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Summary Town and Village Greens
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rolProperty Law – Week 18 Lecture NotesTOWN AND VILLAGE GREENS
Outline of Lecture Notes
Introduction and some background
Concept of common property
Four cases which demonstrate judicial support for recreational
rights
Judicial and statutory retraction on village green rights
Village Greens – an introduction
Outline
What are village greens: Definition, Historical context? Why are we
studying them? How does this fit with what we have studied so far? A
local example: Kingsmead Field Canterbury.
What is a village green?
• Commons Act 2006 s.15
• Land is registrable as a village or town green if ‘a significant
number of the inhabitants of any locality, or of any
neighbourhood within a locality have indulged in lawful sports
and pastimes ‘as of right’ on the land.
• The effect of registering land as a village green is
• To prevent development
• Makes fencing the area a criminal offence
• The section replaced s.22 of the Commons Registration Act 1965.
Although there are some variations, it is derived from that section and
the judgements we consider under that section remain valid.
What sort of land are we talking about….
• Any land can be a town or village green
• It need not be in a town or village
• It need not be green or grassy
• Nor have any other similarity to what is traditionally thought of as a
village green
, • The law is prosaic and not concerned with idyll of village greens
• House of Lords in Oxfordshire County Council v Oxford City
Council 2006 defines it further.
The origins of village greens
• During the medieval period, some land in or close to communities
became frequently used by the inhabitants of the community for the
purposes of recreation, sports and fairs . Where longstanding use
could be shown to have occurred, the courts began to regard the use
as customary, and the land was recognised in law as a town or village
green with protection from interference.
Village greens are a form of Common land
• Common land was once extensive and in mediaeval times covered
most of the least productive lands.
• There are around 572,000 hectares of common land in England and
Wales
• Most common land is privately owned. Owners of commons (often
the lord of the manor) enjoy largely the same rights as other
landowners, except that common land is subject to ‘rights of common’
held by other individuals over the common, and to the special
statutory controls that apply under commons legislation.
• Rights of common have their origin in local custom and include, for
example, the right to graze stock, to enable pigs to forage on
beechmast and acorns (pannage), to remove peat for the hearth
(turbary), to fish (piscary) and to collect bracken or firewood
(estovers).,
The enclosure of commons land
• Increasing interest in better, more efficient and more profitable
agricultural production during the eighteenth century encouraged
landowners to improve the productivity of common land by inclosing
it.
• Achieved by agreement or private Acts of Parliament, but general
legislation, such as the Inclosure (Consolidation) Act 1801 and the
Inclosure Act 1845, was eventually passed to facilitate inclosure and
reduce the burden on Parliament.
• Many village greens in fact originated not in customary rights but in
allotments set aside for recreation in inclosure awards.
• The emphasis changed in the latter half of the nineteenth century
away from inclosure and towards the regulation of commons, in
recognition of their value as open space and for recreation.
, • The Metropolitan Commons Act 1866 and the Commons Act 1876 saw
the first general legislative measures largely intended to protect and
manage — rather than inclose — common land.
20th century developments
• Many rights of common ceased to be exercised during the twentieth
century, owing (among other factors) to changing agricultural
practices, increased motor traffic on roads across unfenced commons,
and a decline in commoners’ reliance on self-sufficient sources of fuel,
timber, animal bedding etc.
• In 1955 a Royal Commission was established to enquire into whether
any changes were needed in the law to promote and balance the
needs of owners of land, commoners and the enjoyment of the public.
The Royal Commission reported in 1958, and recommended
legislation to promote:
• registration of common land and town and village greens,
• public access, and
• improved management.
Statutes
• Commons Registration Act 1965
• Aim to establish definitive registers of common land and town
and village greens
• The registration authorities are county councils
• It was all much more complex than had been anticipated and
further legislation was felt to be necessary ?
• Increasing case law
• The Commons Act 2006
• Improve practices of registration and enables electronic
registration
How does this fit with what you have learned so far and in the
future?
• To date we have looked at individual possessory interests
• Freehold and leasehold interests
• Village Greens are examples of Communal non-possessory land
use property interests
• Later we will look at Easements which are individual non-possessory
land use property interests
• Also links with your studies of licences which are personal
permissions and not property interests
• ‘as of right’ contrasted with a licence
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