North Yorkshire Council
Environment Directorate Richmond (Yorks) Area Planning Committee
11 June 2026
Application to register land as a town or village green
Commons Act 2006
Part 1 – Schedule 2 Paragraph 3
The Commons Registration (England) Regulations 2014
Schedule 4 Paragraph 14
Application Reference Number CA13 032
Land at the High Street, Great Broughton
Report of the Corporate Director of Environment
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1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT
1.1 To determine an application (“the Application”) seeking to register land known as land at the High Street, Great Broughton as village green, as shown edged red on the plan Appendix 1.
1.2 This application has been called in to be determined by the Planning Committee as there remains an unresolved objection to the registering of this land from the Highway Authority Appendix 7.
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2.0 BACKGROUND
2.1 Under the provisions of the Commons Act 2006 (“the Act”) the Council is a Commons Registration Authority (“CRA”) and so responsible for maintaining the Registers of Common Land and Town and Village Greens for North Yorkshire.
2.2 Schedule 2(3) of the Act sets out that: -
3(1) If a commons registration authority is satisfied that any land not registered as a town or village green or as common land is land to which this paragraph applies, the authority shall, subject to this paragraph, register the land as a town or village green in its register of town or village greens
(2) This paragraph applies to any land which—
(a) on 31 July 1970 was land allotted by or under any Act for the exercise or recreation of the inhabitants of any locality.
(b) was not at any time finally registered as a town or village green or as common land under the 1965 Act.
(c) continues to be land allotted as specified in paragraph (a).
(d) is land to which this Part applies; and
(e) satisfies such other conditions as regulations may specify.
(3) A commons registration authority may only register land under sub-paragraph (1) acting on—
(a) the application of any person made before such date as regulations may specify; or
(b) a proposal made and published by the authority before such date as regulations may specify.
2.3 In turn those elements of the Commons Registration (England) Regulations 2014 (“the Regulations”) Schedule 4 Paragraph 14 relevant to the Application state:
Applications under Schedule 2: non-registration or mistaken registration
14.(1) An application made under Schedule 2 to the 2006 Act, for the purpose of remedying non-registration or mistaken registration under the 1965 Act, must be made on or before— (a) 31st December 2020, where the application is to an original registration authority; and
(b) 15th March 2027, where the application is to a 2014 registration
authority.
(2) An application made under Schedule 2 to the 2006 Act must include a description of the land to which the application relates.
2.4 A CRA needs to be satisfied on the balance of probabilities that all the elements of Schedule 2(3) of the Act and Schedule 4(14) of the Regulations have been demonstrated to have been met by an application relying on those provisions for it to be approved.
3.0 APPLICATION
3.1 The Application seeks to register land as village green, the High Street, Great Broughton Appendix 1.
3.2 The Application Site consists of approximately 0.16 hectares (0.4 acres) of open grass with mature trees and is situated on the Southwest side of the crossroads in the centre of Great Broughton. Google aerial and street views give some indication of the nature of the Application Site Appendix 2. The Application Site was designated as a Local Green Space in the Hambleton Local Plan 2022, siting Beauty as the reason for the designation Appendix 3.
3.3 The Application was submitted by Great and Little Broughton Parish Council (“the Applicant”). The Application was received by the Council on 24 January 2024 and was accepted as being duly made on 31 January 2024. A copy of the application as completed by the Applicant together with relevant supporting documentary evidence comprises Appendix 4.
3.4 APPLICATION BACKGROUND TIMELINE:
· 26 September 1961: Mr and Mrs Agar were granted planning permission for a residential development in the Southwestern corner of the crossroads in Great Broughton. The Planning Committee reserved the right to request that open space should be provided within the layout of the development and a scheme of tree planting to be carried out. The development did not happen at this time.
· 22 July 1966:Guisborough Area Planning Office received an application seeking to develop the same Southwestern corner of the crossroads to build 17 private detached houses and garages and Public Open Space from Sweeting & Son Ltd.
· 7 August 1968: The Applicant has provided a micro phish copy of a document titled Report and Decision on Application for Planning Permission dated 7 August 1968. (see Appendix 5) The planning officer recommended to the committee that permission was granted subject to certain conditions around Highway safety and a tree planting scheme to be established in the open space. Although permission must have been granted as the development has been built, on the copy provided, the decision of the committee has been left blank and is unsigned.
· 31 July 1970registration deadline for registration of a town or village green under the Commons Registration Act 1965
· 24 January 2024:Great and Little Broughton Parish Council submit the application the subject of this report to register land at the High Street, Great Broughton as village green.
· 16 June 2025:During review of the application documentation, the bus stop that was included in the initial Application Site was deemed to constitute a building. As such, consent from the owner was required for the bus stop to be registered as village green. Ownership could not be established. The Applicant agreed to remove the bus stop from their application Appendix 6.
4.0 REPRESENTATIONS
4.1 In accordance with Section 21 of the Regulations it is the CRA’s duty to publicise the Application by serving notices on the Council website, on site and to anyone listed in Schedule 7 of the Regulations. This is in order to invite representations from interested parties. The notices were posted on 27 February 2024, the notice period being at least 42 days in accordance with Section 21(5)(a) of the Regulations.
4.2 There was one representation received from the Highway Authority objecting to the registration of the Application land as village green on the basis that it is recorded as adopted highway and registration could adversely impact on the Highway Authority’s activities Appendix 7.
4.3 In response to the objection, the Applicant stated that as the land already has protection as local green space and is in the village conservation area that any future works would already need to obtain relevant consents. In addition, the location of private dwellings alongside the public highways around the application land would present a greater obstacle to any proposed widening of roads than the land being registered village green Appendix 8.
4.4 There was no further exchange between the Highway Authority and the Applicant regarding the objection.
5.0 ASSESSMENT – HAVE THE RELEVANT TESTS BEEN MET?
5.1 Officers comments on each of the statutory provisions are set out below -
5.2 Schedule 2 paragraph 3 of the Act:
2)This paragraph applies to any land which—
(a) on 31 July 1970 was land allotted by or under any Act for the exercise or recreation of the inhabitants of any locality.
(b) was not at any time finally registered as a town or village green or as common land under the 1965 Act.
(c) continues to be land allotted as specified in paragraph (a).
(d) is land to which this Part applies; and
(e) satisfies such other conditions as regulations may specify.
Section 5 of the Application (Appendix 4) and further information submitted by the Applicant after the notice period (Appendix 5) states that the Application Site is eligible for registration under paragraph 3: -
(i) Paragraph 2(a) The Applicant stated and submitted evidence to demonstrate that the Application Site was allotted for the exercise or recreation of the local inhabitants, first under the Town and Country Planning Act 1947 when the first planning permission was granted stipulating that Open Space be included within the development and again under the Town and Country Planning Act 1962 when planning permission for the development was reconfirmed with the condition that a tree planting scheme be established in the open space.
Consideration of the evidence provided:
Section 22 of the Commons Act 1965 defines land which has been allotted by or under any Act of Parliament for the exercise or recreation of the inhabitants of any locality or on which the inhabitants of any locality have a customary right to indulge in lawful sports and pastimes as a “town or village green”.The deadline for registration under the 1965 Act was 31 July 1970. However, under the Commons Act 2006, section 22 provides that Schedule 2 “non-registration or mistaken registration” under the Commons Registration Act 1965 has effect, which allows for registration of town and village greens subject to the application meeting the criteria set out in Schedule 2.
Therefore, under Schedule 2 para 3 (2)(a) the consideration is whether the two Town and County Acts relied upon in the Application are capable of “allotting” the land “for the exercise or recreation of the inhabitants of any locality.” Acts which are considered to be capable of specifically allotting land for that purpose include the Inclosure Acts and also private and local Acts or any Act which specifically refers to the land being allotted for that purpose.
The CRA’s view is that a condition imposed on a planning consent to provide an open space is for planning purposes under the Town and Country Planning Act(s) to control and restrict the use of the land. Such use of that land is conditional upon it remaining subject to the condition imposed requiring it to be open space. A planning condition requiring a development to have an open space does not specifically allot land “for the exercise or recreation of the inhabitants of any locality” as would be required to be met to fall within the description in Schedule 2, 3(2)(a) of the Commons Act 2006.
(ii) Paragraph 2(b) There is no evidence of an entry in the registers of village greens that the Application Site was either provisionally or finally registered as village green under the 1965 Act. The land would have to have been considered to have the status of town or village green and meet the statutory definition to have been capable of being registered under the Commons Act 1965 before the deadline of 31 July 1970.
(iii) Paragraph 2(c) requires that the land continues to be allotted by or under any Act for the exercise or recreation of the inhabitants of any locality. Photographs of the Application Site show that the land continues to be an open space to the public in accordance with the planning consent, and the Applicant states that the grass is cut and the area maintained by the Parish Council on behalf of the local residents. However, as the Application Site is not considered to have been allotted “for the exercise or recreation of the inhabitants of any locality” under the Town and Country Planning Act(s), whether the land continues to be “allotted” is not relevant
(iv) Paragraph 2(d) unless part (a) is met it is considered that this is not land to which Schedule 2 of the Commons Act 2006 applies.
(v) Paragraph 2(e) The Application satisfies the conditions specified in Paragraph 14 of the Regulations, see below.
Paragraph 14 of the Regulations:
14(1) An application must be made on or before-
(b) 15 March 2027, where the application is to a 2014 registration authority.
North Yorkshire Council is a 2014 registration authority. The Application was submitted on 24 January 2024.
14(2) An application made under Schedule 2 to the 2006 Act must include a description of the land to which the application relates.
Section 6 of the Application (Appendix 4) provides a written description of the application land, and a clear map was provided by the applicant.
For an application to be granted, all of the above criteria have to be met. This application does not fulfil Schedule 2 3(2)(a) or (c) or (d).
5.3 Objection:
5.4 Only one objection was received from the Highway Authority. In this case an objection from the Highway Authority is considered a material objection whose merits and relevance should be considered.
5.5 The Highway Authority states that the application land is recorded as adopted highway. The Highway Authority provided the adoption record from 1973. Further, the Highway Authority does not wish public highway to be registered as village green as any future highway works may require a deregistration application to be made by the Highway Authority to the Secretary of State, which may not be granted and would therefore have a detrimental impact on any future Highway Authority activities Appendix 7.
5.6 The Application Site includes the site lines free of visual obstruction as stated in the planning permission conditions and also includes various highway apparatus such as street lighting, directional road signs, bus stop timetables, traffic signs and a sign stating that no ball games should be played Appendix 2.
5.7 Whilst the Highway Authority position is understandable and the registration of the Application Site as village green which is also highway may cause a considerable impact on the Highway Authority’s ability to carry out future works, in this case, its objection is not relevant when considering if the Application meets the criteria required for it to be granted.
6.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
6.1 There are no financial implications to the Council that ordinarily arise from its decision on the Application though it may incur costs in defending any legal challenge made to that decision. It is outside the Council’s control whether or not any interested party attempts such a challenge.
7.0 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
7.1 Consideration has been given by the Commons Registration Authority to the statutory provisions under the Commons Act 2006 for non-registration or mistaken registration under the 1965 Act as applies to a town or village green allotted by or under any Act for the exercise or recreation of the inhabitants of any locality.
7.2 The mechanism for challenge by an aggrieved party to any decision reached by the Council in this matter would be by Judicial Review.
8.0 EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS
8.1 Consideration has been given to the potential for any adverse equality impacts arising from the recommendation and an Equality Impact Assessment screening form is attached at Appendix 9.
9.0 CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS
9.1 As the Application seeks to change the status of the land and does not consider the merits of otherwise of making that change; a full climate change impact assessment is not required.
10.0 CONCLUSION
10.1 It is your officer’s view that as the Town and Country Planning Acts are not capable of allotting land for the exercise or recreation of the inhabitants of any locality, this application is not able to meet the criteria as set out in Schedule 2 3(2)(a)(c) and (d) of the Commons Act 2006. An application must meet all the criteria set out in the Act and Regulations. Consequently, the Application should not be approved, and the application land should not be registered as a village green under Schedule 2 as non-registration or mistaken registration under the 1965 Act.
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11.0
11.1 |
RECOMMENDATION
That the Application is refused on the grounds set out in this report.
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APPENDICES
Appendix 1 – Application notice plan
Appendix 2 - Application Site aerial and street images
Appendix 3 - Extract of Hambleton Local Plan 2022 – Local Green Space
Appendix 4 - The Application CA13 032, submitted by Great and Little Broughton Parish Council
Appendix 5 - Further evidence submitted by the applicant at the CRA’s request, including the report and decision on an application for planning permission dated 7 August 1968
Appendix 6 - Applicant’s agreement to remove the bus stop from the application
Appendix 7 - Representation – objection from the Highway Authority
Appendix 8 - Applicant’s response to the Highway Authority’s objection
Appendix 9 - Equality Impact Assessment
Karl Battersby
Corporate Director - Environment
County Hall
Northallerton
Author of Report: Jayne Applegarth
Background Documents: Application case file held in Commons Registration, Environment