Ecolex Logo
The gateway to
environmental law
Search results » Jurisprudence

Oxfordshire County Council (Respondents) v. Oxford City Council (Appellants) and another (Respondent) (2005) and others.

Country/Territory
United Kingdom
Type of court
National - higher court
Date
May 24, 2006
Source
UNEP, InforMEA
Court name
House of Lords
Seat of court
London
Judge
Lord Hoffmann
Lord Scott of Foscote
Lord Rodger of Earlsferry
Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe
Baroness Hale of Richmond.
Reference number
[2006] UKHL 25
Language
English
Subject
Land & soil, Environment gen.
Keyword
Land-use planning Access right
Abstract
The key issues in this case were whether registration of land as a green, based on 20 years lawful sports and pastimes, gives the relevant inhabitants rights to indulge in lawful sports and pastimes on the land, and whether registration brings the land within the scope of section 12 of the Inclosure Act 1857 and section 29 of the Commons Act 1876, which protect the land from encroachment. A further issue was whether a claim may be founded on qualifying user for any period of 20 years, or whether the lawful sports and pastimes must continue up to the date of the application to register, the date of registration or some other date. The Court of Appeal was wrong to conclude that action taken by an owner on land after an application to register it as a green can prevent its registration; recreational use by local people ‘as of right’ must continue until the date of the application, in order to justify registration under the law as it currently stands; the nineteenth-century protective statutes (section 12 of Inclosure Act 1857 and section 29 of Commons Act 1876) apply to new greens once registered; such land becomes a green on registration, with legal rights for local inhabitants to indulge in lawful sports and pastimes there; human rights law is not infringed by registration of land as a green; and registration authorities can exercise discretion in accepting amended application. The court of appeal decision had required evidence of lawful sports and pastimes to continue right up until registration of land as a village green. Now it is only necessary to provide evidence of 20 years’ use to the date of application. (Subsequently, section 15 of the Commons Act 2006 amended the legislation to take account of the rulings in this case). Registration of land as a’ class c’ green does confer rights on the part of local inhabitants (however defined) to indulge in sports and pastimes on that land. Such registration is conclusive that the land is a town or village green within the scope of (inter alia) section 12 of the Inclosure Act 1857 and section 29 of the Commons Act 1876. The words ‘continue to do so’ in the amended definition mean that the lawful sports and pastimes must continue to the date of application. Any application for registration of land as a class c green made on or after 30 January 2001 automatically engages (and engages only) the amended definition.