Dear all,

I'll be putting up relevant information to Government consultations which affect the sector. This will also include draft material and research that I'm undertaking in response.

Firstly, the Town and Village Green (TVG) consultation is open until 17th October and the link to the documents and how to respond is here: http://www.defra.gov.uk/consult/2011/07 ... age-greens.

This is a difficult issue for GreenSpace who both understand the increasing cost and resource for local authorities to respond to each application, whilst facing already diminishing budgets and resources, plus the concern that local people feel when valued open spaces may potentially be lost to them. In replying below I've tried to balance these two views, carefully considering the implications of each proposal and trying to protect an important mechanism for retaining public open spaces.

If these proposals - any of them really - do go forward I anticipate a significant increase in TVG applications which could be an excellent catalyst for local authorities to engage neighbourhoods in the new planning process.

All comments gratefully received on this first draft, thanks Michelle

Secondly, is the Local Government Planning Regulations consultation - info here: http://www.communities.gov.uk/publicati ... nsultation.

Under questions two of statutory bodies with whom there is a 'duty-to-cooperate' Local Economic Partnerships (LEPs) are included but Local Nature Partnerships (LNPs) currently are not - I have responded saying they do need to be included to effectively deliver the outcomes from the Natural Environment White Paper (NEWP). Email responses needed by 7th October.

Thanks, Michelle

PS. Acronym's you either love 'em or hate 'em!

This is our draft response to the Office National Statistics consultation regarding indicators for measuring national wellbeing. Response needs to be in by 23/01 so any comments to Dave below by the 20/01 - many thanks, Michelle

Dear GreenSpace National Forum Members

Please see attached documents relating to the current consultation around measuring national wellbeing (the happiness indicator). As yet many of the measures relating to local environmental quality and green spaces are still being developed with input from Defra so we haven’t been able to critique these directly. Deadline for submission is Jan 23rd so it would be great if you could send any comments you wish to make through to David Tibbatts: davidt@green-space.org.uk by Friday 20th January 2012.

Kind Regards

Lucy Fowler
Administrator: Regions and Community