It is the new land grab – not beady-eyed developers gobbling up swathes of
countryside, but homeowners who are attempting to rescue their green space.
Across England and Wales, villagers are banding together to save the village
green – or, indeed, any scrap of grass verge that could be developed – by
taking the land into community or private ownership. Although they are not
doing this to make a profit, their motives are not entirely altruistic –
saving green space preserves the look of a village and, ultimately, the
value of their properties.
A fortnight ago, 70 villagers gathered in Cheney School community hall,
Oxford, to plan the next stage of their attempt to save 18 acres of meadow
to the east of the city. A proposal to build more than 1,000 homes on the
site was submitted to Oxford city council last October. Since then, the
Friends of Warneford Meadow – 2,000 of them – have been fighting to protect
the area. “We just love the meadow,” says Sietske Boeles, a consultant
psychiatrist and member of the group, who lives in a roomy Edwardian semi
five minutes’ walk away. “It is a place of tranquillity and a haven for
wildlife. Generations of children have enjoyed it. Also, any development
would have an intolerable effect on an already congested area.”
The Friends of Warneford Meadow are unable to raise the £10m needed to buy the
meadow, so they have applied to have it registered as a town green.
Initially, such applications are made to the local council, but if an
application is contested, a public inquiry might result. So the group is
also trying to raise up to £30,000 to cover potential legal bills.
The Friends of Warneford Meadow have sought advice from Britain’s oldest
conservation charity, the Open Spaces Society (OSS), which says that the
application is by no means an isolated one. It estimates that between 50 and
100 such cases are pending.
“Once land is registered as a village green, it is protected from
development,” says Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the OSS. “People have
the right to enjoy open space, even a scruffy patch of land used for
blackberrying, walking dogs, kicking a ball about, or dancing around a
maypole. On average, we receive 75 requests for help each year, but we
expect that figure to double.”
The reason she thinks more villagers will campaign for their patch of green to
be given official protection is that new regulations came into force earlier
this month, making it easier for them to do so. The legislative change was
triggered by the fight to register another patch of ground in Oxfordshire.
The case went to the House of Lords, whose decision in favour of
registration overturned an earlier ruling by the Court of Appeal. This had
blocked the registration of new greens where landowners were challenging
people’s right to use it for recreation.
So, if you want to save your patch of open ground, how do you go about it? In
theory, it should be quite straightforward, but the reality is that anyone
trying to do so will encounter time-consuming red tape.
“If local people have used the land for 20 years for informal recreation
without being stopped, they can apply for green status,” Ashbrook says.
First, canvass what local support there is and, if possible, form a lobby
group. Individuals can seek to register sites, but it is an exhausting
process and there is strength in numbers.
Groups should find it easier to garner publicity and influence, share jobs and
offer each other moral support.
You could, of course, follow another strategy that is increasingly popular:
club together with like-minded locals to buy the site yourselves. The
philosopher and rural campaigner Roger Scruton got together in 2005 with his
neighbours in the Wiltshire village of Brinkworth, buying several fields in
what he admitted was a preemptive strike.
“Neighbours should club together to buy small parcels of land from any
desperate farming neighbour, thereafter renting it back to him at a
peppercorn rent,” he advised in an article in The Spectator. “This we have
done in our neighbourhood, so saving ourselves from travellers and
agribusiness.”
Scruton’s approach has caught on. Harry St John, a partner in the rural
division of the Cluttons Oxford office, says he knows not only of cases
where villagers have beaten off developers by applying for village-green
status, but of those where a few acres have been bought by a wealthy village
resident determined to preserve the area’s character.
Without a wealthy philanthropist on side, however, trying to buy land out from
under a developer can be problematic and expensive. “It is difficult for
local communities to raise the necessary funds in time,” St John says. “The
will is there, but the cash may not be. Any vendor will want a market price.”
Still, people believe preventing a developer from blocking idyllic rural views
is worth the expense. After all, as St John points out: “Legally, you cannot
claim any compensation for the loss of a view. But a house with a nice view
will always sell for more.”
Take Bryan and Jean Warland, who retired to a four-bedroom barn-style property
in the pretty village of Kingston more than a decade ago, lured by the
spectacular view across the Blackmore Vale. When an adjoining one-acre field
came up for sale five years ago, they grabbed it.
“Four new houses had already been built nearby,” Jean says. “We believed plans
were afoot for more houses, and didn’t want them coming any closer,
blighting our view. The acre cost £10,000, but to us it is worth its weight
in gold.” The Warlands have added a covenant ensuring that the field will
remain a nature reserve in perpetuity.
“Hazelbury Bryan village, nearby, has seen so much building recently,” Jean
says. “We’ve done our bit for Mr Prescott. It must be soul-destroying to
move somewhere, then find building going on all around you.”
When a for-sale board went up on a patch of farmland in the middle of the
historic Wiltshire village of Edington, the parish council called an
emergency meeting. A syndicate was formed, and about 20 residents raised
£135,050 to buy the land and stop a developer from doing so.
The message? If you want to protect your view – and possibly your home’s value
– then it pays to club together. www.friendsofwarnefordmeadow.org.uk
How to stake your claim
Land can be registered as a town or village green if it has been used freely
and openly by local people for “lawful sports and pastimes” (ie, informal
recreation) for at least 20 years
Any person may apply to the registration authority, generally the local
council, to register land as a green. Once registered, it is legally
protected from encroachment and development
Full details of the process can be found at www.defra.gov.uk/
wildlife-countryside/issues/common/ town-villagegreens/index.htm
Set up a public meeting to gauge support
Set up a campaigning website and keep it up to date
Communicate quickly, clearly and effectively. Use local television and
newspapers to publicise your cause
The Open Spaces Society is publishing a new edition of its guide to Getting
Greens Registered in May. It costs £10 for members and £17 for nonmembers.
Call the society on 01491 573535 or visit www.oss.org.uk
