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Bid to turn meadow into village green refused

Deborah PriceLocal Democracy reporter
Nigel Cox/Geograph A meadow that is next to a river. There are trees and shrubbery either side of the river. In the background there is a barn and some fences.Nigel Cox/Geograph
The wet meadow lies adjacent to the River Mimram, which runs through Old Welwyn

A bid to turn a meadow into a village green has been refused by a county council because it has already been designated as a Local Nature Reserve (LNR).

Singlers Marsh in Welwyn, Hertfordshire, is a 15-acre meadow by the River Mimram which is regularly used by dog walkers and families.

Applications to have the site registered as a village green were lodged in 2020 and in 2022, with more than 1,000 local people backing the application.

At a meeting of the Hertfordshire County Council's Development Control Committee on 21 October, councillors refused to grant the application.

At the meeting, councillors heard the site – which is, in parts, owned or leased by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council – had been declared as LNR in 2009.

County council officers, in line with an inspector's report, recommended that the application be refused.

Stephen McKay/Geograph Two longhorn cows in a meadow. They are white with brown patches.Stephen McKay/Geograph
Singlers Marsh is managed by cattle grazing and cutting

Russell Haggar, from the Welwyn Planning and Amenity Group (WPAG), said the village green proposal was "supported widely" in Welwyn village.

He told the meeting there was no piece of legal documentation that said a LNR could not also be a village green.

He cited examples of sites elsewhere in the country where LNRs and village greens co-existed.

He said the site had been used as open land since the 1700s, with people describing having unfettered use and access since the 1950s.

He told the committee he thought WPAG deserved "a fair hearing" and felt it had not had that to date.

Stephen McKay/Geograph A green open space with trees around the outside. There is a path of short grass with longer grass surrounding it.Stephen McKay/Geograph
Parts of the meadow are owned or leased by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council

Richard Cuthbert, the team leader for the county council's countryside and rights of way service, told the committee the conservation purpose of a LNR took precedence over the recreation purpose of a village green.

However, it was also recognised that Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, as the landowner, could opt to deselect the site as a LNR.

Nigel Taylor, the chair of Development Control Committee, suggested that it be recorded in the minutes that the committee urged Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council to reconsider the designation, but it was a matter for it to decide the area's future.

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