Nailsea Town Council disappointed by the rejection by North Somerset Council of the Town Green application at The Perrings.

Nailsea Town Council, with support from the Nailsea community, applied for Town Green status for land to the south of The Perrings housing estate, which is regularly used as a public open space, play area and by dog walkers. To achieve the coveted status the council had to prove that the land has been in use by right, by the community for 20 years. 194 residents supported the application saying that they have made use of the land.

The application was recommended to be rejected, on advice from a Barrister, employed by North Somerset Planning and Regulatory Committee, in the report to the committee. The application was rejected due to two points of law concluding that:

(1) A trigger event has occurred under Schedule 1A to the Commons Registration Act 2006 so that section 15C of the Commons Registration Act applies meaning that the Applicant is not entitled to make the application and it should, therefore, be rejected. *

(2) If not rejected, the application should be refused because use of the land by local inhabitants has been “by right” and is, therefore, incapable of meeting the statutory requirement under section 15(2) of the Commons Registration Act 2006 that the use must be “as of right”. **

Mike Bird, Chair, of Nailsea Town Council says ‘I am very disappointed by this decision to reject the application for Town Green status at The Perrings. This decision hinges on a point of Law based on what remains of 40-year-old documents.  We put forward the proposal to protect the land for the future generations 3 years ago. The area has been enjoyed by many people since the 1970s and has been maintained by NSC since then until very recently.  We’re unsure of the next steps as yet but continuing to protect this land as public open space is a priority for Nailsea Town Council.’

A spokesman from the town council added ‘This decision does not give permission for development it merely rejects the application for Town green status’