Application to register Southbank skateboard undercroft as village green not valid, says Council

The campaign group submitted its application under the town and village green (TVG) regime in June. The Council has now said the application was invalid because the right to apply to register land under the regime is excluded where a ‘trigger event’ relating to the land in question has occurred without a corresponding ‘terminating event’ having occurred. ‘Trigger events’ can include prior planning applications and local planning policies. 

The Southbank Centre, including the skateboard undercroft, is allocated for mixed-use redevelopment in Lambeth's local planning policies.

The Council said in a statement that it had taken independent legal advice prior to reaching its decision and that it had given both Long Live Southbank and the Southbank Centre the opportunity to comment on how the law should be interpreted.

The TVG regime allows land to be registered if it has been used "as of right" for recreational purposes for the preceding 20 years. Once registered, local residents have a recognised right to use that land for recreational purposes. It is an offence for a landowner to wilfully do anything on a TVG that will injure the land or interrupt the public's use or enjoyment of it.

Changes to the regime, introduced earlier this year as part of the Growth and Infrastructure Act, now prevent TVG applications from being lodged where an application for planning permission has been made or granted, or when land has been allocated for development by the local authority as part of a Local or Neighbourhood Plan.

“The Southbank Centre is an important asset to the borough, and the skate park has become an established part of it," said Council leader Lib Peck. "Although there is already a commitment from Southbank Centre that skateboarding will be kept on the South Bank, we would like to see further discussions take place and are confident that a satisfactory solution can be found.”