Plan To Register Ely Common as a Village Green Faces Rejection
AN application to have Ely Common officially registered as a village green faces rejection following a public inquiry. A detailed inspector s report released this week recommended that the proposal, submitted on behalf of the Local Campaign for the Protec
AN application to have Ely Common officially registered as a village green faces rejection following a public inquiry.
A detailed inspector's report released this week recommended that the proposal, submitted on behalf of the Local Campaign for the Protection of Rural Ely (LCPRE), should be rejected due to a lack of conclusive evidence.
The inspector's report will now be sent to the Development Control Committee of Cambridge County Council which will decide whether or no to accept the report's recommendations or find in favour of the LCPRE.
The inquiry came about following an application submitted in August 2007 by the LCPRE, requesting that the land at Ely Common be officially registered a village green, something the owners of the Common, The Thomas Parsons Charity and Jalsea Marine Services, opposed.
All land registered as a village green is protected by law from alteration or development but applicants are required to demonstrate that the land has been used 'as of right' for leisure and other activities for a period of at least 20 years.
The owners of the Common disputed that the land was eligible to be registered and a detailed inquiry, which received extensive written and oral evidence from both parties, took place over five days in December 2008 as a result.
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Jeremy Tyrell, who owns Jalsea Marine Services and gave evidence against the plans, told the Ely Standard: "The inquiry investigated every aspect of the issue and came to a clear decision and we hope things can settle down now.
"We just feel that this was a long process that consumed a lot of everyone's time and effort and didn't achieve anything."
In her report inspector Lana Wood highlighted a failure by the LCPRE to prove that they had made use of the Common by right instead of with the permission of the land owner and therefore could not have the status of the Common changed.
At the time of going to press Liz Hunter of the LCPRE was unwilling to comment until a full meeting of the group had been convened.
The Development Control Committee will now consider the findings of the report in July where a final decision will be made, though recommendations from public inquiries are rarely overruled.
