Enquiry to use or purchase council land/public open space

We receive many applications for temporary use of or and to purchase areas of public amenity open space. Applications may be for:

• use as garden land
• parking
• access requirements or
• to have an extension built to an adjoining property

Public amenity open spaces are preserved by the provisions of Policy EM5 (Green Infrastructure) of the Basingstoke and Deane Local Plan (2011 to 2029).

Regardless of the proposed use, planning permission is needed to change the use from public amenity open space and for inclusion of the land within the curtilage of the adjoining property and the like. Please note that further permissions may be required for building/extensions to existing buildings following a change of use being granted.

We want to protect and retain public amenity open spaces in the various neighbourhoods for their original purposes and reasons. These parcels of land, no matter how small they are, are covered by the Local Plan and various policies seeking to preserve these areas and neighbourhoods.

Whilst consideration will be undertaken given to purchase of open land enquiries, our preference is to retain and safeguard these areas of open spaces wherever possible. However, we will consider any temporary use or disposal on a case by case basis, taking into consideration other proposals and/or small/minor parcels of land within the vicinity. It should be noted that the council will only sell areas of open space in exceptional circumstances as documented in Policy EM5 (Green Infrastructure) of the Basingstoke and Deane Local Plan (2011 to 2029). Please note that should an application be refused we will notify you.

The following documents provide additional information setting out the processes and procedures involved in such land use enquiries:

Standard Procedures for land use/purchase application - areas of public amenity open space(PDF) [285 kb]

Policy EM5 - Green Infrastructure(PDF) [6 Mb]