Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Registration of new town or village greens (October 2011)

ACRE's response to this consultation has been developed by drawing on the experience of our members in supporting rural communities, where the existing village green registration process is often seen as more of a challenge than an opportunity. We are particularly concerned that collective local action that aims to produce more cohesive and sustainable rural communities has suffered negative impact from use of village green applications. We therefore welcome the revision and refining of the registration process.

In addition ACRE is fully engaged with Communities and Local Government regarding neighbourhood planning and its consultation on the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). We believe that the proposals in Defra’s consultation could and should be complementary to new Localism measures and new policy directions. This assumes, however, that eventual implementation of the NPPF proposals actually results in reinforcement rather than erosion of a truly plan-led planning system.

Download ACRE's consultation response