Town and Village Greens developed under customary law as areas of land where local people indulged in lawful sports and pastimes. These might include organised or ad-hoc games, picnics, fetes and similar activities.
Applications to register land as new town or village greens
The CRA is also responsible for registering "new" town or village greens.
Section 15 of the Commons Act 2006 changes the legal definition of a town or village green and sets out the qualifying circumstances in which land may be newly registered. Essentially anyone can apply to have land registered as a green if it has been used by local people for recreation ‘as of right’ (i.e. without permission, force or secrecy) for at least 20 years. Section 15 makes the following changes to the existing law relating to the registration of new greens:
- it provides a period of grace after use of land by local people ‘as of right’ has been ended by the landowner, when an application to register it as a green can still be made (under the old legislation, an application had to be made immediately after use ‘as of right’ had been ended)
- it ensures that, where a landowner grants permission for use of his land when there has already been 20 years’ use ‘as of right’, the use continues to be regarded ‘as of right’ (so there is no time limit for an application for registration, unless the landowner takes other steps to challenge use)
- any period of statutory closure (e.g. during a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak) is to be disregarded when deciding whether there has been 20 years’ use ‘as of right’
- it allows a landowner voluntarily to register his land as a green.
The new measures have been introduced in the Commons (Registration of Town or Village Greens) (Interim Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2007 and came into force on 6 April 2007. An application form and comprehensive guidance notes to help applicants and registration authorities complete the process are also available from Defra's website
Application Forms to enable you to apply to register new land as a town or village green should be sent to Senior Legal Officer, Legal & Democratic Services, South Gloucestershire Council, Castle Street, Thornbury, Bristol BS35 1HF - telephone 01454 863043 or by e-mail to commonsandgreens@southglos.gov.uk