Changes to the village green designation regime have come into force

Village green regime change

In April, the Government took the first step in reducing village green abuse, by closing a loophole that made it possible to submit a village green application on land which had already been earmarked for development.

These reforms form part of the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013, following the 2010 Penfold Review.

Changes to the village green designation regime have come into force in October, which ministers hope will reduce the likelihood of people abusing the system by making spurious applications to block development.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) acknowledged that village green status protects land that is regularly used for recreation but said that “loopholes in the system have increasingly been abused by people looking to stop local development”.

“As well as having a negative effect on the rural economy and reducing the value of land – often by over 90 per cent – this reduces the availability of rural homes, facilities and hospitals across the country,” it said.

“While legitimate applications will remain well-protected, changes to the system will also save local authorities £1.3 million a year, as applications often lead to expensive and time-consuming public enquiries and court cases.”

From now on, applications relating to land which is regularly used for local recreation will have to be made within a year of the land’s use, rather than two. Similarly, landowners will be encouraged to allow local communities to make use of their land, as they will be able to protect it being registered as a village green through new landowner statements.

Rural Affairs Minister Richard Benyon said: “Towns across the country have been held back from getting the developments they want through misuse of the village green system.”

More details on the .gov.uk website