Locals in Somerset celebrate buying their village green for £1 - 50 years after submitting plans

A village green in Somerset has been bought by locals for just £1 – nearly half a CENTURY after the plans were first submitted.

The small patch of land in Beercrocombe near Taunton in Somerset is only 170 sq m and has been lovingly maintained by villagers for centuries.

In 1965 the law changed to allow villagers to take over ownership of their green spaces with the Commons Registration Act.

The people of Beercrocombe applied – but because the village didn’t have a parish council it was told it could not be registered as the owner.

But a local group continued to fight and because it now has a parish council the village has now been allowed to buy the green – for just £1.

A party was held on July 17 to celebrate the acquisition, with champagne, a BBQ and even Morris dancers.

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The original plans in 1969 were put forward by resident Tony Davies who has since passed away.

Local Bob Burrough, 69, who sits on Beercrocombe Parish Council, made it his mission to complete the transfer to the ownership to villagers in 2017.

He painstakingly trawled through paperwork and dealt with council red tape in a bid to fulfil the work started 50 years before.

Mr Burrough said: ‘There is a feeling of connecting the past to the present and general satisfaction that the aspiration of the late Tony Davies was fulfilled 50 years later.’

In 1977, ownership of the village green was once more discussed this time at a Commons Commissioner hearing.

Ownership was then discussed by Yeovil District Council, which then became South Somerset District Council (SSDC).

Beercrocombe Parish Council formed in 1984 but the district council lost all the paperwork meaning it couldn’t process the plans – until now.