Village greens are a quintessential feature of our English heritage conjuring up images of lazy summer days. Their status is derived by local residents having indulged in lawful sports and pastimes on them for a period of at least 20 years. Appreciation is so high for the 'village green' that this year it is up for an award as the Icon of England.
This is fine, providing it’s not your land that gets registered as one. Where land has been used in the above way, anyone in the locality in which the land is situated can apply to register it as a village green 'as of right’ without the permission of the landowner! And there are no size limits on the extent of your land that could be registered.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that this couldn't apply to you. It is important that you protect your land: if it gets registered as a village green your rights over it will be substantially affected and dramatically reduced. You can only use it in a way that does not interfere with the recreational rights of others; furthermore land registered as a village green becomes subject to Victorian planning legislation which makes any potential development on it virtually impossible. So if you have earmarked a piece of land for development at some stage to provide a rosy future for you and your family, think again. You could potentially be losing thousands of pounds.
In the recent Trap Grounds case, Oxford City Council had opposed the registration of a nine-acre site as a village green which it had earmarked for housing development. The Court of Appeal ruled that an application to register ground as a village green would fail if the landowner challenged the public’s use of the land before the land was actually registered. This was overturned by the House of Lords which ruled that recreational use of the land should be taken in to account up to the date of registration, not application, thus denying landowners the chance to break the period of others using the land.
In addition, the Commons Act 2006 will introduce a 'grace period'. This means that even if the landowner stops people using his land, if more than 20 years’ use has accumulated, registration as a village green could still result. It is not yet clear when this legislation will be enacted but it is clear that it is now more crucial than ever to protect your land. The more time you can show you have prevented others using your land, the stronger your defence will be. Take time to assess the land you own and uncover any rights of use. Erect signs prohibiting access on the land, even better, fence it off and erect gates or barriers. This is just a start however; there are many ways you can avoid losing control over your land.
