Registering a village green could be about to get easier

Gaining official status as a village green could become a less long-winded process after new proposals were approved by Rochdale Borough Council.

The proposal was met with approval at the last full council meeting in December and will make sure there is no repeat of the Heritage Green saga.

Just a couple of months ago, Norden residents celebrated Heritage Green gaining official village green recognition after a gruelling three-and-a-half year ordeal.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/123164/joy-at-village-green-victory

Councillors say the system – which can involve delegating decisions to other authorities – is ‘lengthy and not always cost effective’.

Now future applications will now be dealt with through the planning system, which decides on bids for new homes and other developments.

Residents can register land as a village green if they can prove it has been used by local people for lawful sports and pastimes ‘as of right’ for at least 20 years.

Under the new process, ‘non-contentious’ applications will be determined by a top council officer and the chair of the planning and licensing committee.

More controversial submissions, and those which attract objections, will be debated and voted on by members of the planning committee.

Councillor Liam O’Rourke, the authority’s resources cabinet member, believes the move will benefit all concerned.

He said: “I hope it will help residents get a decision quicker, rather than the Norden application which seemed to be a laborious process – that suits nobody, neither residents or councillors.

“I think it’s far better for it to go in front of a cross-party committee, like planning, rather than going between the township committee, cabinet and full council.

“That seemed to waste people’s time and was laborious all round. I would like to think it will be an improved system.”

Councillor O’Rourke also hopes that simplifying the process will give residents more of a say over how land is used in their own communities.

“It’s an open and transparent way of doing things, which I think is to be welcomed – not that the previous system wasn’t transparent, it just wasn’t very ‘followable’ for want of a better phrase,” he said.

“The more understandable it is, the more opportunity there is to take control and take advantage of this system. In theory the old system gave people the same opportunity, but it was so confusing and laborious that most people looked at it and thought ‘stuff that for a game of soldiers’.”

Mark Hope, who was instrumental in Friends of Heritage Green’s battle, -which saw the application farmed out to Cheshire East Council at one point – was only able to muster a ‘cautious welcome’ for the proposals.

“The devil will be in the detail,” he said. “There is a very legalistic approach and you can’t get around that, but I think the stance the council takes is very adversarial.”

The campaigner believes residents wishing to register land as a village green will still face ‘a huge task’.

But he said that ending ‘arbitrary deadlines’ and introducing ‘equitable timescales’ for both residents and the council would be a ‘huge step forward’.

He said: “I would give it a very cautious welcome, I’m not getting a warm feeling about it – the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. My experiences with both councils were not good.

“The reality is the chance of success is down to the luck of the draw – whether you have someone with relevant experience and the determination to keep going.”

Nick Statham, Local Democracy Reporter