A Pembrokeshire couple who live and run a business metres away from a railway line have failed in a bid to get compensation after Network Rail increased the frequency of trains.
Denham and and Michele Gregory, who ran a guesthouse and restaurant in the Pembrokeshire village of Goodwich between 2005 and 2018, were suing Network Rail Infrastructure under the Land Compensation Act 1973.
The couple say that Network Rail’s 2011 decision to increase the number of trains from four to 14 a day affected the value of their business.
When they bought it, Fishguard and Goodrich railway station, which was 500m away, had been closed since 1964.
Even so, four trains a day still ran to Fishguard Harbour, a couple of kilometres away, where Stenna Lines operates a ferry service to Ireland.
The railway line runs 5m from the house and 15 m from the inn. In 2011, the Welsh Assembly decided to fund extra rail services so the local council reopened the station and trains increased from four to 14 a day.
Under the Land Compensation Act, landowners can sue for compensation when the value of an interest in land has been deprecated by physical factors caused by the use of certain public works.
The physical factors relied upon by the couple were noise and vibration caused by the increase in use of the railway line. The compensation they sought was the depreciation in the value of the property caused by those factors.
Giving judgment in the Lands Chamber of the Upper Tribunal, judge Peter McCrea said he sympathised with the couple but couldn’t award them compensation.
“I have considerable sympathy for them and can readily understand their frustration at the turn of events,” he said in his ruling.
“Their account of laypeople grappling with the complexities of a dispute involving many statutory bodies was a familiar one. However, I can only deal with the reference as it was made under the Act, and I mean the claimants no discourtesy in finding that a significant amount of their evidence, whilst understandable and obviously heartfelt, was irrelevant to their claim.”
Evidence put before the tribunal showed that the business’s revenue peaked in 2008-09 and fell during the economic slowdown between 2009-11, before the increase in trains.
“Whilst I have no doubt that the claimants were personally affected by the increased number of trains passing the reference property, there is no credible evidence that there was a diminution in value of their interest in the reference property itself,” the tribunal judge said.
“It follows from the above that, sadly for the claimants, the claim must be dismissed.”
Denham And Michele Gregory -And- Network Rail Infrastrucure Ltd
Re: “The Ferryboat Inn” and “Banc-Yr-Afon” Cottage Goodwick
Fishguard
Peter D McCrea FRICS
