AN application to grant certified village green status to a beauty spot once threatened by residential development is set to be approved by senior councillors tomorrow.

On Tuesday, Middlesbrough Council’s Executive will be asked to approve an application seeking the voluntary registration of land at Acklam Meadows, Newfield Crescent as a Village Green.

The formal protection order will cover the green parcel of land bordered by Newfield Crescent and Blue Bell Beck in the Trimdon ward in Acklam.

Previously, a community campaign succeeded in preventing more than 100 houses being built on the much-loved green space.

At the end of the consultation period the site was removed from the then draft Local Plan proposals.

In September last year, Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston and ward councillors Dennis McCabe and Carolyn Dodds revealed they were looking to secure further protection to the land by making an application for village green status.

As Middlesbrough Council owns the land it is free to voluntarily apply to have the land registered as a village green.

An application for voluntary designation cannot be rejected by the registration authority and the council itself is the registration authority.

Nonetheless,  any application for designation will need to be considered by the council’s Licensing Committee.

Once registered as Village Green, the land will be protected from development or change.

Registration on land as a Town or Village Green means that the residents will have the right to use the land for lawful sports and pastimes.

The piece of land will also be recorded in a legal document known as the Register of Town or Village Greens.

According to a report to Executive members, this would make it a criminal offence to:

  • Wilfully cause injury or damage to any fence on a green
  • Wilfully take any cattle or other animals onto a green without lawful authority
  • Wilfully lay any manure, soil, ashes, rubbish or other material on a green
  • Undertake any act which causes injury to the green;
  • Undertake any act which interrupts the use or enjoyment of a green as a place of exercise and recreation;
  • Encroach on a green; or
  • Enclose a green.
  • Such constraints may prevent planting or the placement of structures on the Village Green

Officers have recommended that executive members approves the application on the grounds that “the land at Newfield Crescent is a valued open space resource that benefits the local community”.

“Village Green status recognises its importance and role in the local community and represents the most appropriate course to seek to protect it in perpetuity.”

The Executive meets on Tuesday, January 21.