Cornwall council has been strongly criticised by an ombudsman for taking more than a decade to examine an application to turn a riverside beauty spot into a village green.

The local government and social care ombudsman expressed concern that the council had still not made a decision on the land at Forder, near Saltash, and said it had taken so long that some of those who had backed the application had died.

It has ordered the council to make a decision and to pay the man leading the application, retired merchant seaman and teacher Colin Brown, £600 compensation.

Brown, who is 80, welcomed the ombudsman’s findings and said he hoped to live long enough to see a decision.

The saga began in 2008 when Brown applied to the council to register the land as a village green on behalf of a group of almost 150 residents. They argued that the plot on the banks of the River Lynher had been used for decades by the community.

Over the years the council has hired lawyers to look at the claim and said it would hold an inquiry but, 11 years on, there has been no decision. In desperation, Brown turned to the ombudsman.

The ombudsman’s investigation found the council at fault for unnecessarily delaying the decision and for not keeping Brown updated on developments.

Michael King, the local government and social care ombudsman, said: “[Brown] has been put to significant time and trouble over the past decade over the matter, and is now concerned that as several original members of his group have passed away, this will have an impact on the group’s ability to present evidence to any future inquiry.”

King has asked the council to apologise to Brown and give him a monthly update on his application. It has been told to pay him £300 for the uncertainty caused and another £300 for his time and trouble in making the complaint to the ombudsman.

Under section 15 of the Commons Act 2006, land can be registered as a town or village green if a significant number of residents have “indulged as of right in lawful sports and pastimes on the land for a period of at least 20 years”.

Brown said he had collected 144 witness statements in support of his application from members of the local residents’ group. Several of them had died, which he says may hamper his case.

Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society, said: “We have long campaigned for the village green determination process to have time limits. At present it is completely open-ended, the only time limit being the six-week period allowed for objections once an application has been advertised.”

A Cornwall council spokesperson said: “We accept the findings of the local government and social care ombudsman report and apologise for the impact the delays have had on the individuals involved. We are planning for a public inquiry to take place in the autumn.”