Anyone ever applied for village green status?



I signed the petition but there is where my involvement ended. :lol:

I did say I would chain myself to the front gate if required tho.
:) it is the how you start organising and applying I was wondering about. At least at the minute there are loads of online local community groups and this place is being used more for lockdown exercise so it might be the best time to do it.
 
:) it is the how you start organising and applying I was wondering about. At least at the minute there are loads of online local community groups and this place is being used more for lockdown exercise so it might be the best time to do it.
I’d definitely use your local councillor as a starting point. Then start a campaign with the neighbours and those who actively use the land.
 
Lovely enclosed grass field lined with mature trees where families can safely play and walk their dogs or a bunch of executive homes probably priced between 300 to 500 grand a pop. Wasn't a tough choice really.

I agree like. Nee idea where all these executives types are going to come from with all the executive housing plans that keep cropping up. The developers must know something about Sunderland that we don't.
 
Village Green status is a specific designation that you can apply for if you can demonstrate that the land has been used by the public 'as of right' for sports and pastimes for a period of 20(?) years i.e. It is implied that the public can use it due to a lack of fences/signage prohibiting public access.

If you have had as of right access you need to provide proof as to the type and frequency of activities that the land has been used.

If the council have acquired it with genuine aspirations to develop it I'd be surprised if they haven't covered themselves by erecting signage.

Also, if the site has been identified for development in an emerging local development plan you can't apply for Village Green status.
 
Village Green status is a specific designation that you can apply for if you can demonstrate that the land has been used by the public 'as of right' for sports and pastimes for a period of 20(?) years i.e. It is implied that the public can use it due to a lack of fences/signage prohibiting public access.

If you have had as of right access you need to provide proof as to the type and frequency of activities that the land has been used.

If the council have acquired it with genuine aspirations to develop it I'd be surprised if they haven't covered themselves by erecting signage.

Also, if the site has been identified for development in an emerging local development plan you can't apply for Village Green status.
Cheers.

I think the background is that it belonged to the local school who never used it and give it to the council to save their maintenance budget. I'm not aware of any local development plan or any actual plans, there is no signage either. It gets used for boot fairs and I know the local Lyons club who organise them have a contract for another 3 - 4 years.

I'm thinking if I can get protection of this area before it is identified in a local development plan then it will stop it ever being in one. As you say, things seem a lot harder when plans have progressed and then the residents protest.
 
Cheers.

I think the background is that it belonged to the local school who never used it and give it to the council to save their maintenance budget. I'm not aware of any local development plan or any actual plans, there is no signage either. It gets used for boot fairs and I know the local Lyons club who organise them have a contract for another 3 - 4 years.

I'm thinking if I can get protection of this area before it is identified in a local development plan then it will stop it ever being in one. As you say, things seem a lot harder when plans have progressed and then the residents protest.

There's a load of case law on village greens as it was a hot topic issue a few years back but most landowners/councils have sorted out their management regimes for any land that could potentially be developable now. You should be able to find out all about it from some online research.

From memory the public use needs to be for legal sports and pastimes and quite a bit of evidence is required over something like 20 years. If it was/is designated as sports pitches I suspect the use may be by right rather than as of right, if so it would be a non starter and you would need to look for material planning reasons that the site shouldn't be developed when an application goes in or the council take forward a new development plan.
 
There's a load of case law on village greens as it was a hot topic issue a few years back but most landowners/councils have sorted out their management regimes for any land that could potentially be developable now. You should be able to find out all about it from some online research.

From memory the public use needs to be for legal sports and pastimes and quite a bit of evidence is required over something like 20 years. If it was/is designated as sports pitches I suspect the use may be by right rather than as of right, if so it would be a non starter and you would need to look for material planning reasons that the site shouldn't be developed when an application goes in or the council take forward a new development plan.
Local residents (loads of people who have been around here for decades) can remember it being used for many activities going back a long time, so I suspect I can get something in writing from them. I’ve found pictures from sports days and boot fairs from 2012, but also something about playing fields in a library archive dates 1949. I need to find out what that is.
Have a read of this site: Home

We tried when we were trying to save the playing field here but Durham Council had already put it in a development plan so we couldn't apply for it.
Thanks. I had seen them mentioned but not been to their site yet. I'm just at the start of my research so naturally I ask the SMB first!
 
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Set up a facebook group and encourage people to join. Once you get a team together, you can target nearby streets with letterbox flyers. We designed one and sent it to each volunteer who printed off a few copies and did their designated houses. We managed to cover the whole village with little time and printing costs each.

Put laminated signs on the gates going onto the field to make people aware of what is planned and how to join your group.

Make posters and see if you can put them up in local shops, pubs, community centres etc.

Get as many people as you can to fill in a statement saying they've used the field for dog walking/picnics/playing games etc., for x many years and if they can supply any pictures of the field being used, that helps back up that it's not being neglected.

Try and get local councillor(s) and MP involved.

Once you get a decent sized group against it, contact local papers and see if anyone will run a story to drum up more publicity.

It's a lovely field. Hope you can save it.
 

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