Getting Greens Registered

An Open Spaces Society publication

Getting Greens Registered—fourth edition

The fourth edition of our manual Getting Greens Registered, published March 2022, is a step-by-step guide which assists you in deciding whether land is eligible for registration as a green and then, if you believe it is, how to go about applying for registration.

It includes the latest changes to the law brought about by the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 in England, and the Planning (Wales) Act 2015, including the effect of ‘trigger’ events and landowner statements. It explains the differences in the process between England and Wales; and the nine English registration authorities known as ‘pioneer’ areas and the others.
It also describes how landowners can voluntarily register their land as a green—something which the society strongly encourages.

The benefits of registration are that the land is protected from encroachment and development, and local people have rights of recreation there.

The book is indispensable to all who wish to register land as a town or village green.

It can be downloaded here for £12

Click here to download your copy today

Further resources about Village Greens

  • A charter for England's open spaces

    Read our August 2020 charter for the promotion and protection of open spaces so that everyone in England can benefit.

  • Protecting village greens

    Law guiding the protection of Village Greens

  • Landowner statements: the threat to village greens (England)

    Now you must apply to register land as a green within one year of a landowner’s challenge to your use of the land for informal recreation.

  • Landowner statements: the threat to village greens (Wales)

    Now you must apply to register land as a green in Wales within two years of a landowner’s challenge to your use of the land for informal recreation

  • Guidance on making a successful green application

    These guidance notes have kindly been prepared by The Friends of Coombe Wood, who successfully registered a green in 2013.

  • Recent registrations

    A list of successful green registrations

  • Public inquiry guidance

    Our former Vice-president, Edgar Powell wrote this guidance on preparing for and attending a public inquiry.

  • Court cases on town & village greens

    We publish a commentary about most decisions in the courts about town or village green registration cases. You can find a list of these cases here together with a hyperlink to our commentary or (where there is none) to a report of the case on the website of the British and Irish Legal Information Institute.

  • Frequently Asked Questions: Village & Town Greens

    Common questions about village and town greens

  • How to register a town or village green

    A walk-through of the process to register land as a town or village green in England or Wales. 

  • Voluntary registration/dedication of land as a town or village green

    Dedicate land voluntarily as a town or village green by applying to have it included in the register of town or village greens. 

  • Management and protection of town and village greens

    DEFRA have compiled some answers to FAQ that cover the management and protection of greens once they are registered.

  • Beating the bounds of your green or common

    Parish and community councils and other local groups may like to beat the bounds of their local common or village green on Rogation Sunday.

  • Protecting commons, greens and open spaces training course

    Learn the fundamentals on this comprehensive course to include definitions, registration/designation, protection and management.

  • Vehicular access across Common Land and Town or Village Greens

    This provides guidance about vehicular access across common land and town or village greens following the repeal of section 68 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.

  • Prosecuting an offence on a village green

    If you wish to prosecute someone for a criminal offence on a town or village green...

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Village Greens: Latest Posts

Our plan to secure urban green spaces for the public 

We made a host of recommendations to secure urban green spaces for public enjoyment.    These recommendations have been published by the House of Commons’ Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs Committee, which last year conducted an inquiry into the ecological, environmental, and human benefits of green space, and the most effective solutions to making cities greener…
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We help win the right result for Hamsterley Green, County Durham

We have welcomed a decision which will help protect Hamsterley village green, six miles west of Bishop Auckland in County Durham. Hamsterley Parish Council, the owner of the green, with the owners of Green View, a site to be developed for housing, had applied to the environment secretary for permission to deregister part of the…
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Photograph of the Dyke Hills with the landowner, Keith Ives (centre). Louise Aukland (left) and Becky Waller (right) submitted an application for this to be registered as a village green

New village greens at Dorchester on Thames and Little Wittenham, Oxfordshire

We are celebrating the registration of two new village green at Dorchester on Thames and Little Wittenham in Oxfordshire.  The greens at the historic Dyke Hills (3.03 hectares), a scheduled Iron Age settlement, and at Day’s Lock Meadow (2.37 hectares) beside the River Thames.  They have been voluntarily registered by a beneficent landowner, Keith Ives.…
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Loss of Longhorsley green refused

We have welcomed a decision to retain part of Longhorsley village green, which the parish council wanted to convert to a private driveway. Longhorsley Parish Council wanted to sell off around 54 square metres of Longhorsley green, in this case part of the verge of East Road, in the Northumberland village east of the junction…
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