Common land and village greens are areas in which there are ‘rights of common’ or, for village greens, areas of land which local inhabitants can go onto for the exercise of lawful sports and pastimes. We have been involved in a range of matters concerning the protection of common land and the registration and deregistration of village greens.
Commons
Sometimes a landowner will seek to deregister common land, for example to try and develop it or because they believe it has been wrongly registered. These matters can often be highly contentious. We have experience in assisting clients with opposing deregistration, both at public inquiries as well as in court proceedings to challenge the grant of deregistration. Additionally, we have helped protect common land from misuse, for instance where motor vehicles are being used on common land without permission, and have also worked with clients seeking to protect and/or establish rights of way.
Town and Village Greens (“TVGs”)
Registering a TVG can be a useful way to protect open space in a community where local inhabitants are able to prove long-established recreational use of land ‘as of right’. ‘As of right’ means where people have used the land without force, without secrecy and without the permission of the owner. People must have been using the land in this way for at least 20 years. We have assisted several clients in making applications to local authorities for the registration of TVGs and preparing for public inquiries. Recent legislation has made it more important than ever to be proactive in seeking to register TVGs as it is no longer possible to do so where the land in question is already the subject of a planning application (e.g. for development of houses). There are also instances where a landowner can apply to deregister a TVG and we are able to assist clients in resisting such applications.
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Example Cases
Village Green Deregistration Appeal
R (Strack) v Sec. of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Challenge to village green deregistration/exchange; Costs cap conceded by Government
Challenge to New Road Across Common, Suffolk
R (Open Spaces Society) v Sec of State for Food, Environment & Rural Affairs
Challenge to new road across common clarifies rules on considering alternatives to “works” on common land
Common land deregistration challenge
R (Open Spaces Society) v North Yorkshire County Council
Successful challenge to common land deregistration; Former Richmond racecourse, North Yorkshire.
Bristol Downs car parking challenge success
R (Carter) v Bristol City Council & ors
JR challenge to Council’s decision to permit parking on open space.
Common land deregistration challenge, Hampshire
R(Hampshire County Council) v SSEFRA & Ors
Challenge to deregistration of common land clarifies meaning of "curtilage"
Common land deregistration, Cumbria
Application by Ministry of Defence to deregister common land, Cumbria
Opposition to MOD application to deregister Cumbria common land at public inquiry.
Richard Buxton Solicitors is sensitive to our needs as a small charity, and gives excellent service, providing sound advice in a timely fashion.