject	Consultation Required	Consent Required	Presentment Required
1949	7	Electoral Districts	Yes
	11	Open Forest Maintenance	Yes
	12	Timber Inclosures			Yes
	13	A&O Inclosures			Yes
	14	Cultivations			Yes
	16	A31 Works		Yes
	17	Highway Works		Yes
	18	Wires & Pipes		Yes
		Recreation Land		Yes
		Car Parks		Yes
		Land Exchanges		Yes
1964	3	Fencing (various)			*Yes
	4	A35 Fencing		Yes
	5	Access to Perambulation		Yes
	6	Campsites & Facilities		Yes
	10	New Ornamental Woods			Yes
		A&O Maintenance	Yes
1967	47	FC Byelaws	Yes
1970	1	Countryside Act Powers		Yes
		Countryside Act Enclosures		Yes
	2	A337 Fencing		Yes
	3	Grazing Improvement			*Yes

* = Public announcement by Verderers and consultation required.

It is the Court's policy that decisions should not be made on "controversial" matters until after the next public Court. It is also generally understood that requests for significant land appropriations should be by Presentment irrespective of the legal requirements.
In order to ensure that appropriate publicity is given to important applications, applicants must put requests for developments in writing to the Verderers' office at least two weeks before the Court at which they hope for a decision without a presentment. The Clerk will then refer the application to the Official Verderer and at least one elected Verderer who will generally be the one living nearest to the proposed development. They will not have the power to decide the application. If either considers that the matter is controversial or significant in Forest terms, the applicant will be asked to make a Presentment which will be subject to the usual procedures. If the applicant refuses to make a Presentment then the Verderers will themselves make a public announcement that they have received an application and will accept public comments upon it at the next Open Court, before making a decision.
Where a member of the Court has a personal or financial interest in a matter being considered at any meeting of the Court, he should disclose that interest, and the declaration shall be recorded in writing. If a member of the Court believes that his personal or financial interest in a matter being considered by the Court is so significant that a member of the public may regard it as being likely to prejudice his judgement, then he should take no further part in the consideration of that matter.

October 2002.