Agenda item

The committee is asked to consider whether or not to register the land the subject of this application as a Village Green.

The recommendation is to REJECT the application.

Officers:

Helen Gilbert, Commons Registration Officer

Stephen Jenkins, Deputy Planning and Development Team Manager

Mark O’Hare, Senior Planning Officer

Nancy El-Shatoury, Principal Lawyer

Speakers:

The Local Member, Tim Hall, registered to speak and made the following points in reference to the application:

·         Expressed he knows the area well and the green space gets a lot of public use.

·         Expressed that an area does not need to have shops to be considered a neighbourhood.  It does have sheltered housing, a scout hut and other community facilities.

·         The area is a cohesive community and has proved the green space is used

·         Commended the application for village green status to the committee.

Tim Hall then left the room at 12.28pm.

Key points raised during the discussion:

1.    The Commons Registration Officer introduced the report and informed the Committee that a neighbourhood must have some coherence to be acknowledged.  The officer’s recommendation was to reject the application.

2.    The Principal Lawyer explained that the Commons Act 2006 was specific about the criteria which need to be met in order for a piece of land to be granted Village Green status.  However, the terms locality and neighbourhood are not defined.  Case law has developed which must be considered when seeking to define the terms.  The Inspector had found that there was little to differentiate the claimed neighbourhood from the surrounding area and little to suggest cohesiveness.  The only appeal available to either side following the committee’s decision would be Judicial Review.

3.    Members felt that an area did not require a particular type of building to be considered a neighbourhood.  It could be considered that way if residents wish it to be.  It simply required a sense of place.  It was pointed out that many recent developments were not built with shops but this should not mean that they could not become a neighbourhood or locality.  Members queried whether the Inspector’s judgement would result in other urban areas being rejected as neighbourhoods, with only rural areas being judged to have met the necessary criteria.  Members highlighted that the plans indicated that there was an infant school, recreation ground, allotment and parking area within the claimed neighbourhood.  The Chairman countered that different people will have different definitions of neighbourhoods and that the Inspector had used case law to come to his conclusion.

4.    It was noted that the application had met all the other criteria set by the Commons Act 2006.

5.    It was noted that the land owner would not be able to develop or sell the land if it were to gain village green status.

6.    The Committee was informed that there was a recreation ground close to the proposed village green, it was noted that this did not affect the application under consideration.

RESOLVED:

Members rejected the officer recommendation to REJECT the application.  It went on to APPROVE the application to register the land at Leach Grove Wood as a Village Green for the following reason:

·         Notwithstanding the Inspector's view, Members formed a different impression. Having considered all the evidence before them they came to the view that the criteria laid down by the Commons Act 2006 had been satisfied by the applicant.

Action/further information to be provided:

None.