Application to register land known as 'Two Fields' at Westbere as a village green

We have received an application to register land known as 'Two Fields' at Westbere as a village green.

Under the Commons Act 2006, anyone may apply to the County Council for land to be registered as a Town or Village Green, but in order for land to qualify for registration it must be shown that ‘a significant number of the inhabitants of any locality, or of any neighbourhood within a locality, have indulged as of right in lawful sports and pastimes on the land for a period of at least 20 years’. For use of the land to have been ‘as of right’, it must have taken place without any force, secrecy or permission.

A Public Inquiry has been held into the application and the matter was considered at a meeting of the Regulation Committee Member Panel on Monday 22 April 2024, at which Members agreed that the application did not meet the relevant legal tests for registration as a Village Green.

A copy of the Officer's report, which sets out the reasons, is available here:

https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=182&MId=9555

The minutes of the meeting will also appear there once they become available.

This now concludes the application and no further action will be taken by the County Council.

We have received an application to register land known as 'Two Fields' at Westbere as a village green.

Under the Commons Act 2006, anyone may apply to the County Council for land to be registered as a Town or Village Green, but in order for land to qualify for registration it must be shown that ‘a significant number of the inhabitants of any locality, or of any neighbourhood within a locality, have indulged as of right in lawful sports and pastimes on the land for a period of at least 20 years’. For use of the land to have been ‘as of right’, it must have taken place without any force, secrecy or permission.

A Public Inquiry has been held into the application and the matter was considered at a meeting of the Regulation Committee Member Panel on Monday 22 April 2024, at which Members agreed that the application did not meet the relevant legal tests for registration as a Village Green.

A copy of the Officer's report, which sets out the reasons, is available here:

https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=182&MId=9555

The minutes of the meeting will also appear there once they become available.

This now concludes the application and no further action will be taken by the County Council.