Land’s legalities

11:36am Thursday 10th April 2008

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I have a personal and a professional interest in the controversy over the unauthorised youth area at Bidford, reported on April 3. Personally I live close by and walk round either side of the site frequently. I accept this land will inevitably have a public use - ideally one which makes better use of the adjoining car park.

Professionally, it seems clear to me that the use of such land as public amenity land is a material change of use requiring planning permission; vacant land also does not have permitted development rights for the erection of structures well attached to the ground.

Clearly the necessary planning application will give the objectors an opportunity to argue against the principle of the use in the context of the Stratford-upon-Avon local plan and/or for measures to reduce effects on their amenity, e.g. locating structures in the sw corner furthest away from residential development to the north and east and/or providing bunds or acoustic barriers in between.

There are also legal implications for the Parish Council; if the use of the land causes nuisance to neighbours, not only could it be liable to civil proceedings for damaged and an injunction but the District Council may have a duty to serve an abatement notice on the parish to stop the nuisance. Residents can also take complaints to the magistrates for an abatement order and apply for compensation for disturbance in the meantime. Effectively the Parish Council itself will have to control the use so that no nuisance is caused to others. Reliance on routine police patrols is unlikely to be sufficient.

Lastly, the Parish Council will will be liable to anyone injured by debris left on the land unless it can show that it took rigorous steps to stop this happening e.g. by methodical daily cleaning. It needs to notify its public liability insurers of all material circumstances or risk loss of its insurance cover.

Use of the land for essentially unsupervised youth activities raises difficult questions, which do not arise when they meet on the public highway: these will have to be considered in the context of a planning application, otherwise there will be serious possibilities that the planning authority will have to consider serving an enforcement notice on a well-intentioned but possibly less well advised parish council.

Peter Scott, partner Parkinson Wright LLP, Evesham.