Asset of Community Value (ACV) status –
Update 10/09/2021:
A formal complaint to the Local Authority about the ACV Review Decision brought no joy despite the lengthy delay in them getting back to us so we referred the matter to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman. We have received a draft decision statement from the Ombudsman which is disappointing but not surprising given the limitations of the Ombudsman's Roles and Powers.
We still await the Ombudsman's Final Statement which will be published on their website but for the moment BNG are putting ACV status on the back burner.
A formal complaint to the Local Authority about the ACV Review Decision brought no joy despite the lengthy delay in them getting back to us so we referred the matter to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman. We have received a draft decision statement from the Ombudsman which is disappointing but not surprising given the limitations of the Ombudsman's Roles and Powers.
We still await the Ombudsman's Final Statement which will be published on their website but for the moment BNG are putting ACV status on the back burner.
Update 30/04/2020:
Following the outrageous decision by the Council to revoke this status BNG had secured on the land, BNG were unable to raise sufficient funds within the limited time available for a legal challenge under Judicial Review but have since filed a formal complaint to the Council under the Council’s complaints procedure.
This Complaint seeks a reconsideration of the matter and an explanation why the Council acted as they did and in the manner they did. It is notable that there have been subsequent court decisions that support BNG’s views that the ACV status of the land has been removed for inappropriate reasons.
A copy of the Complaint can be seen by clicking here.
Again, at the time of writing a formal response from the Council has not yet been received after over 5 weeks since it was acknowledged.
Following the outrageous decision by the Council to revoke this status BNG had secured on the land, BNG were unable to raise sufficient funds within the limited time available for a legal challenge under Judicial Review but have since filed a formal complaint to the Council under the Council’s complaints procedure.
This Complaint seeks a reconsideration of the matter and an explanation why the Council acted as they did and in the manner they did. It is notable that there have been subsequent court decisions that support BNG’s views that the ACV status of the land has been removed for inappropriate reasons.
A copy of the Complaint can be seen by clicking here.
Again, at the time of writing a formal response from the Council has not yet been received after over 5 weeks since it was acknowledged.
Update 2/3/2020
We recently reported on the Council’s outrageous decision to remove Green Belt land to the North-East of Chesham from a list of Assets of Community Value (ACV) and you will be aware that BNG had taken legal advice which revealed that there were several grounds for mounting a challenge under Judicial Review.
Unfortunately, such challenges are not granted automatically, they require Leave of the Court and as such are expensive. Also for understandable reasons, most lawyers want fees paid in advance of such litigation.
For the last couple of months, BNG have been campaigning against this ACV Review decision with a view to raising further funds from the community to mount a Judicial Review challenge. However, the time limits for making any such legal challenges are very restrictive and it is with some reluctance that the BNG directors recently concluded that they could not fund this litigation.
This is not only due to funding but also because other developments relating to the Local Plan Stage One Public Examination Hearings being recently been announced, which now requires BNG’s focus and for remaining funds to be prioritised to maintain BNG’s continued opposition to the Local Plan.
The Local Plan is still seeking to allocate this land for development and to remove a number of villages around Chesham from Green Belt status. These proposals and many other flawed components of the Local Plan are of serious concern to many BNG supporters as well as to other community groups and BNG felt that the ACV issue, whilst grossly unfair, should not be a distraction from this objective. However, BNG are not abandoning the ACV issue and will be making a formal complaint to the Local Authority about the ACV Review Decision which may then be referred to the Local Government Ombudsman in due course.
We continue to welcome financial contributions from the community as already with current expenditure on consultancy & legal advice our funds have run down with BNG Directors dipping further into their pockets to make up the shortfall. Go to our fundraising page to see how you can help.
We recently reported on the Council’s outrageous decision to remove Green Belt land to the North-East of Chesham from a list of Assets of Community Value (ACV) and you will be aware that BNG had taken legal advice which revealed that there were several grounds for mounting a challenge under Judicial Review.
Unfortunately, such challenges are not granted automatically, they require Leave of the Court and as such are expensive. Also for understandable reasons, most lawyers want fees paid in advance of such litigation.
For the last couple of months, BNG have been campaigning against this ACV Review decision with a view to raising further funds from the community to mount a Judicial Review challenge. However, the time limits for making any such legal challenges are very restrictive and it is with some reluctance that the BNG directors recently concluded that they could not fund this litigation.
This is not only due to funding but also because other developments relating to the Local Plan Stage One Public Examination Hearings being recently been announced, which now requires BNG’s focus and for remaining funds to be prioritised to maintain BNG’s continued opposition to the Local Plan.
The Local Plan is still seeking to allocate this land for development and to remove a number of villages around Chesham from Green Belt status. These proposals and many other flawed components of the Local Plan are of serious concern to many BNG supporters as well as to other community groups and BNG felt that the ACV issue, whilst grossly unfair, should not be a distraction from this objective. However, BNG are not abandoning the ACV issue and will be making a formal complaint to the Local Authority about the ACV Review Decision which may then be referred to the Local Government Ombudsman in due course.
We continue to welcome financial contributions from the community as already with current expenditure on consultancy & legal advice our funds have run down with BNG Directors dipping further into their pockets to make up the shortfall. Go to our fundraising page to see how you can help.
- BNG nominated the land for listing on 26 April 2019.
- The objective was that securing a Right to Bid for the land under the ACV scheme, could potentially secure community ownership of the land.
- It would also be a material planning consideration that might remove the land from allocation for development in the draft Local Plan.
- BNG submitted extensive evidence of community use of the land including over 50 statements from the public explaining how the land was widely used for decades and how it improved the wellbeing of the community.
- Chiltern District Council approved the ACV nomination made by BNG after considering the evidence for over 8 weeks and listed the land as an Asset of Community value on 5 July 2019.
- Click here to see the Application letter by BNG dated 26 April 2019
- Click here to see the Statutory Declaration sworn by Phillip Plato MRICS made under s. 88 LA.
- Click here to see The Plan (Annex A of Stat Dec by PJP) of S. 88 Application.
- Click here to see the Photographs (Annex B of Stat Dec by PJP) showing the physical evidence of community use.
- Click here to see the Council’s Decision Notice confirming ACV Status given to BNG on 5 July 2019
Subsequently:
- The ACV Decision Notice dated 5 July, gave the landowners a right to request a “Review” of the Decision normally within 56 days of the date of Decision Notice. This deadline expired on 30 August 2019 without any notification to BNG of the ACV being challenged.
- Some 133 days after the date of the Decision Notice, BNG received the first notice of a “Review” of the ACV being undertaken by the Council at the landowner’s request.
- On 22 November, some 140 days post Decision Notice, the Council then requested responses from BNG to nine specific questions within SEVEN DAYS!
- These included a requirement for “evidence” of proof of funds of BNG’s ability to buy the land with or without planning permission.
- No details regarding the landowner’s grounds for review were provided by the Council, which BNG sought under a Freedom Of Information Request. (Click Here for Landowner / Lawyer Review Statements)
- BNG then noted that other assertions that had been made by the landowners which were also addressed by BNG in their 18-page Letter of Response including a confidential Statement of Funding with evidence from 21 people willing to donate or lend funds to BNG.
- Click here for BNG’s Letter of Response to Council dated 29 November 2019.
- Click on file name for other documents attached;
- Barely 48 hours later, the Council issued a Review Decision Notice revoking the ACV listing –
Note:
No reference is made to any of BNG’s rebuttal arguments (other than to the commercially sensitive & confidential quantum of cash funds available to BNG!) or any consideration of the case law precedents we recited in our rebuttal, nor to the Council Solicitor conducting the Review even visiting the land.
Despite the evidence presented of the numbers using the land at Lye Green being 300 people per day, the Council described the public use of the land as “occasional”!
Other than expensive Judicial Review on technical legal issues, BNG have no right of appeal to this nakedly flawed and self-serving Review Decision by the Council which conveniently for the Council avoids them compensating the landowners and ensures Lye Green remain in the Council’s draft Local Plan for consideration of release from Green Belt for development.
Background
The majority of Green Belt land in the country is private and inaccessible to the public. Even where public rights of way cross Green Belt land, the public rarely have freedom to roam over it. Research has revealed the land at Lye Green NE of Chesham is most unusual.
BNG established that for decades the public have used all parts of the land at Lye Green for a wide variety of informal outdoor recreational uses that benefit the community as whole and improve the health, education and social wellbeing of local residents.
As such this is a rare plot of Green Belt and Statements were received from over 50 people, many who have lived locally for more than 20 years, suggesting this land was an “Asset of Community Value” (ACV).
The Localism Act 2011 introduced the ability for communities to have assets that are of community value listed. This often relates to pubs, corner shops, Post Offices but also includes land.
An ACV listing then affords the community group the Right to Bid for the land. The effect of a listing means that an owner intending to sell the asset must give notice to the local authority. A community interest group who has had an ACV nomination approved, then has six weeks in which to ask to be treated as a potential bidder. If it does so, the sale cannot take place for six months.
The theory is that this period known as “the moratorium” will allow the community group to come up with an alternative proposal – although, at the end of the moratorium, it is entirely up to the owner whether a sale goes through, to whom and for how much. Section 88 of the Localism Act 2011 provides the mechanism for doing this.
BNG established that for decades the public have used all parts of the land at Lye Green for a wide variety of informal outdoor recreational uses that benefit the community as whole and improve the health, education and social wellbeing of local residents.
As such this is a rare plot of Green Belt and Statements were received from over 50 people, many who have lived locally for more than 20 years, suggesting this land was an “Asset of Community Value” (ACV).
The Localism Act 2011 introduced the ability for communities to have assets that are of community value listed. This often relates to pubs, corner shops, Post Offices but also includes land.
An ACV listing then affords the community group the Right to Bid for the land. The effect of a listing means that an owner intending to sell the asset must give notice to the local authority. A community interest group who has had an ACV nomination approved, then has six weeks in which to ask to be treated as a potential bidder. If it does so, the sale cannot take place for six months.
The theory is that this period known as “the moratorium” will allow the community group to come up with an alternative proposal – although, at the end of the moratorium, it is entirely up to the owner whether a sale goes through, to whom and for how much. Section 88 of the Localism Act 2011 provides the mechanism for doing this.
Conclusion
BNG are appalled by the Council’s Review Decision which has the appearance of being decided before or without any consideration to the rebuttal arguments explained by BNG in its letter of response dated 29 November 2019.
Whilst BNG will continue to advance arguments at the Local Plan Examination that Lye Green is inappropriate to be removed from Green Belt and developed for housing, BNG have sought to have 6 informal footpaths adopted as public rights of way for continued community use.
Whilst BNG will continue to advance arguments at the Local Plan Examination that Lye Green is inappropriate to be removed from Green Belt and developed for housing, BNG have sought to have 6 informal footpaths adopted as public rights of way for continued community use.
