Muddied waters on village greens

Jones, S.

Muddied waters on village greens - 2004 - HouseBuilder 63(4) May 2004, 27-28(2) .

Looks at the implications of "Oxfordshire CC v Oxford City Council and another" ([2004] EWHC 12 (Ch) X124969), the "Trap Grounds" case, for the longstanding debate surrounding the definition of what is and what is not a village green. The ruling, which is widely anticipated will be appealed to HL, is a warning to developers looking to purchase or take options over land, to look more closely at its history with investigations potentially stretching back to the 1950s. Traces the history of registered greens from their definition under the Commons Registration Act 1965 through the changes introduced under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (with effect from 30 January 2001), and discusses the importance of "R v Oxfordshire CC ex p Sunningwell Parish Council" (HL Abs60977), the "Sunningwell" case, in which HL found that broadly speaking land registered as a village green cannot be developed.


R V OXFORDSHIRE CC EX P SUNNINGWELL PARISH COUNCIL
COUNTRYSIDE AND RIGHTS OF WAY ACT 2000
COMMONS REGISTRATION ACT 1965
OXFORDSHIRE CC V OXFORD CITY COUNCIL AND ANOTHER
INCLOSURE ACT 1857
COMMONS ACT 1876
VILLAGE GREENS