Problem for developers - village greens easier to register

A recent House of Lords decision emphasises that registration of a village green cannot be defeated by attempts by a landowner to prevent access to the public once an application for registration has been submitted.

Under the Commons Registration Act 1965 land can be registered as a town or village green if it has been used by local people for ‘lawful sports and pastimes’ (i.e. informal recreation) for 20 years freely and openly - referred to in the legislation as being "as of right". In this case an issue arose as to whether the lawful sports and pastimes had to continue up to the date of the application to register or the date of registration itself (which is usually a considerable time after the application is submitted). If it was the date of registration this would be significant because it would be open to landowners to defeat the application by closing the access to the land in question or by erecting signs to show that the user was not as of right.