Agenda and minutes

(1)       The Panel Members visited the application site prior to the meeting. This visit was attended by the Local Member, Mr W A Hayton; the applicant, Mr T Herron; Mr B Solly and Mr J Philpott (Broadstairs Cricket Club); Mr B Kenyon (landowner); and Mr C Cagney from Barnes Marshland (representing Mrs A Brazil – landowner). 

(2)       The Commons Registration Officer said that the application had been made by Mr T Herron under Section 15 of the Commons Registration Act 2006.  The land in question was 3.6 hectares in size, crossed by a public footpath which ran along its south-eastern fringe.  Ownership of this land was split between eight different landowners. She referred the Panel to Appendix B of the report, which showed the various individual ownership plots.  She drew attention to the plot of land which was owned by Thanet DC and had been leased (for a 100 year period) to Broadstairs Cricket Club.

(3)       The application had been considered by the Panel on 8 February 2011 and the decision had been taken to refer the matter to a non-statutory Public Inquiry.  Lana Wood, a Counsel with great experience in Village Green Law had been appointed as the Independent Inspector. She had held the Public Inquiry in September 2011 and produced a detailed written report in January 2012.

(4)       The Commons Registration Officer moved on to summarise the Inspector’s findings in respect of the legal tests that needed to be met for the application to succeed.   The first of these was whether use of the land had “been as of right,” i.e. without force, secrecy or permission.   All parties had agreed that there had been no secrecy.   In respect of the question of force, the test was whether use of the land had been contentious. The Inspector had concluded that although the Cricket Club had put up some fencing, this had not been done to a sufficient extent to render use of this part of the land, use by force.  Mr and Mrs Kenyon had drawn attention to the “Private Road” notice at the junction of “The Cricketers” private road and Park Avenue.  Whilst this action would have stopped use by motor vehicles, it would not have had this effect on pedestrians and cyclists. The owners of the land registered to the Greatex Investment Company had taken steps to remove children’s dens and rope swings from their land.  This action ensured that use of their part of the application site was contentious and therefore not “as of right.”

(5)       Broadstairs Cricket Club had provided the Inspector with a copy of the lease of their land from Thanet DC.  They had claimed that the clause in the lease which required them to permit public access to the surrounds of the cricket field for the purposes of reasonable recreation meant that use was with permission.  The Inspector had noted that this clause did not require admission to the cricket field itself and had seen no evidence  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.