Documents for a scheme on a Local Green Space designation

Development on a Local Green Space is subject to policy consistent with that for Green Belt, which means it will be refused unless very special circumstances are demonstrated. That is the starting point for any pack, and it is a much harder test than the balance applied to most sites. Before spending money on documents, work out whether the designation was validly made, because a designation that does not meet the criteria carries less weight than one that does.

The honest position is that most schemes on a designated Local Green Space fail. The ones that succeed are usually small, serve the designation's own purpose, or rest on a flaw in how the designation was made.

What the designation does to the policy position

Local Green Space is designated through a local plan or a neighbourhood plan, not by a council decision outside the plan process. Once designated, the development policy that applies is consistent with Green Belt policy, so the presumption is against inappropriate development and the applicant has to show very special circumstances.

Three consequences follow immediately. The tilted balance in favour of sustainable development does not rescue a scheme, because the policies that protect designated land are not the policies that are disapplied when a plan is out of date. Need, however pressing, is rarely enough on its own. And the quality of the designated space matters less than the fact of the designation, so arguing that the land is scruffy and unused is not the argument it appears to be.

The designation sits alongside other constraints rather than replacing them. A Local Green Space can also be in a conservation area, a flood zone or a Source Protection Zone, and each brings its own evidence, as documents for a scheme in a Source Protection Zone sets out.

Testing whether the designation was validly made

This is the first piece of work and the least expensive. National policy sets criteria for designation: the green space should be in reasonably close proximity to the community it serves, it should be demonstrably special to that community and hold a particular local significance, and it should be local in character and not an extensive tract of land. Designation is also inappropriate where land is already allocated for development.

So the evidence to assemble is documentary. Find the plan or neighbourhood plan that made the designation, the evidence base behind it, the examiner's report, and any representations made at the time. Then test the designation against each criterion on the facts of the site.

Points that recur:

• The land is an extensive tract rather than a local space, which the criteria exclude.
• No evidence of particular local significance was produced, only an assertion that the land is open.
• The space is not reasonably accessible to or close to the community said to value it.
• The land was allocated for development in a plan at the time of designation.
• The boundary includes land with no amenity value, such as a service yard or a highway verge, drawn in to round off the designation.

A designation that fails the criteria is still part of the development plan and still carries weight. But the weight is reduced, and that is sometimes the difference in the planning balance. Make the argument with the documents attached rather than as an assertion.

Very special circumstances in practice

Very special circumstances means the harm from inappropriate development, and any other harm, is clearly outweighed by other considerations. It is a demanding test and the cases that succeed share features.

The development serves the purpose of the designation, for example a changing pavilion on a recreation space, a small café serving park users, or improved access and planting across the remainder.

The footprint is small relative to the space and the openness is largely preserved, which is the Green Belt reasoning applied here. A single storey building on a fraction of the area reads very differently from a housing parcel.

There is a direct, secured community benefit that could not be delivered otherwise, with a mechanism. An offer to transfer the remaining land to a trust with an endowment, secured by obligation, is a real consideration. A promise to improve the space is not.

Set the case out in the planning statement as a schedule: each harm identified and weighted, each benefit identified and weighted, then the conclusion. Officers and inspectors work this way and a statement that mirrors the structure is easier to accept.

Open space, play and recreation evidence

Where the proposal takes part of a space in recreational use, the authority will ask whether the space is surplus to requirements and whether replacement provision is equivalent or better and accessible.

An Open Space Assessment does that work: identify the typology of the space against the authority's own open space study, quantify provision in the ward against the adopted standard, assess quality and accessibility, and then assess the effect of the loss. Where children's play is affected, a Play Space Assessment against the applicable standards for quantity and distance thresholds is needed as well.

Three cautions. Use the authority's own open space study and standards, because a national benchmark will be rejected. Do not claim land is surplus without the quantitative evidence, since officers check it. And where replacement land is offered, deal with timing, access, tenure and long term management, because an equivalent area with no management plan is not equivalent provision.

Landscape and visual assessment

Openness and visual amenity are at the centre of the case, so the visual evidence carries more weight here than on an ordinary site.

At a small scale, a landscape and visual appraisal with annotated viewpoints from the surrounding streets and any public rights of way across the space will do. At a larger scale, or where the space forms a gap between settlements, a full Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment following the recognised guidelines is expected, with viewpoints agreed with the authority before photography.

Cover the effect on the space itself as well as views of it. A Local Green Space is valued by the people who use it, so the experience from inside the space, including enclosure, overlooking and loss of a sense of openness, is part of the assessment. Councils expect a suitably qualified author for landscape work, and professional review is strongly advised.

Community engagement and the record of it

A designation exists because a community asked for it. Applying without engaging that community is a decision to lose the committee.

Engage early, publish what the scheme is, and record what changed as a result. A Statement of Community Involvement should set out who was consulted and how, what was said, and the specific design or offer changes made in response. Where nothing changed, say why rather than omitting the point.

Expect the parish or town council to object and expect the neighbourhood plan group, if the designation came from a neighbourhood plan, to be organised and well informed. Treat them as consultees with a legitimate interest in the plan they wrote rather than as opposition to be managed.

Whether the application is worth making

Three questions before committing.

Does the scheme serve the designation's purpose, or at least preserve its openness. If not, the very special circumstances case has no foundation and the money is better spent on an alternative site.

Is there a documented flaw in the designation. If the designation plainly fails the criteria and the evidence base shows it, the planning balance shifts enough to be worth testing, though not enough to make approval likely.

Could a plan review change the designation. Where a plan is being reviewed, promoting the site through the plan process, with the evidence that the designation fails the criteria, is slower and much more likely to work than an application against an adopted policy.

Where the answer to all three is no, an application is an expensive way of confirming the policy. Where a route exists, document it properly: the designation evidence, the harm and benefit schedule, the open space and play evidence, the landscape appraisal, the engagement record, and the mechanism for every benefit claimed.

This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval. Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which reports your site is likely to need.