Henley Town Council dedicates its green
We have praised Henley-on-Thames Town Council for setting an example to others. The society sent a message to the mayor, Councillor Mrs Elizabeth Hodgkin, to read out during the dedication of Gillott’s Field as a town green, at a town picnic on Sunday 25 April. The town council owns Gillott’s Field, a beauty-spot on the…
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Cavendish village green in Suffolk is voted liveliest in country
TruGreen, the world’s largest professional lawn care company, together with The Sunday Telegraph, Life, has named Cavendish Village Green in Suffolk the liveliest in the country. Entrants were invited to send a picture and 50 words on why they thought their nominated village green was the liveliest in the country to the judges at TruGreen…
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Englefield Green village green is saved
We are celebrating the decision by Helen Slade of the Planning Inspectorate, on behalf of the environment secretary, to refuse consent for works on Englefield Green village green in Surrey. The land is widely used by local people, and the inspector confirmed that the public have the right to enjoy the green for air and…
Read MoreTen-point plan for candidates
We have published our ten-point plan for candidates in the general election, and have asked them to sign up to it. To see the names of those who have said they support it, in whole or part, click here. Action plan 1. A right of appeal, and a requirement to provide suitable alternative land, before public…
Read MoreNew green in Highworth
Local campaigners have won a new village green at Barra Close, Highworth near Swindon. However, approximately 5,000 square feet of the land had been fenced off during a neighbour dispute, and this part of the land still has to be registered as village green. This week the fences were removed and now local campaigners are…
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Barratt’s pre-emptive strike
We have deplored Barratt Homes’ action last week to bulldoze The Ditches, a much-loved children’s play area, at Merton Green in Caerwent. The Merton Green Action Group has applied to register the open space as a village green. Monmouthshire County Council, the greens registration authority, will consider the application next week and there is likely…
Read More‘Monumental’ Supreme Court judgment for new greens
We are delighted at today’s unanimous judgment from the Supreme Court(1) which orders Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council to register Coatham Common(2) as a village green.(3) The society backed local inhabitants in their bid to register the land. In order for land to be registered as a green, local people need to show that a…
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Liveliest Village Green in 2010
The society is delighted to be working with TruGreen Professional Lawn Care and the Sunday Telegraph in promoting the first-ever ‘Liveliest Village Green’ competition. All three of us invite you to join our celebration of our wonderful village greens. If you think your village green is the liveliest in the UK, all you have to…
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Beauty-spot blot
We have objected to a retrospective planning application for a high, galvanised-steel ‘gate’ at Turville, Bucks, on a hilltop in the heart of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Michael and Carol Clare of Turville Court, part of a 22 million-pound estate, erected a green metal structure, nearly three metres high and five metres…
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Village Greens review is unnecessary and premature
‘The proposed review of the process for registering new town and village greens is unnecessary and premature.’ This is our response the recently-announced review by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).(1) Says our case officer, Nicola Hodgson: ‘The current process for registering land as greens in England only took effect in April…
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