Date: 05/06/2009
Community leaders have called on the Government to back a five-pronged plan aimed at putting the brakes on frivolous village green applications.
The plea was made this week by High Peak Borough Council, which said that a snowballing of town and village green bids was frustrating its efforts to provide affordable housing plus land for employment and leisure.
The warning was sounded by Cllr Linda Baldry, Executive member for planning, in the wake of a meeting between council representatives and Huw Irranca-Davies, Minister for the Natural and Marine Environment.
Mr Irranca-Davies heard that there were 18 live applications for town or village green status in High Peak, of which nine were either for council-owned land or for sites earmarked for housing to meet the Government's five-year target for residential land supply.
The bids were preventing the development of brownfield land and putting more pressure on greenfield sites to meet the housing target.
Council leader Tony Ashton and deputy Emily Thrane told the Minister that High Peak was crying out for affordable housing, as revealed by the fact that High Peak Community Housing received up to 70 applications for each family home.
Current town and village green applications were delaying the building of 575 houses on allocated sites and were also preventing the development of a shared leisure centre and swimming pool for the University of Derby and Buxton Community School.
Meanwhile, representation at public inquiries resulting from village green bids was costing the council and taxpayer dear. Indeed, a recent decision had cost the council more than £100,000 in legal advice.
Mr Irranca-Davies was told that matters were being made worse by the fact that some village green applications appeared frivolous, vexatious and lacking in merit. For example, one applicant had taken no part in the process following initial submission, leaving the council to see the matter through to conclusion - which necessitated a public inquiry.
Another application, still live, was made by someone who had since moved to France.
Said Cllr Baldry: "The proliferation of town and village green applications is a particular problem in High Peak, and is stopping us providing adequate land for affordable housing, employment and leisure. If the current situation is allowed to continue, we're going to have real difficulty meeting our target for housing land."
"High Peak aside, this problem is growing across the country and, if it goes on much longer, will seriously jeopardise the Government#s ambitious housing targets", she cautioned.
Now, the council is proposing five changes to the laws governing town and village green bids:
Cllrs Ashton and Thrane were backed at the meeting by High Peak MP Tom Levitt, Borough Council executive director Dai Larner, and Kay Riley, from Derbyshire County Council.