Braintree District Council have gone to the High Court to claim ownership of a plot of land at Witham that they have been using as a car park since 1967.
They claim that they acquired the plot in Newland Street, Witham, through adverse possession, having used it constantly for more than 12 years. A previous owner of the site, MRCE Investments Ltd, originally gave permission to use the land to the then Witham Urban District Council in October 1967.
The council say that by January 1971 they were negotiating with MRCE for a lease of the site, but that these negotiations were never concluded and no agreement for the payment of rent was ever reached. They nevertheless continued to use the car park, ownership of which was transferred to Neighbourhood Retail Ltd Partnership in 1998.
Braintree are now seeking a court order that the land belongs to them, on the basis of their continuous possession since 1967 and the fact that neither MRCE nor Neighbourhood Retail have had anything to do with the land since then.
Neighbourhood Retail is contesting the councils claim and hopes to enforce a notice, served on the council on 18 February 2000, purporting to terminate their right to occupy the car park.
No date has yet been fixed for the hearing of the case.
PLS News 6/6/00
