Court of Appeal agrees to hear challenge to deregistration of part of village green

Local objectors have gained permission from the Court of Appeal to challenge a High court decision over the deregistration of part of a village green by housebuilder Laing Homes.

Richard Buxton Solicitors, which acts for Woodcock Hill Village Green Committee, said the grounds for the appeal were that the rights of the qualifying residents and the public had been conflated, contrary to Mr Justice Lane’s findings in the High Court, and that he departed from the 2015 Common Land Consents Policy’s intended meaning when holding that it did not require the interests of residents with rights over the village green to be no worse off as a result of the exchange of land involved.

The firm said a further ground of appeal was that Lane J erred when holding that the planning inspector involved had committed no error of law in his consideration of the ‘fallback option’ of the relevant inhabitants maintaining the land.

It expects the appeal to be heard in late 2023 or early 2024 with Joseph Thomas of Landmark Chambers as counsel.

Taylor Wimpey, which owns Laing Homes, declined to comment because of the pending court case.

Local resident Patricia Strack, acting on behalf of Woodcock Village Green Committee, had challenged the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs after a planning inspector found for Laing Homes after Hertsmere Borough Council had refused planning consent.

Matthew McFeeley, a partner at Richard Buxton, said: “The appeal raises two important points of principle: the scope of the rights held by those residents with rights to use a village green and how these must be assessed when dealing with applications for deregistration or exchange under the Commons Act 2006, and the extent to which a developer may enhance its case for deregistration, by preventing or impeding works by the qualifying residents to maintain the accessibility and ecological value of a village green.”

McFeeley said the firm had successfully argued that the claim qualified for Aarhus Convention costs capping and this has been set at £7,500.

Mark Smulian