When is a village green not a village green?

This is a question that has been a key issue for the development of land in and around villages for some time, but a recent decision by the Supreme Court may have paved a way to resolving it.

An application to register land as a town and village green was once a dangerous weapon that could be used by local campaigners to try and prevent development.

If local campaigners have land registered as a town or village green under the Commons Act 2006 the implication is that nothing can be built on the land without the permission of the Government.

But in a landmark village green case, which has significant implications for applications for registration of land by local authorities, the Supreme Court ruled that a field in Whitby, North Yorkshire, cannot be registered as a “town or village green” despite the fact that its owner, Scarborough Borough Council, has allowed its informal use for playing football and walking dogs for more than 20 years.

The land in question had been acquired by Scarborough Borough Council as part of a parcel of land development for housing. However, the piece of land in question was retained by Scarborough Borough Council and kept as “recreation grounds” under the Housing Act 1985.

Recently, the council decided that it would allow a developer to build on the land in question.

The Supreme Court held that the land was used by local inhabitants with the permission of the owner of the land, as the council had designated the land as available for recreational use by the public under the provision of the Housing Act 1985.

Any usage was carried out with the permission of the council landowner and therefore the required 20-year period of qualifying use to enable the land to be registered under the Commons Act 2006 had not started to run as the land was designated “recreational ground” under the Housing Act 1985.

Developers may want to consider land used in this way for redevelopment as this decision means town or village green applications can be easily defended.