Issue - meetings

Report CSD14095

Members considered an application to register land comprising the triangular area of ground bounded by Upper Elmers End Road, Croydon Road and Elmerside Road in Elmers End as a Town Green.  As the registration authority for Bromley, it was the duty of the Council to decide the application for registration of the land as a new Town or Village Green.

The Chairman of West Beckenham Residents’ Association (WBRA), Ms Marie Pender, spoke in support of the application and made the following representations:-

"I hope you have been able to read my letter, see the old maps and the support we have had from local people and other local organisations - Copers Cope Area Residents’ Association and The Beckenham Society.

Your legal advice concludes that “it is not considered that the application can succeed”. But, you know - it can - if you want it to. The legal advice also says that you, as registration authority, “may decide to register - or decline - on the basis of the application and the evidence before you”. It is therefore within your discretion to accept the implied compliance with the spirit of the 2006 Act, by accepting our case. Or by proceeding to register the green voluntarily - as owners of the land.

The spirit of the Act is surely that open land that has been enjoyed by local people for only 20 years should continue to be available for that enjoyment. The only real restrictions in the spirit of the Act are that the enjoyment must be legal and without the use of force or subterfuge, and that the owner should not be forced to have the land registered against its will.

Your legal advice is that the burden of proof lies in “the civil standard of balance of probabilities”. The balance of probabilities does not require written testimony – that would be 100% proof. The balance of probabilities is most certainly that this land - never built on and in existence for 300 years – has been used, as the Act describes, for much longer than 20 years.

My letter and the maps show the history of this land. I also emphasise that, for much more than 20 years, the council provided benches for people to sit on – why would you do that if the green were not used for passing the time? Your signs say “don’t let your dog foul the grass” – why, if there is no dog walking? This land has been enjoyed legally and without the use of force for centuries.

The Council are owners of the land, so why would you object to its protection through registration? There need not be costs involved. If the Council were to agree, there is, for instance, no need for any public inquiry, as suggested by the legal advice.

We understand the Council has rightly been persuaded to register Beckenham Green under the Act. Though the initial legal reaction to that application was also a loud 'no'!  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6