Surrey Communities Urged to Register Local Green Spaces
The Open Spaces Society is encouraging communities across Surrey to identify and register eligible local green spaces as town or village greens before they are threatened by development.
Speaking at CPRE Surrey’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), the Society highlighted the important role that village green registration can play in protecting valued open spaces, giving local people recreational rights while safeguarding land from future encroachment and development.
As a member of the Open Spaces Society, CPRE Surrey welcomes this call to action. Protecting Surrey’s green spaces, commons and rights of way remains central to our work, and we are pleased to share the following news release, originally issued by the Open Spaces Society, in full below.
NEWS RELEASE – ‘REGISTER YOUR GREENS BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE’, OPEN SPACES SOCIETY’S CALL TO SURREY ACTIVISTS
The Open Spaces Society(1), Britain’s oldest national conservation body, has called for countryside campaigners in Surrey to apply to register local green spaces as town or village greens(2).
The society’s general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, was speaking at the AGM of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) Surrey in Leatherhead on Saturday (18 July). CPRE Surrey, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary, is particularly concerned about the threat of development on Surrey’s green belt. Kate said that if land could be registered as a town or village green, local people would have rights of recreation there, and it would be protected from encroachment and development.
‘Greens can be registered if local people can provide evidence of use for at least 20 years, without challenge or permission, i.e. as of right.
‘You should think about all those spaces which you and others have enjoyed as of right,’ Kate explained. ‘It may be that the land is eligible for registration as a green, and you can apply to Surrey County Council (to become East Surrey and West Surrey on 1 April 2027) to register it. Once it is threatened with development it is too late to register, so you must get in first.
‘Another option is to persuade friendly landowners to register their land. For instance, Elmbridge Borough Council has voluntarily registered a green in Long Ditton: Stokes Field, (2023), setting an excellent example.
‘We argue that developers should be mandated to register green spaces in developments as greens, so that the land is protected and local people have rights there. We want this to be included in the National Planning Policy Framework.
‘So there is much that people in Surrey can do to secure their green spaces, and we shall be pleased to work with CPRE Surrey, which is a member of our society, to achieve this,’ Kate concluded.
Adds Andy Smith, CPRE Surrey spokesperson: ‘There have never been such threats to our open spaces so it’s more important than ever that local communities ensure that their local green spaces, commons, and rights of way are protected. People should endeavour to register all eligible land as greens to ensure that they are secured for public enjoyment.’
(1) The Open Spaces Society was founded in 1865 and is Britain’s oldest national conservation body. It campaigns to protect common land, village greens, open spaces and public paths, and people’s right to enjoy them.
(2) Town and village green can be any land which has been enjoyed by local people for 20 years, without being stopped or asking permission. However, if a landowner wishes voluntarily to register land as a green, he or she may do so, under section 15(8) of the Commons Act 2006, merely by providing proof of ownership and the consent of any leaseholder or chargeholder. Once registered, the land is protected by section 12 of the Inclosure Act 1857 and section 29 of the Commons Act 1876, and local people have rights of recreation there.
