contact us

Use the form on the right to contact us.

You can edit the text in this area, and change where the contact form on the right submits to, by entering edit mode using the modes on the bottom right.​


Herne Bay, England, CT6
United Kingdom

Community website for all things Herne Bay (Kent, UK). Covers: The Downs, Herne Bay Museum, Herne Bay Historical Records Society, Herne Bay Pier Trust, Herne Bay in Bloom, East Cliff Neighbourhood Panel, No Night Flights, Manston Airport, Save Hillborough, Kitewood, WEA, Local Plan and much, much more...

Friends of the Downs

Filtering by Tag: OSS

Open Spaces Society

HBM

logo OSS.png

OPEN SPACES SOCIETY

NEWS RELEASE

OPEN SPACES SOCIETY DELIGHTED THAT HERNE BAY DOWNS ARE SET TO BECOME A VILLAGE GREEN

The Open Spaces Society is delighted that the Downs at Herne Bay in Kent are set to be registered as a village green. An inspector, appointed by Kent County Council, has recommended to the council that the land be registered.

The application was made by Phil Rose of the Friends of the Downs in September 2009.  Because the landowner, Canterbury City Council, objected, there was a public inquiry starting in November 2011.

The inspector, Miss Lana Wood, concluded that 43 acres of beautiful coastal downland met the criteria for a green, ie that they had been enjoyed by local people for informal recreation, for 20 years, without being stopped or asking permission.  The total application area was 50 acres but she concluded that seven acres had been fenced off for engineering works and therefore were excluded from public use during part of the 20-year period.

Canterbury City Council claimed that the land was held under the Public Health Act 1875 and therefore had, in effect, been used with the council’s permission and therefore did not qualify as a green.  The inspector concluded that the council had not proved that it held the land under that Act during the relevant period (1989-2009).  Mr Rose produced evidence from 64 people, 36 of whom gave evidence at the inquiry, who had used the land freely.

The city council has until 4 January to raise any objections to the decision, after which Kent County Council will consider the inspector’s recommendation.

Says Phil Rose: ‘This is great news for Herne Bay.  The Downs is the largest open space in town.  For many years residents and visitors have used it for recreation, from flying kites to playing bagpipes!

‘Nearly 1,200 people completed detailed questionnaires in support of this application.  We’ve spent hundreds of pounds and thousands of hours publicising the application, leafleting, collecting questionnaires and witness statements, answering the city council’s objections, researching the historical and legal background of the Downs, producing our statements to support our case and working through the eight-day public inquiry.’

Adds Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society which supported and assisted the Friends of the Downs with their case: ‘This is a wonderful result for the Friends and shows that hard work and persistence pays off.  We just hope that Kent County Council now registers the Downs as a green, to protect this wonderful open space for all to enjoy.’


Friends of the Downs home page

Council 'is not right on Downs'

HBM

The Council says that village green status would block maintenance work on The Downs - this is nonsense.


Preservation body pans decision

GIF wrong.GIF

Campaigners have hit back at council plans to block protection for a town beauty spot. Our exclusive story last week revealed that officials were considering an application to register the Downs, at Beacon Hill, as a village green to protect it from development. But Canterbury City Council bosses are planning to oppose the scheme, lodged by the Save Our Downs campaign, because they maintain it would block vital maintenance work. Campaign co-ordinator Phil Rose said he had information to the contrary. He said:

"The council first raised this concern with us in December 2009. The campaign team immediately spoke to the Open Spaces Society who are experts on the subject. We spoke to Kent County Council’s village greens registration team. We spoke to the legal advisors at the Secretary of State’s department. We did some legal research with the Planning Inspectorate. They all agreed that there is no problem. The upshot of all our research is that the council's fears are groundless. Legally if the maintenance work is 'with a view to the better enjoyment' of the village green, then the council can do that work without seeking permission."

Mr Rose, of Beacon Hill, said maintenance work to protect the area would be included as work for the "better enjoyment" of the area. He added:

"My house is on the edge of the Downs - I have no interest in stopping the council from doing any maintenance work. There’s even a legal option for the council to give itself advance permission for specific works like drainage, raising, levelling or preventing accidents. This should be enough to put everyone’s mind at rest."

He is encouraging people to contact Canterbury City Council chief executive Colin Carmichael to urge him to back the application.

HB Times 15th Apr 2010


Friends of the Downs home page

Maintaining a Village Green

HBM

GIF digger.GIF

In response to Cllr Vickery-Jones' comments in the press recently, here's what we sent to Mark Ellender (Head of CCC Legal & Democratic Services) on 10th January 2010. It explains how Village Green status would not prevent the Council from carrying out maintenance work on The Downs. At all.  


Thank you for your email of 18th December 2009. I am pleased that CCC has finally sent informed staff to the site to have a look at the land in question. I do not propose to rehearse here all the issues about where specifically the site is located – we can do that another time and I will happily send you all the relevant documentation – but given your comments about drainage, it is clear that we are describing the same site. In this note I want to pursue the issue that is of primary importance to a very significant number of local residents, tax payers and voters – registering The Downs as a village green.

I am delighted that CCC has no objection in principle to the idea of registering The Downs as a village green. You say that you must resist the registration of The Downs as a village green simply because you need to carry out engineering works “without requiring consent from the Secretary of State every time”. The campaign team accepts absolutely that CCC needs to carry out maintenance work to the system of drains that stabilise the land. We accept too that, in the case of a landslip, CCC would need to be able to undertake repair and stabilising work swiftly. However, your assumption that CCC would only be able to undertake this work by obtaining permission from the Secretary of State is wrong. I think your colleagues may have misinformed you.

Since receiving your email I have had three conversations with Defra (two over the phone and one by email) as well as a conversation with the village green expert at the Open Spaces Society and one with the village green registration team at KCC. I am delighted to tell you that the situation is not as you think it is. I think your colleagues may be confusing the steps necessary for work on a village green with those necessary for work on common land. The two are quite different.

The Open Spaces Society was categorical in its advice that the kind of work envisaged (possible fencing off of part of the village green while stabilising the land and protecting it) would not leave the council open to any risk of prosecution, nor would the council need to involve the Secretary of State before taking action. Defra is also clear that no special permission is needed for any work on a village green as long as that work contravenes neither Section 12 of the Inclosure Act 1857 nor Section 29 of the Commons Act 1876.

The Planning Inspectorate also says in its guidance sheet 2b that “…there is generally no requirement under the legislation relating to commons and greens to obtain consent to carry out works on a green which are not in contravention [of] sections 12 and 29.”

So, as long as the work does not contravene these two acts, no permission is needed to undertake it. I will say more about each of these two acts below.

The Law

As I have mentioned above, registered town and village greens are protected by the following two statutes:

  • Section 12 of the Inclosure Act 1857
  • Section 29 of the Commons Act 1876.

Section 12 of the Inclosure Act 1857 says:

“If any person wilfully cause any injury or damage to any fence of any such town or village green or land, or wilfully and without lawful authority lead or drive any cattle or animal thereon, or wilfully lay any manure, soil, ashes, or rubbish, or other matter or thing thereon, or do any other act whatsoever to the injury of such town or village green or land, or to the interruption of the use or enjoyment thereof as a place for exercise and recreation, such person shall for every such offence, upon a summary conviction thereof before two justices, upon the information of any churchwarden or overseer of the parish in which such town or village green or land is situate, or of the person in whom the soil of such town or village green or land may be vested, forfeit and pay, in any of the cases aforesaid, and for each and every such offence, over and above the damages occasioned thereby, any sum not exceeding [level 1 on the standard scale];…”

Section 29 of the Commons Act 1876 says:

“An encroachment on or inclosure of a town or village green, also any erection thereon or disturbance or interference with or occupation of the soil thereof which is made otherwise than with a view to the better enjoyment of such town or village green or recreation ground, shall be deemed to be a public nuisance, and if any person does any act in respect of which he is liable to pay damages or a penalty under section twelve of the Inclosure Act 1857, he may be summarily convicted thereof upon the information of any inhabitant of the parish in which such town or village green or recreation ground is situate, as well as upon the information of such persons as in the said section mentioned.”

Practical implications of these two statutes for CCC

If the intended work on a village green contravenes neither section 12 of the Inclosure Act 1857 nor section 29 of the Commons Act 1876 then there is no need for CCC to obtain any special permission before undertaking the work.  That is to say that no permission would be needed simply because the land is a town or village green. Of course, all the normal rules regarding planning permission would still apply, but we are talking in the case of The Downs about maintenance and repair work rather than any new build, so I will leave that to one side.

Contrary to the advice that you have been given, there is no process for getting approval for works from Defra in the case of village greens. As Defra pointed out to me, “Neither the Secretary of State, Defra, nor any other body is able to give consent for illegal works to be undertaken on a town or village green.” So, either the intended works are legal, or they are illegal and Defra may not give permission for them. Defra’s view (and I quote) is that:

“Arguably works to improve drainage or to ensure the stability of the land could be considered to be for the better enjoyment of the green and therefore might not contravene either of these Acts….in Defra’s view, when considering whether or not any given development or action contravenes either or both of the above mentioned statutes a court is likely to be concerned with whether material harm has been caused to a green and whether there has been interference with the public’s recreational enjoyment. Other issues that might be relevant include the proportion of a green affected by the development or activity and the duration of the interference.* Whether or not either the 1857 Act or the 1876 Act have been contravened will ultimately be dependent upon the precise nature of the works which have been undertaken on the green.”

[* For clarity, Defra is distinguishing between temporary works, however long, to achieve a legal aim and permanent fencing off of the land to deny access.]

I shall examine below what risk, if any, each of these two strands of statutory protection for village greens present to CCC if the council were to undertake the kind of maintenance or repair work that we are discussing here.

Assessing the risk presented by the 1857 Inclosure Act

It is a criminal offence to undertake on a village green any works which contravene the 1857 Act.  Looking at Section 12 above, it is clear that CCC will not be damaging fences (there are none), nor driving animals onto the green, nor injuring the green. The only possible way in which CCC might be interpreted as contravening the 1857 statute is the “interruption of the use or enjoyment [of the green] as a place for exercise and recreation…”

The Act is specific about who can register a complaint against someone who interrupts the use of a village green. The relevant categories today are the parish council (there is none, but in its place would be the district council which is CCC) or the owner (CCC).  So, only CCC could take a case against CCC to court. It is clear from this that the risk represented by the 1857 Act is entirely manageable by CCC.

Even if CCC did take CCC to the magistrate’s court for interrupting the use of part of the village green and win, CCC would be liable to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale. Today that represents £200.

Assessing the risk presented by the 1876  Commons Act

Works undertaken on a village green in breach of the 1876 Act will be deemed to be a public nuisance unless they are undertaken “with a view to the better enjoyment of such town or village green or recreation ground”. In undertaking maintenance work that protects The Downs and ensures its future existence, CCC would clearly be undertaking work “with a view to the better enjoyment” of the village green. In the case of a landslip where CCC would need to stabilise the land and make it safe, that work is demonstrably “with a view to the better enjoyment” of the village green as, were the work not to be done, part of the village green would be unusable. No consent is needed from Defra or anybody else for works of this kind as they do not contravene the statute. If the work that CCC wishes to undertake is maintenance work or work that ensures the long term stability – and therefore usability – of the land, there is no risk to CCC in undertaking it nor is there any need to seek approval to do so.

Managing Town and Village Greens in Local Authority Ownership

Defra’s guidance is that greens in local authority ownership are generally managed by the authority under the Open Spaces Act 1906 or by a scheme of regulation under the Commons Act 1899. Only if the village green were subject to a scheme of management under the Commons Act 1899 would section 38 of the Commons Act 2006 apply. Section 38 is the section that talks about the prohibition on works without consent and is, I suspect, the section that is worrying you and/or your colleagues. For the avoidance of doubt, I repeat that Section 38 of the 2006 Act does not apply to a village green that is not under such a scheme of management. My authorities here are Defra, the Open Spaces Society and The Planning Inspectorate. You may like to read for yourself “Common Land Guidance Sheet 2b” which spells this out clearly.

CCC could opt to have The Downs as a village green managed under a scheme of management under the Commons Act 1899. If the council were to do this, it could give itself permission in advance to undertake certain specified kinds of work without having to apply for permission from the Secretary of State.

The current model scheme of management gives examples of the kind of work for which local authorities can give themselves permission in advance by listing their village green in this way. They include:

  • Protecting and improving the land – e.g. drainage, raising, levelling or other work
  • Preventing accidents – e.g. fencing any quarry, pit, pond, stream or other like place
  • Preserving the turf, shrubs, trees, plants and grass.

This would seem to cover everything that CCC would need to do in terms of maintaining and improving the drainage system; keeping the land stable; and reacting in the case of a landslip to make the green safe.

Conclusion

CCC has two options here. It can either take the view (as those experts to whom I have spoken have done) that there is no risk to CCC by doing the kind of maintenance and stability work that we are discussing. Either – in the case of the 1857 Act – only CCC could take CCC to court or – in the case of the 1876 Act – the work would be demonstrably for the enhancement of the green and so would not in any way contravene that Act.

Alternatively, CCC can take the view that there is a risk, however tiny, represented by one of these Acts. It can then register The Downs as a village green to be managed under a scheme of management under the Commons Act 1899. This would give CCC explicit advance permission to undertake all the necessary works – drainage; fencing; raising; levelling – without having to apply to anyone for permission to do so.

Either way, your concerns, or those of your colleagues, are groundless. The practical obstacles you describe about having to seek Secretary of State approval every time CCC needs to carry out the kind of work envisaged simply do not exist. This concern has been dealt with by seeking advice direct from Defra, the Open Spaces Society and KCC, as well as from other expert sources such as The Planning Inspectorate who make guidance information for landowners freely available on the internet. Given that, and given that CCC officers and councillors have said on a number of occasions that CCC has absolutely no objection in principle to voluntarily registering The Downs as a village green, I do hope we can now make speedy progress towards doing just that. After all, CCC is there to represent the local people, not to pursue its own private agenda in the face of local opposition, and local people vigorously support the village green application.


Friends of the Downs home page


All original material copyright © 2010-2014 HerneBayMatters.com All rights reserved. All external links disclaimed.