JUDGES at the High Court in London yesterday overturned a council's decision to give a piece of land village green status.
Durham County Council backed down in the face of a legal challenge to a committee decision to register land, in Consett, known locally as the Top of the Park, as a village green.
The move would have thwarted plans for a housing development on the site.
At a brief hearing, the council conceded that its committee members had acted in error when voting to register the village green, against recommendations by a planning inspector and the council's legal officers.
It consented to its decision being quashed, in the face of a judicial review challenge by developer Strathmore Holdings.
The decision potentially paves the way for Medomsley company Strathmore Homes to develop the site for housing.
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