Commentary on Sections Schedule 2: Modification or discharge of affordable housing requirements: related amendments Section 16: Restrictions on right to register land as town or village green
82.This section inserts new section 15C into the 2006 Act, the effect of which is to exclude the right to apply under section 15(1) of the 2006 Act for registration of land in England to which Part 1 of the Act applies as a town or village green if any of the events (“trigger events”) specified in the first column of the Table set out in the new Schedule 1A to the 2006 Act occur (the new Schedule 1A is set out at Schedule 4 to this Act). The right to apply under section 15(1) becomes exercisable again in respect of that land only if one of the terminating events specified in the second column of the Table set out in Schedule 1A which corresponds to that trigger event occurs. The exclusion of the right to apply for registration of a green does not affect the accrual of any period of user as of right or prevent any such user ceasing to be as of right.
83.The Secretary of State may by order make provision as to when a trigger event or terminating event is to be treated as having occurred for the purposes of the exclusion under section 15C(1) and may define circumstances in which the exclusion will not apply. The Secretary of State may also by virtue of an order under section 15C(5), subject to the affirmative procedure, insert additional trigger or terminating events, or amend or omit any trigger or terminating events for the time being specified in Schedule 1A. Where the Secretary of State makes an order under section 15C(5)(a) specifying an additional trigger or terminating event, provision may be made for the provisions of section 15C to apply where an event has occurred before the date on which the order is made or comes into force. Any additional trigger or terminating event specified must be an event related to the development (whether past, present or future) of the land.
84.If an application for registration of land as a town or village green is made in reliance on section 15(3) of the 2006 Act (i.e. in circumstances where use of the land as of right ceased before the application was submitted), any period during which the exclusion in new section 15C applies is disregarded for the purpose of calculating the period in section 15(3)(c) within which an application must be made. The operation of this period is suspended while the exclusion is in place. In relation to land in England, the period specified in section 15(3)(c) of the 2006 Act (by virtue of section 14 of this Act) is to be reduced from two years to one year.
85.For the purposes of the exclusion of the right to apply for registration of a town or village green in new section 15C(1) it does not matter whether a trigger event occurred before or after the commencement of section 16. However, under section 16, the exclusion in new section 15C does not apply in relation to an application for registration of a green which is sent before the day on which section 16 comes into force. Where an application pertains to a site which is partly subject to the exclusion and partly not, the commons registration authority should proceed to determine the application in respect of the part which is not subject to the exclusion.