A ‘snippergroen’ is a small patch of public green space bordering your garden or property. In this leaflet, you will find information on the use of this land and any opportunities to purchase land to extend your garden.
More information on chipping green
What is ‘snippergroen’?
Municipal land is intended for general facilities which all residents of the municipality of Apeldoorn use or can use. Examples include roads and streets, or public green spaces. ‘Snippergroen’ refers to strips of land owned by the municipality that serve only a limited purpose and are directly adjacent to a residential plot. These strips of land, for example, are not significant in terms of the streetscape or traffic.
What are we going to do?
In many parts of the municipality, municipal land is being used without any formal agreements having been made. Residents are often completely unaware of this situation, as it may, for example, have been the case when they purchased their property. The municipality has carried out a survey of land use and will be drawing up agreements with the residents concerned.
The council would like to establish clear arrangements regarding the ownership and management of small patches of green space. If you are using, or wish to use, council land, there may be opportunities to purchase this land.
What are the options?
If you are using a plot of municipal land, you have the following options for arranging the use of the land.
Purchase of municipal land at a temporarily reduced rate
The local authority will assess whether the land can be sold. If this is possible, a reduced land price will apply for the duration of the project. For a plot of up to 50 m², you pay €100 per m². Is the plot larger than 50 m²? In that case, the land will be valued by a valuer. The local authority will arrange this for you. The prices are on a ‘costs payable by the buyer’ basis; this means that the transfer tax and the notary and land registry fees are payable by the buyer.
Limitation period
If you have been using municipal land as a garden for a considerable period of time, this may constitute acquisitive prescription.
Returning the land to the local authority
Are you not interested in purchasing the land, or is it not possible to sell it? In that case, you must make the land available to the local authority again. The strip of land will then be (re)converted into public green space.
How is the assessment carried out?
The eligibility of the land for sale is assessed on the basis of the policy on small green spaces. As part of this assessment, we examine, amongst other things, the green infrastructure, road safety, logical and straight cadastral boundaries, and potential future developments.
Any questions?
Do you have any questions or would you like to find out more about the options for purchasing a plot of Snippergroen land? Please feel free to contact the Snippergroen team on 14 055 or send an email to snippergroen@apeldoorn.nl. You will also find on www.apeldoorn.nl/snippergroen Further information.