Brown Not Green (BNG) a community based not for profit company founded by Chesham residents, who are now seeking to have Green Belt land located NE of Chesham, registered as a Village Green under s.15 of the Commons Act 2006. A public inquiry is anticipated in the near future to consider this Village Green application made by BNG who now need to raise funds for the legal & professional fees necessary to be represented at this hearing.

Why does this matter? - Well, if BNG can secure Village Green status, the land is effectively sterilised from development forever as it is unlawful to "interfere" with or drive vehicles upon a Village Green. This status will therefore preserve the land and keep it available for the customary public enjoyment it has provided to the community for decades. Given BNG have evidence of between 280 and 400 people using the land every day for a variety of recreational activities, Village Green status is both justified and appropriate.

We must protect this valuable area as clearly Green Belt designation alone cannot be relied upon as was demonstrated when the former Council in the last (now withdrawn) Local Plan proposed to remove this land from Green Belt designation and to allocate (initially) half the site for up to 900 homes there. It is also public knowledge that a substantial housebuilder / developer has already secured an option on a large part of the land.

Two Village Green applications have been submitted (the land has two different owners) in October 2020. The test for a Village Green is to demonstrate that "a significant number of people have used the land for lawful sports and pastimes over the last 20 years". BNG have evidence from 55 people who have lived nearby on average for almost 35 years each confirming the land as a whole is used daily for dog walking, running/jogging, cycling and many other informal activities such as picking blackberries, bird watching, children playing etc.

Two Objections have been received, (unsurprisingly) from the landowners and it is clear from these Objections that if BNG had not already made the Village Green application(s) that a planning application to develop hundreds of homes upon this much-loved land might have already been submitted.

BNG have been campaigning for over 7 years to protect this land and in that time have been successful in helping see off the previous Local Plan proposals and also briefly secured getting the land listed as an Asset of Community Value in 2019. For full background visit the BNG Website

Our professional advisors feel that we have a very good chance of achieving Village Green status that will protect this land from development that would threaten not only the environment and wildlife at Lye Green but may cause other harm to the wider areas of Chesham town too due to increased traffic, worsening air quality, greater strain on drainage infrastructure and the chalk stream river water quality.

BNG need to raise at least £6,000 to fund the expert barrister we need to represent the community in the forthcoming Village Green public inquiry. You can make credit card donations here or if you prefer to send larger donations by BACS please visit the fundraising page on our website at BNG Fundraising page.

Please donate what you can to help preserve our local environment & wildlife and to allow future generations to enjoy this land. - Thank you.