Are village greens the new weapon of choice against property developers? Malcolm Dowden investigates
The Supreme Court has handed a major victory to a group of local residents in Redcar, allowing them to thwart a development proposal by securing registration of the land as a town or village green. The decision will encourage objectors elsewhere to consider similar tactics, establishing village greens as a weapon of choice in “guerrilla warfare” against property developers.
The Commons Act 2006 made it easier to apply for registration of land as a town or village green. Registration is possible where “a significant number of the inhabitants of any locality, or of any neighbourhood within a locality, have indulged as of right in lawful sports and pastimes on the land for a period of at least 20 years”.
In R (Lewis) v Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council [2010] UKSC 11 a resident of Redcar, together with some other local residents, applied under s 15(4) of the 2006 Act to have a piece of land in Redcar registered as a town or village green to prevent a mixed residential and leisure development
