How to block Labour’s housing plans and safeguard your local green space

The best ways to secure protected status for much-loved plots of land

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Have you applied to protect your local green space from building developments? We’d like to hear from you – whether you were successful or not. Please email [email protected].
Green spaces are under an increased level of threat amid plans to build 1.5 million homes in the next five years.
Communities can take proactive steps to protect much-loved plots of land and have them woven into the fabric of development law – but some protections are more ironclad than others.
Here, Telegraph Money delves into the best ways to secure protected status for your local green spaces.
An allocated Local Green Space (LGS) is a plot of land that is meant to be shielded from development. There are more than 7,000 sites in England.
The designation scheme was introduced by the Conservatives in 2012 as part of the National Policy Planning Framework (NPPF), the Government’s rulebook for development across the country.
An LGS can be granted in areas not typically covered by land protection law, such as in town centres and housing estates. They are typically granted to spaces such as recreation grounds, parks, memorial gardens and allotments.
According to Campaign to Protect Rural England, around 660 are designated each year. The latest statistics for June 2021 to June 2022 show a higher-than-average uptake, with 771 spaces gaining protection.
The Government’s planning rulebook says a green space can be considered for LGS protection if it is: 
A Local Green Space designation commands the same level of protection as land in a national park or the green belt.
This means that while a useful tool, securing LGS status is “not an absolute bar to development”.
The Open Spaces Society (OSS), Britain’s oldest conservation group, said it is “very concerned” that Labour’s proposed shake-up of planning rules will “undermine” the protected status of Local Green Spaces.
Angela Rayer, the Housing Secretary, has pledged to unlock the green belt which covers 13pc of England’s land.
In a letter to the Government, the OSS said: “The society is very concerned that any changes to the policy for the protection of green belt land will, perhaps as an unintended consequence, weaken the protection of land that has been designated as a local green space.
“This issue must be addressed as a matter of urgency otherwise the protection currently afforded to LGS land is at risk of being undermined.”
The process can be fiddly, and a space can only be designated when a local authority is formulating its Local Plan or Neighborhood Plan. These lay out the authority’s development proposals for the years to come.
Helen Griffiths, of the charity Fields in Trust, said: “The process requires evidence and consultation – often reinforced by local support. This is then assessed by the authorities against criteria, and can only occur when the Local Plan is being reviewed or a Neighbourhood Plan is being produced. 
“Community involvement is essential in plan-making to navigate the process and for an application to be successful.”
Applicants will need to evidence the land’s value to the community to demonstrate its significance – for example because of its beauty, historic significance, recreational value, tranquillity or wildlife.
As councils only have to review Local Plans once every five years, an LGS cannot be designated at any given time.
With Labour setting its housebuilding sights on rural areas, an increasing number of communities are expected to submit bids to protect land and block the diggers moving in.
David Harries and Mark Turner, lawyers at Aarons & Partners legal firm, expect applications for land protection to increase.
They said: “It is probably too early for there to be a noticeable change in the number of planning applications. But if the Government’s proposed changes to the policies concerning housebuilding are enacted, housing targets will increase in most areas, which will likely result in an increase in LGS applications.”
Ms Hodgson from the OSS said: “There is an appetite from communities to protect their open spaces.”
Yes and no. 
If land is already primed for housing, an LGS bid will likely be too late. It can however shield land from future development if it is not already earmarked for work.
Ms Griffiths said: “A preventative approach before a risk becomes real is likely to be more successful.
“From our community engagement, the majority of the public are unaware of LGS designation. 
“We also find that the majority of people are not aware that parks and green spaces are not a statutory service – i.e. protected in law – and therefore at risk.”
While Local Green Spaces are vulnerable to development, securing designated village green status is the holy grail for Nimbys.
Thanks to a law dating back to 1857, the most unlikely of locations can officially be classed as a village green – the highest form of land protection in the UK.
Once granted this golden status, spaces are shielded from development indefinitely, regardless of their ownership.
Ashley Clark, who masterminded the successful bid for Britain’s biggest village green stretching 52 acres in Whitstable, Kent, said: “Village greens are the Rolls Royce as they cannot be topped.
“They are indefinite and protected in perpetuity. Once somewhere is registered as a village green, no one can develop or enclose it.”
The land in question doesn’t need to be a picture-perfect village green you’d see in Midsomer Murders. Small strips of scrubland, disused quarries and concrete quaysides have been granted the golden status in years gone by.
Residents must prove the land has been used for either “sports, pastimes and recreation” for at least 20 consecutive years.
Walking the dog, kicking a ball about, flying a kite or picking blackberries are examples applicants can cite as evidence.
The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils, previously said the nationwide application process was welcoming “malicious, vexatious and incomplete proposals” for “clearly ridiculous” village greens.
The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) previously published figures showing the number of submitted village green applications each year, but no longer has up-to-date figures. 
Between 2011 and 2013, a total of 107 applications were successful out of 377.
The Government advises people to submit an application to the top-tier local authority for the area. There is no fee to apply.
The relevant local authority will determine the application, but if there is contention, it could end up going to public inquiry.
“You do it by basically taking questionnaires or statements from people,” Mr Clark said. “You don’t have to get thousands, but provided you can get people saying that ‘yes, I’ve used the land for a number of years and seen others doing the same’, then you have a good chance of it being registered.
“Gather evidence like collecting police evidence and you have a good chance.”
A clause in the Growth and Infrastructure Bill 2013 states that locals can’t register a piece of land as a village green if developers have applied for permission to build there.
Applications will also fail if the land in question is identified for potential development in a Local or Neighbourhood plan.
This is similar with Local Green Space designation. You cannot thwart an existing housing plan by submitting a hopeful bid, but it can be a great preventative measure to fend off developers in the future.
An Asset of Community Value is another popular form of safeguarding used to shield land and buildings from falling into the hands of developers.
While Local Green Spaces and village greens are the best tools in a resident’s arsenal, under the Localism Act 2011, a community group can ask its local council to list certain asset as being of value to the community.
If an asset is listed and then comes up for sale, the community group has an opportunity to make a bid to purchase the land.
For instance, if a landowner sells a field commonly used by walkers, they can then have six months to put together a bid to buy the land. 
Be aware that community assets are only listed by a local authority for five years. At the end of this period it is delisted and another application must be made.
According to Campaign to Protect Rural England, parish councils, neighbourhood forums, community groups of at least 21 members, and not-for-private-profit organisations can nominate land and buildings for designation.
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