A Court of Appeal ruling over the use of a private car park is a victory for landowners and developers, a lawyer said today.
The case, Winterburn v Bennett, was brought by a fish and chip shop owner in Keighley, West Yorkshire, whose suppliers and customers had been ignoring “private parking” signs at a local Conservative club for 20 years. The shop owner claimed that two decades of unopposed use meant he had developed access rights though “prescriptive easement”.
However, the Court of Appeal rejected the case, ruling that prominent signage, even though it was continually ignored, was enough to protect the owners of the car park from such rights-of-way challenges.
Matthew Bonye, head of real estate dispute resolution at Herbert Smith Freehills, said: “This decision is a victory for landowners battling unauthorised parking or other continuing trespass, which, if transferred into an easement, will restrict other potentially more lucrative use of land.
“Rights of way can reduce the value of land and prevent, or at least impede, development. Whether such rights have been acquired by neighbours is an important consideration.
“Landowners and developers will be very heartened by the news that displaying unambiguous and prominent signage can work to prevent the acquisition of third party easements, and allow landowners fully to realise the value of their assets.”
In the ruling, appeal judge David Richards LJ said that a sign is a “peaceful and inexpensive way of making clear that a property is private and not to be used by others”.
He added: “I do not see why those who choose to ignore such signed should thereby by entitled to obtain legal rights over the land.”
Winterburn v Bennett, Court of Appeal (Sharp LJ, Richards LJ, Moylan LJ) 25 May 2016
Jonathan Gaunt QC and Caroline Shea QC (instructed by DAC Beachcroft LLP) for the Appellants.
Guy Fethersonhaugh QC and Bruce Walker (instructed by Butcher & Barlow Solicitors) for the respondents.
