Support us from £3/month
We deal with almost 1000 cases a year assisting communities, groups and individuals in protecting their local spaces and paths in all parts of England and Wales. Can you help us by joining as a member?
The Lambston Parish Residents’ Association in Camrose community, Pembrokeshire, is celebrating the registration of an open space in Sutton as a village green.
The one-acre site, just to the west of Haverfordwest, has been enjoyed by local people for informal recreation and social events for decades. Since the owner is not known, the Lambston residents organised volunteer days on the land to clear the scrub and remove dumped rubbish.
With advice from the society, the group decided to register the land as a village green, thereby confirming the rights of local people to enjoy informal recreation there and protecting it from development.
The group gathered evidence from local people who had enjoyed the land for 20 years without challenge or permission. It submitted the forms to Pembrokeshire County Council. The council advertised the application and there were no objections. The land was confirmed as a green in March 2018.
Says Charles Mathieson, who led the campaign to register the land: ‘This is a nice example of a very small community organisation being able to make a long-term improvement in village facilities without the need for capital funding. We did it with volunteer involvement, local support and a good deal of persistence. We are grateful for the advice and help of the Open Spaces Society, the county council and Camrose Community Council.’
Adds our case officer Nicola Hodgson: ‘We congratulate the residents on their persistence in registering this much-loved open space. Now that it is confirmed as a village green, local people have rights of recreation there and it is protected for all time.
‘We urge communities to consider what land in their areas might qualify for registration as a green and to apply for it to be added to the register before it is too late.’