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

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