Parish Council Land Ownership

It is with great delight that Croxley Green Parish Council announces the purchase of a 1.7 acre woodland site for all the residents of Croxley Green in perpetuity. The site forms the north-eastern part of Croxley Green’s second Village Green, otherwise known as Buddleia Walk, and has access points from Mill Lane via a bridle-way, from steps by Common Moor Lock and Footpath 11 which runs behind Frankland Road.

Parish Council Chairman, Mark Saxon, said, “I’m so happy that we have managed to secure this beautiful ancient piece of Croxley Green’s natural history for our residents. We have protected the site from potential development that we have seen so often recently in our village and the surrounding areas. When conducting research for our Community & Strategic Business Plans it was very clear that protecting the sites of nature in Croxley Green was by far the most important concern that residents had for the future of our village, and as such we are very pleased to complete the purchase of such a well-used piece of land”.

The woodland is to be called “Weston Wood” in recognition of the previous land owner and completion of the purchase occurred today, Friday 18 August for a purchase price of £26,000. This is the first significant piece of land that Croxley Green Parish Council will have ownership of in its 31 year history, as although the Parish Council maintain The Green and Stone’s Orchard, under contract from Three Rivers District Council who are the current land owners, the Parish Council also maintains other sites around the village. Senior Ranger, James Townley, commented, “I can’t wait to get working in there, the area contains some beautiful trees and I’m so looking forward to opening it up and making it accessible for everyone”.

The Parish Council became aware of the potential sale and with the current owner, Lilyanne Weston, accordingly negotiated the deal. As other buyers were also interested in the site it was necessary for the Council to discuss the purchase in Part 2 (confidential) sessions at meetings, at which the press and public are not able to attend. Parish Clerk, David Allison, commented that, “this was to make sure that the best possible deal was ‘Keeping Croxley Special’ page 2 of 2 achieved for the residents of Croxley Green and that no outside developers would have an advantage in any prospective sale”. As is commonplace with most Councils around the country, the Parish Council’s current policy is to secure land ownership within the area in which they operate where possible, and Croxley Green are rather an anomaly when you look at how much land neighbouring Parish Councils have control over.