The registration of new town or village greens

This consultation sought views on proposals to reform the system for registering new town or village greens under section 15 of the Commons Act 2006.

Around 185 applications were made in 2009 to register new greens.  The volume of applications to register new greens, the character of application sites, the controversy which such applications often attract, the cost of the determination process on the parties affected, and the impact of a successful registration on the landowner, are all giving rise to increasing concern. In this context, and the Government’s commitment, announced in the Natural Environment White Paper, to introduce a Local Green Spaces designation through the planning system, the consultation presented the Government’s case to reform the registration system so as to achieve an improved regulatory balance between protecting high quality green space valued by local communities and enabling the right development to occur in the right place at the right time.  It also seeks to reduce the burden on local authorities which are responsible for implementing it, and on landowners who are affected by applications. There is no intention to review sites already registered. The consultation was aimed at:

• people and community organisations who are concerned about greens spaces;
• those who have been or will be involved with applications to register land as a town or village green;
• landowners and developers of land;
• national government;
• local authorities, as commons registration authorities, as landowners, as planning authorities, and as bodies interested in the development of their areas and the protection of green areas within them.