Designating Local Green Spaces

Kinver Parish Council, as part of the Neighbourhood Plan process,  has undertaken a Local Green Space Audit and proposes several places for designation as Local Green Spaces.

What are Local Green Spaces?  This is  a formal designation that may be made by nieghbourhood plans, to provide protection for green spaces valued by the local community. Designation as a Local Green Space does not convey access rights nor affect the way the land can be managed.

To find out more visit: https://neighbourhoodplanning.org/toolkits-and-guidance/making-local-green-space-designations-neighbourhood-plan/

Why designate Local Green Spaces?  The health and environmental benefits of green spaces are well known, and are recognised in planning.  In addition, many green spaces have value for their heritage context and beauty.  The neighbourhood plan gives us an opportunity to designate such spaces to protect them from development.

Kinver is surrounded by Green Belt – so why do we need Local Green Spaces? The purpose of Green Belt is different to Local Green Space designation.  Green Belt is a designated band of land around urban areas (e.g. Wolverhampton and the Black Country Conurbation), designed to contain urban sprawl.  Local Green Spaces are protected for their benefit to the community.

How were sites chosen?  Several suggestions for Local Green Spaces were made in responses to the First Householder Questionnaire, and we have identified other candidates as part of the Audit of the Neighbourhood Area.  All have been tested against the criteria for Local Green Space designation. The list of sites and information about them was put out to consultation in spring 2022. All consultation responses were carefully considered, and the proposed Local Green Space designations were updated accordingly.  The revised list has been incorporated as part of the draft Kinver Neighbourhood Plan. Regulation 14 consultation on the draft Plan provided further opportnity to make representations on the draft Plan, including the proposed Local Green Space designations.  A report on  the selection process, and how the criteria were applied,   can be found here.

The current list of proposed Local Green Spaces, with links to the site descriptions, can be seen here.  At examination, the examiner determined that LGS designation was not required for those spaces in the green belt.  The final list of spaces which were designated may be seen here.