A working quay in the Essex port of Mistley is, in fact, a village green, the Court of Appeal ruled today.
The court rejected a challenge from landowner TW Logistics Limited and backed a decision by Essex County Council officially designating the quay as a ‘Town or Village Green’.
Although a quay bears little resemblance to a “traditional village green”, this need not be a barrier to designation, Lord Justice Lewison said.
“Rocks, car parks, golf courses, school playgrounds, a quarry and scrubland” have all been designated as greens, he wrote in his judgment.
Quoting statue, he said that what makes a green a green is that “a significant number of the inhabitants of any locality, or any neighborhood within a locality, have indulged as of right in lawful sports and pastime on the land for a period of at least 20 years”.
And the planning inspector who recommended the designation was also aware of the differences between the perception of a village green and the quay, the judge said.
The inspector found that it had “the slight air of a twin or village square…rather than looking like a classic ‘green’”.
He designated it at a green because, for more than 20 years, it had been used for “lawful sports and pastimes by a significant number of local people”.
This included, dog walking, wandering, chatting, informal games, painting, swan-feeding and crab-catching at the water’s edge.
And, although the quay was part of a working port, social activities and commercial activities had safely and peacefully co-existed “for many years” and “local people from time to time sensibly got out of the way of a passing lorry or fork lift truck”.
While the designation may “curtail potential uses of the land” it shouldn’t affect the working of the port, the ruling said.
“The owner of the soil of a [village green] is entitled to continue his pre-existing activities as long as they do not interfere unduly with the recreational rights to which the registration gives rise.
“Likewise, those entitled to exercise recreational rights must do so in a lawful way.”
While not as busy as in its heyday, the port of Mistley, near Felixstowe, is still very much a working port.
Typical cargo passing though the port includes grain, aluminium, fertiliser, bricks and zinc, which are typically loaded on or off heavy goods vehicles.
TW Logistics Limited v Essex County Council
Court of Appeal (Lewison LJ, Lindblom LJ, David Richards LJ)
5 October 2018
