Skip to main content
Case Update

Supreme Court hears the fight to stop park sell-off

7th December 2022

Their council sold some treasured local parkland without letting them have their say, but yesterday a group of residents from Shrewsbury had their voice heard in the Supreme Court. 

The fight to get Greenfields Recreation Ground back into public ownership has been ongoing for 5 years, across local campaigning and through legal action. Good Law Project has been supporting the Greenfields Community Group to challenge the current status of the land after it was unlawfully sold, with the ultimate goal to have the land returned to the local people who need it.

“We feel excited that our grassroots campaign that started off in a kitchen in Shrewsbury is finally here at the Supreme Court”- Peter Day, leader of the Greenfields Community Group. 

On average more than 4,000 publicly owned buildings and spaces in England are being sold off every year. 

We hope the outcome of this hearing will set a new precedent for how public recreation ground is protected and how communities are consulted on proposed sales, before these significant community assets disappear from our sight. 

The judges were engaged in the arguments put forward by the legal team representing Peter and the Greenfields Community Group and the group left feeling positive about the day. 

The outcome of the case may be delayed, however, as the Court suggested that the Attorney General may need to be given the opportunity to have their say, due to their obligations around protecting the public interest. This further highlights that the case is deemed to be of significant public importance.  

We will update more on this case as its journey continues. 

 

Case

This article is part of our Help stop the great British public space sell-off case

Treasured public spaces across the UK are being sold off and lost to private interests at an alarming rate. We’re supporting a community in Shropshire to save their local green space – and we’re now awaiting a judgment from the Supreme Court.

See more about this case