Developer loses Devon ransom strip dispute

Betterment Properties (Weymouth) has lost a Court of Appeal bid for a right of way over a ransom strip at the end of a public highway that would unlock a development site. The court rejected Betterment’s appeal against a ruling that it has no right of way over the strip of land, which would connect its land in Axminster, Devon, to the highway, known as Dukes Way. Betterment paid £1.4m for the land in 2002, but the ransom strip prevent it from accessing Dukes Way or the alternative public highway, Bruneberg Way. Rimer LJ said: “The practical result that Betterment seeks to achieve is a decision that the disputed strip, like the road adjoins it, is land over which there are public rights of way so that Betterment can access its land via the road and disputed strip. That is the key to the unlocking of its ability to develop its land.” However, he rejected Betterment’s argument that, when Dukes Way was built in 1982 as part of a housing development, it was intended to extend to the eastern boundary of the land that is now owned by James Carty. Betterment Properties (Weymouth) Ltd v James Carthy & Company Ltd Court of Appeal (Wilson, Rimer LJJ and Black LJ) 15 December 2010. Paul Cairnes (instructed by Pengillys LLP, of Poundbury) appeared for the appellant; Guy Adams (instructed by Bond Pearce LLP, of Plymouth) appeared for the respondent.