William Webster and Paul Wilmshurst, of 12 College Place, are pleased to announce their Town and Village Green Roadshow will be visiting Coventry on 12th October, in conjunction with Coventry City Council, acting by Legal Services.

A booklet entitled ‘A Practical Guide to the Law of Village Greens’ (running to over 130 pages plus appendices) will be provided to those attending the course. The course is one of a number of such courses which the speakers are giving throughout England and Wales this year. 

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The course will be of particular interest to those employed in the public sector who deal with the registration of greens or who object to such applications on behalf of their authority.

Private landowners facing applications to register or even looking to take steps to minimise the risk of registration will also find the content useful. 

Please feel free to pass this invitation to your colleagues who may also find the course to be of interest.

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What Topics Will Be Covered?

This course will deal with the registration framework under the Commons Act 2006—the following topics will be specifically addressed;

·     Leeds Group PLC in the court of Appeal locality/neighbourhood/retrospectivity/human rights; Permission to appeal to the Supreme Court refused - law now settled.

·     Betterment and Paddico in the Court of Appeal (contentious user/interruption/the justice issue under section 14 of the CRA 1965/locality) -the likely battle ground in the Supreme Court in the event that permission to appeal is granted in both cases.

·     Barratt Homes - will section 241 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 trump registration.

·     The Newhaven case - will conflicting statutory functions trump registration?

·     Barkas and user by right where land is acquired and laid out under the Housing Acts as amenity land - will such land be equated with land held for the purposes of the Public Health Act 1875 or the Open Spaces Act 1906?

·     Is public open space acquired or appropriated for the purposes of section 4 of the Physical Training and Recreation Act 1937 / section 19 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 precluded from being registrable on the basis that user is also by right?

·     Are the interim holding powers found in section 158 of the Local Government Act 1933/section 120 LGA 1972  sufficient to engage the holding powers of land held for the purposes of the PHA 1875/OSA 1906 and thus preclude such land from registration?

·     Highway Land - is it possible to register such land as a new green?

·     Res judicata - recent applications since Thrasyvoulou and Coke-Wallis—can a registration authority summarily reject an application to register where the same land has been the subject to a previously failed application?

·     Contested applications - how should they be determined—by members or should an independent Inspector be instructed in every case (or referral to the PINS in the case of conflicts under reg. in the pioneer implementation areas). 

·     Challenging decisions of the registration authority.  

·     Self-challenges - what is to happen if, in the case of land owned by a registration authority, advice is given that the decision to register should be challenged on the basis of a misdirection in law.

·     Piper Land - Section 14 creep?

·     Post registration rights and duties - how are greens to be managed/what can an owner do on his land after registration?

·     Protective cost orders - protection for those looking to judicially challenge decisions of registration authorities.

·     Metropolitan Commons - schemes etc.

STOP PRESS:

Additional matters to be addressed in this seminar

·     R (oao Mann) v Somerset County Council (11/05/2012) - Permission may now be implied where a landowner wishes to use his land periodically for his own purposes to the exclusion of the public.

·     R (oao Barnsley MBC) v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2012] EWHC 1366 - Compulsory purchase orders; Local Authorities' powers and duties; Village Greens. The Secretary of State was right to say that a CPO would not be justified on the basis of the combined use of s.LGA 2000 and s.121 LGA 1972.

The Council's Legal Services acts for Coventry City Council in its capacities as the Registration Authority and Landowner. We welcome taking part in this roadshow.

Course Details:

Friday 12th October 2012

10am - 4.00pm (Registration at 9.45am)

Venue: Coventry Council, Council House, Earl Street ,Coventry CV1 5RR