|
Return
to Agenda
ITEM PN8
PLANNING
& REGULATION COMMITTEE –
13 JANUARY 2003
COMMONS
REGISTRATION ACT 1965: APPLICATION TO REGISTER THE TRAP GROUNDS, NORTH
OXFORD, AS A TOWN GREEN
Report by
Solicitor to the Council
Introduction
- In June last year,
an application to register a Town Green at the Trap Grounds in North
Oxford was received. The County Council are the Registration Authority
appointed under the Commons Registration Act 1965 to register Commons
and Town or Village Greens. This application was submitted formally
in pursuance of the Act and now has to be determined by them.
- The application
was considered by an Inspector appointed to hold an independent Inquiry.
The results of the Inquiry are set out in this report and the appropriate
recommendation follows.
- A copy of the
Inspector’s findings conclusion and recommendation is appended at
Annex 1. A copy
of his full Report can be seen in the Members Resource Centre. The main
points which the Inspector raises are summarised below.
The Trap
Grounds
- The site of the
Trap Grounds is a nine acre undeveloped plot of land in North Oxford
about a mile from the centre of the City. As can be seen from the attached
plan, the Trap Grounds lie between the railway and the canal. About
one-third of the Trap Grounds is permanently underwater and consists
of reed beds with open water and trees. This part of the Trap Grounds
is usually called "the reed beds". The other two-thirds of the Trap
Grounds, which lie on the western side between the stream and the railway,
are much drier and consist of some mature trees and a great deal of
high, scrubby undergrowth. This area of the Trap Grounds is usually
called "the scrubland". It is noticeably less overgrown at the southern
end and there is a pond and wet areas in the central eastern part around
dry parts which are mostly covered in moss and undergrowth.
- The Trap Grounds
are approached from the east by a bridge from Frenchay Road over the
canal. From the bridge a track known as Frog Lane leads along the northern
edge of the reed beds and gives access to a circular path around the
scrubland.
- The southern boundary
of the Trap Grounds consists of the fence dividing them from a new residential
estate and a school which is under construction. The western boundary
is the railway. The northern boundary is formed by a ditch and the eastern
boundary is the canal towpath.
The Town
Green Application
- On 21 June 2002,
Ms Catherine Robinson applied to the County Council under Section 13
of the Commons Registration Act 1965 to register the Trap Grounds as
a Town Green since by her assertion, they had become eligible to be
registered as such a Green on 1 August 1990. She alleged that (a) local
residents had used them for lawful sports and pastimes as of right (without
obstruction, permission, stealth or force) for an unbroken period of
twenty years and (b) they continue to do so until the present day.
- The County Council
duly publicised the application and invited objections. These were received
from Oxford City Council, as owner of the Trap Grounds and others.
- The County Council
appointed very experienced Counsel – Vivian Chapman – as an Inspector
to hold a non-statutory Public Inquiry into the application and to report
in writing with a recommendation as to whether the County Council should
accede to the application.
- A Public Inquiry
was held in Jericho’s St Barnabas Community Centre on 6, 7 and 8 November.
The applicant appeared in person, called numerous witnesses and produced
numerous written statements from local people. She also relied upon
written legal submissions prepared by a firm of solicitors in Birmingham.
The sole objector to appear at the Public Inquiry was Oxford City Council,
represented by Counsel. No witnesses were called, and a site visit was
held by the Inspector.
Amendment
of Application
- Before the Public
Inquiry began, the applicant notified the County Council that she wished
to amend her application. She wished to omit:
- the reed beds,
- the section
of Frog Lane from the north of the reed beds, and
- a ten metre
strip along the western boundary of the scrubland.
In
discussion at the Public Inquiry, the applicant decided to limit her
amendment to the omission from her original application of (a) and (c).
- In relation to
the reed beds, the applicant explained that she accepted that the physical
condition of the reed beds meant she could not prove recreational user
adequately. In relation to the ten metre strip, she explained that she
had come to an informal understanding with the Education and Highways
Departments of the County Council that she would withdraw her application
in order to enable a new road to be constructed to provide access to
the new school which is being built to the south of the application
land.
- In view of the
Inspector, the applicant has no absolute right to amend or withdraw
an application. He feels that the Registration Authority must have a
power to insist on determining a duly made application so that the status
of the land is clarified in the public interest.
- In the present
case, Oxford City Council as landowner has made it clear that it does
wish to have the status of the Trap Grounds as a whole determined. Therefore
his advice to the County Council as Registration Authority is (a) that
the applicant does not have power to insist on amending her application,
(b) that the County Council has power to allow an amendment where it
is reasonable to do so, (c) that in the present case it would be unreasonable
to allow the proposed amendment because the City Council as landowner
wishes to have the status of its land determined and (d) that the County
Council should determine the original application as a whole.
- Therefore, the
Inspector recommends that the application in its original form should
be considered and his recommendation follows
accordingly.
Findings
of Fact
- In summary, the
Inspector found that the Trap Grounds have at all material times over
the twenty years before the application been open and unenclosed so
that pedestrian entry by local people has been unimpeded. There has
not been any sign on or near the Trap Grounds to discourage entry by
local people. The City Council have never taken any steps to prevent
or deter entry to the grounds or to remove local people from them. No
one has asked for or been given permission to enter them.
- The reed beds
have not been used to any material extent for recreation. They are generally
inaccessible and are largely under water all year round. Certainly,
the scrubland has been used throughout the twenty year period to a material
extent for informal recreation by local people. Although the character
of the scrubland has changed over the twenty year period, there has
always been beaten tracks across it and the recreational users of it
appear to come from the local area which lies within the Parish of St
Margaret’s. Frog Lane has principally been used during the relevant
twenty year period as a means of access and egress to and from the scrubland
and it has therefore been more of a right of way than a Town Green.
The Determination
of the Application
- In summary, the
Inspector has found that the Trap Grounds are "land" as defined by the
Act, even though parts of them are under water. The scrubland has been
used for informal recreation by local people for the twenty years immediately
preceding the application. Evidence shows sufficient use by inhabitants
of the locality to signify that the land in question was in general
use for informal recreation, rather than occasional use by individuals
as trespassers. Furthermore, it appears that the inhabitants of the
area principally consist of people who live in Frenchay Road, Hayfield
Road, Polstead Road and Chalfont Road.
- In the opinion
of the Inspector, "informal recreation" has been enjoyed by local people
on the scrubland and amount to lawful sports and pastimes in accordance
with the notable House of Lords case involving Sunningwell Parish Council.
In his opinion, the evidence shows that recreational user of the scrubland
has been "as of right" throughout the relevant twenty year period and
moreover, that user of the scrubland is continuing.
The Inspector’s
Recommendation
- In the opinion
of the Inspector, no case has been made out on the evidence to register
either the reed beds or Frog Lane east of the stream as a Town Green.
Frog Lane is a means of access to the scrubland but it is not subject
to recreational user in its own right. However, the applicant’s evidence
does prove that the scrubland has become a Town Green. The scrubland
includes the ten metre strip alongside the railway line which the applicant
applied to exclude from her application. In his opinion, there is no
evidence upon which any distinction can properly be made between that
strip and the rest of the scrubland. The scrubland includes all the
application land west of the stream, including the site of Frog Lane
where it formerly ran west of the stream but which is now indistinguishable
from the rest of the scrubland which has lain open to the rest of the
scrubland for more than twenty years.
- In determining
the application Members must pay no regard to the issue of the future
of the Trap Grounds site. The application itself must be determined
on the merits of its own case.
- Having read the
recommendation, the Solicitor to the Council concurs with the view expressed
by the Inspector.
RECOMMENDATION
- The Committee
are RECOMMENDED:
- to
register as Town Green that part of the application site shown
edged on the plan which is attached to this report which is
west of the stream known as "the scrubland", the registration
to include:
- the
site of Frog Lane where it formerly ran west of the stream;
and
- the
ten metre strip alongside the railway which the applicant
applied to exclude from her application;
- not
to register either the reed beds or Frog Lane east of the stream.
PETER
CLARK
Solicitor to
the Council
Background
Papers: Application for Registration and Report of Inquiry Inspector
Contact
Officer: Howard Perkins Tel 01865 810250
January
2003
Return to TOP
|