Chris Beney, the Three Rivers local correspondent for the Open Spaces Society, a charity founded in 1865 to save Berkhamsted Common, said:
“The cows that bothered Carol Tunstall on Chorleywood Common wouldn't be there without the fencing put up by the parish councillors“.

“There are strict laws on such fencing and the councillors appear to be disregarding it. There is a process for the temporary fencing which does not seem to have been followed, and the permanent fencing requires formal government approval. I know of no such approval. It is not clear where that leaves the parish councillors.”

“Some temporary enclosure for good reason can sometimes be acceptable, and Chorleywood's removable fence might well be of that kind, but the bulk of the fencing there is permanent and some of it seriously detracts from the openness which is a key part of our heritage of publicly accessible commons.”

One Saturday in May, one of the cows escaped from the common, and was eventually found on a nearby farm.
Yvonne Merritt, of Chorleywood Parish Council, said: “The parish council owns the common.“
It is estimated the Parish Council has spent over £20,000 on this grazing project since inception. The majority of local residents are sick of seeing their taxes wasted in this way. So far the Council is arguing that this expenditure has resulted in an increase in wild flowers!
The successful resident's campaign to cease this madness has produced a Council response is that it is favour of continuing with grazing on the common.
SHOULD THE PARISH COUNCIL BE SPENDING COUNCIL TAX ON FARMING?
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