Cheshire East Council are in dispute with a local resident over their village green application.
Mr C Stubbs submitted a village green application on 24th March 2009 on behalf of the Friends of Gorsey Field for the land at the rear of Gorsey Bank Primary School, which is bounded to the north by Alton Road and to the west by Gorsey Road.
According to Mr Stubb's application the land is a village green because it has been used as of right for lawful sports and pastimes for a period of at least 20 years, by a significant number of the residents of Pownall Park. His application is accompanied by 88 supporting statements, which cover 85 households and 340 inhabitants. This apparently amounts to 20% of the households on the Pownall Park estate.
Mr Stubb's application is based on use of the land for football, rugby, cricket, rounders, ball games and dog-walking, and also for dog training, picnics, cycling, kite and model aeroplane flying, sledging, berry picking, hide and seek, tag, bird watching, tree climbing, playing with children and general recreation.
Objections to the application have been submitted by Cheshire East Council, as landowner, and by the Governing Body of the Gorsey Bank Primary School. They have objected on the grounds that any use is not: by the inhabitants of a locality or neighbourhood, by a significant number of such inhabitants, use "as of right" and the uses claimed do not qualify as lawful sports or pastimes. Over 100 letters supporting the objection have been received, in addition to over 80 other letters of objection.
Mr Stubbs has disputed the grounds on which the objection is based so the Public Rights of Way Committee will meet next week, Monday December 13th, to decide how to proceed with the village green application.
Rachel Goddard, Senior Lawyer at Cheshire East Council, said "The applicant and objector hold differing views as to the use of the application land and each has submitted legal arguments to support their case."
The commitee will recommend that a non-statutory public inquiry be held into the application and that the Borough Solicitor be authorised to appoint an appropriately qualified independent person to conduct the inquiry and provide the committee with a report and a recommendation.
This recommendation is being made, at a cost in the region of £15,000 to the council, because the Council is the objecting landowner therefore it is felt appropriate to introduce an element of independence.
Whilst there is no statutory obligation on the Council to hold a non statutory inquiry, the Committee could determine the application itself by way of hearing evidence, there are legal risks of a challenge to a committee decision.
The Counsel have also received advice recently, about another application in similar circumstances to this one, to the effect that case law has established that a non-statutory public inquiry is the most appropriate course of action to take where there are substantial disputes, as is the case here, and particularly where the Council is also the landowner.
