Richard Webb joins Kate Ashbrook at the unveiling of the plaque at Sugary Green, Dartmouth
The head of Britain’s oldest national conservation charity joined campaigners celebrating the setting up a village green.
But Kate Ashbrook of the Open Spaces Society said locals’ sweet success in securing Sugary Green for local access could be prevented under proposed new coalition Government laws.
Ms Ashbrook unveiled a plaque on the green in Dartmouth, Devon, to mark its registration last June, protecting it from development.
When the land near Castle Cove was threatened with major development in 2009, local publisher Richard Webb formed the Friends of Sugary Green and, with help from the Open Spaces Society and its case officer Nicola Hodgson, applied to Devon County Council to register it as a green.
The landowner South Hams District Council objected but backed down after its legal arguments were challenged.
Ms Ashbrook said: “I am immensely proud to unveil this plaque which records our joint success in saving this very special and much loved spot.
“I congratulate the Friends on their vision and tenacity in securing this green.
“Sugary Green is set in an outstanding landscape, here on the beautiful south Devon coast. It has been enjoyed since at least 1945 for a wide range of informal activities, from tobogganing and ball games, to blackberrying, barbeques and astronomy.
“It is a magnificent asset to the community as well as to the thousands of visitors to this popular area.
“But we fear for the future of green spaces. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has recently consulted about changing the law for the registration of new greens.
“It suggests there should be a ‘character test; so that land which does not conform to the traditional, village-centre, chocolate-box type of green might not qualify. That test could have ruled out Sugary Green.
Sugary Green
“The society is leading the campaign to rescue the law and ensure that it is not radically altered.
“We urge the Friends of Sugary Green to join the crusade to save our town and village greens and we hope that the people of Dartmouth will continue to enjoy informal recreation for evermore on the lovely Sugary Green.”
Nick flittner
22 December 2011No doubt there are some valid Village Green sites in the land but I'm afraid Kate Ashbrook and her team are devaluing the very essence of village greens through their support of absurd and frivolous cases all over the country. Town and Village Green legislation is not a popularity contest - just because people want a green does not mean the land in question qualifies under the quite strict legal definitions in the TVG legislation. My family just spent nearly one hunded thousand ponds defending our own property from such an application, which was rejected by the inspector in a two week public enquiry, and rejected on just about every criteria. The Open Spaces Society came in for some serious criticism from the inspector over what he considered were misleading documents and leading questions in their pro-forma witness statement questionnaire. Some sanity and balance needs to be brought to this whole TVG process, and the changes mooted by the government to the TVG legislation are to be welcomed, despite what Ms Ashbrook thinks.