Quote from an OSS member who registered a village green in 2011:
“…..no solicitor, so no fees – did it all ourselves! However, we had some very good advice and support from the Open Spaces Society and I would strongly recommend joining them immediately.”
Town and village greens are the essence of rural England and Wales. Story-book images of village greens tend to be of an expanse of grass in the centre of a village complete with oak tree and seat, or a carefully-manicured recreation ground just outside the village, where cricket is played in the lengthening shadows of a summer evening, and the villagers dance round the maypole. In fact they are much more than that, and very varied.
A green is any land on which a significant number of inhabitants of any area has indulged in lawful sports and pastimes, for 20 years, as of right.
We believe there to be about 3650 registered greens in England and about 220 in Wales, covering about 8150 and 620 acres respectively.
Visit our Special Features page here to download a copy of Defra’s study on the character of town and village greens.
If you are currently thinking about or trying to register a new green, and you need help and/or advice, or if you think somebody may be disregarding laws protecting village greens, why not join the Open Spaces Society, and benefit from our expert advice?
For further information, please click on the links below:
Registration
Preparing the application
Submitting your application
Frequently asked questions
Protecting village greens
Voluntary registration/dedication of land as a town or village green
Court cases