The council as highway authority had objected to a development on the grounds of road safety. The application was subsequently approved by the Secretary of State, but the Council sought to maintain its safety objection. Held: The highway authority must co-operate in implementing a planning permission after a successful appeal against its advice that it … Continue reading Regina v Warwickshire County Council ex parte Powergen Plc: CA 31 Jul 1997
Hobhouse LJ, adopted at least part of Denning LJ’s approach in Fairey, holding that the absence of intention to dedicate had to be ‘objectively established by overt acts of the landowner’, and that ‘This is not a subjective test. The absence of intention must be objectively established by overt acts of the landowner.’ It was … Continue reading Secretary of State for the Environment v Beresford Trustees: CA 31 Jul 1996
The appellant complained that the local council had failed to maintain a highway. The road was a single track rural highway. The Crown Court allowed for the present-day character of the highway, and the appellant objected. The complainant sought to hold a highway authority responsible for making verges reasonably available for the use of walkers, … Continue reading Kind v Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Council: Admn 31 Jul 2001
Obstruction of Highway – Highway not clear The apellant protesters had been convicted of obstructing the highway by affixing themselves to a fence by a roadway by the Atomic Weapons Establishment. They argued that the road was not a highway and that any obstruction was de minimis. In particular, a green line presumed to indicate … Continue reading Carter-Brown and Others v Crown Prosecution Service: QBD 31 Jul 2017
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The Inspector had found that the landowner had, by overt acts directed at users of the way in question, including the erection of locked gates and of fencing and of notices, disproved any intention on his part to dedicate. Held: The landowner’s appeal succeeded. Laws J reflected on the conjunction in the statutory scheme of … Continue reading Jacques v Secretary of State for the Environment: CA 1995
Laws pointed out that the law on dedication of had moved forward, saying: ‘Taking the passage cited from Scott LJ in Jones v Bates as a full and convenient description of the common law, it seemed that the material change effected by the statute of 1932 (and carried through to the Act of 1980) did … Continue reading Jaques v Secretary of State for the Environment: 1995
N objected to the reclassification of a public footpath over his farm as a byway open to all traffic, saying that there had been insufficient evidence to establish a dedication at common law. Held: N’s appeal failed. ‘A track can become a highway by reason of the dedication of the right of passage to the … Continue reading Regina v Nicholson and Another, Secretary of State for Environment and others: Admn 20 Dec 1996
The court considered whether a pathway had become a public highway. Held: ‘The main question for the Court is whether sufficiency of evidence of an intention not to dedicate necessary to satisfy the proviso requires, as a matter of law, that during the relevant 20 year period the landowner should not only prove that negative … Continue reading Godmanchester Town Council, Regina (on the Application Of) v Secretary of State for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs: CA 19 Dec 2005
The applicant had sought to have included in the definitive map, a local footpath, and now challenged refusal to include it. Held: A public right of way may be created by dedication or it may be deemed after actual use by the public over twenty years; need to modify definitive map. In this case, it … Continue reading Regina v Secretary of State for Wales Ex Parte Emery: CA 9 Jul 1997
Modification of right of way Judges: Mr Justice Richards Kay, Lord Justice Kay Citations: [2004] EWHC 1217 (Admin) Links: Bailii Statutes: Highways Act 1980 31(1) Jurisdiction: England and Wales Land Updated: 11 June 2022; Ref: scu.199488
The council had added a bridleway to the definitive map of rights of way on the basis that the use had been for more than 20 years by the public with no evidence of intention not to dedicate it as a public highway. The period was calculated back from the time when it was challenged. … Continue reading Fernlee Estates Limited v City and County of Swansea, Same v National Assembly for Wales: Admn 18 May 2001
The question of sufficiency of evidence for the purpose of the proviso in the subsection is a question of fact for the tribunal to determine in each case. The court rejected a broad submission from the appellant that the 1980 Act and its predecessor had fundamentally altered the common law by introducing much more stringent … Continue reading Regina v Secretary of State for the Environment, ex parte Cowell: CA 1993
Public right of way must be established by enjoyment as of right for 20 years. Citations: Independent 08-Jun-1994 Statutes: Highways Act 1980 31(1) Jurisdiction: England and Wales Cited by: Appeal from – Jacques v Secretary of State for the Environment CA 1995 The Inspector had found that the landowner had, by overt acts directed at … Continue reading Jacques v Secretary of State for the Environment: QBD 8 Jun 1994
The house was asked about whether continuous use of an apparent right of way by the public would create a public right of way after 20 years, and also whether a non overt act by a landowner was sufficient to prove his intention not to dedicate the land as a public right of way. Held: … Continue reading Godmanchester Town Council, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: HL 20 Jun 2007
The claimant sought a declaration that the caution registered by the defendant should be vacated. The defendant asserted acquisition by prescription either of an easement or of the land itself. They had parked vehicles on the land.
Held: . .
Mr Gulliksen was walking on a footpath on a housing estate to the house of a friend. He had an accident at a depressed manhole cover on the footpath over which he tripped. The footpath had been constructed by Pembrokeshire County Council, who were both the local housing authority and the highway authority at the … Continue reading Gulliksen v Pembrokeshire County Council: QBD 2002
Responsibility for personal injury after trip over a tree root on a path in a park owned and maintained by the Council. The Court was now asked whether the public footpath was a highway under the 1980 Act for which the council was responsible for maintenance. Held: Having found for the Claimant on the intention … Continue reading Barlow v Wigan Council: QBD 19 Jun 2019
A culvert had been constructed taking a stream underneath the road. At the time when it came into the ownership of the local authority, it was adequate for this purpose. Later developments increased the flow, and the culvert came to become an obstruction leading to the claimant’s property being flooded. It was checked regularly, but … Continue reading Bybrook Barn Garden Centre Ltd and Others v Kent County Council: CA 8 Jan 2001
The claimant sought damages after a car skidded on the road, and she was injured. She said the respondent was in breach of their statutory duty in having failed to clear the road. The authority said it had taken the appropriate steps to clear up the spillage, and that the accident was a result of … Continue reading De Bretton v Hampshire County Council: CA 9 Oct 1996
The claimant asserted a common law duty on the respondent to maintain a roadway free of frost. Held: No such common law duty existed. Where parliament has conferred a discretionary power, ‘ . . the minimum preconditions for basing a duty of care upon the existence of a statutory power, if it can be done … Continue reading Sandhar, Murray v Department of Transport, Environment and the Regions: QBD 19 Jan 2004
Appeals by case stated from failures at trials of charges of obstructing the public highway in the course of protests at the opening of a Defence and Security fair. Held: The DPP’s appeals were granted for the first four defendants but rejected for the second group as being without jurisdiction. As to the first four … Continue reading Director of Public Prosecutions v Ziegle and Others: Admn 22 Jan 2019
Application for leave to appeal – interaction of planning system and section 278. Judges: Hobhouse LJ, Schiemann LJ Citations: [1997] EWCA Civ 1568 Statutes: Highways Act 1980 278 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Citing: Appeal from – Regina v Warwickshire County Council Ex Parte Powergen Plc QBD 9-Jan-1997 The power to incorporate highway works in planning … Continue reading Regina v Warwickshire County Council ex parte Powergen Plc: CA 30 Apr 1997
The council appealed against a finding that it had failed in its duty to keep the highway safe leading to an accident in which the claimant was severely injured. The road was narrow, and a significant drop had developed by the edge of the road. The claimant drove into the drop, then crashed after swerving … Continue reading West Sussex County Council v Russell: CA 12 Feb 2010
Application for judicial review of decision not to quash footpath order. Judges: Sullivan J Citations: [2007] EWHC 3167 (Admin) Links: Bailii Statutes: Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 , Highways Act 1980 118B Jurisdiction: England and Wales Land Updated: 09 August 2022; Ref: scu.271204
The plaintiffs were injured in a road accident caused by flooding. They sued the executors of the deceased driver whose car spun out of control into the path of their own car, and also the highway authority, who had installed a proper system of drainage (except in one respect) but whose employees had failed to … Continue reading Burnside and Another v Emerson and Others: CA 1968
Citations: [2004] EWHC 1557 (QB) Links: Bailii Statutes: Highways Act 1980 1 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Personal Injury, Local Government Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.263164
The council had taken land by compulsory purchase in order to construct a dual carriageway. It then claimed that it had left undedicated a strip .5 metre wide as a ransom strip to prevent the defendant restoring access to the road. Held: The result of the council’s decisions was to leave a ransom strip. Whilst … Continue reading London Borough of Bexley v Maison Maurice Ltd: ChD 15 Dec 2006
The claimant’s husband died when his car skidded on hoar frost. She claimed the respondent was liable under the Act and at common law for failing to keep it safe. Held: The respondent had not assumed a general responsibility to all road users to ensure that all or any trunk roads would be salted in … Continue reading Jane Marianne Sandhar, John Stuart Murray v Department of Transport, Environment and the Regions: CA 5 Nov 2004
The power to incorporate highway works in planning agreements is limited to subject land. Forbes J said: ‘It is common ground that the new Section 278 was intended to fit into and play its part in the overall legislative system for the controlled development of land through the planning process and I accept that Section … Continue reading Regina v Warwickshire County Council Ex Parte Powergen Plc: QBD 9 Jan 1997
A pedestrian walked from a footpath into the road and was hit by a car. She sought damages from the highway authority, saying that they had allowed vegetation to grow to an extent to make it impossible to be seen. As a second tier appeal, the claimant had to demonstrate a real as opposed to … Continue reading Kane v New Forest District Council: CA 13 Jun 2001
A public right away could not be presumed to have been granted by the owner of land adjoining a public highway merely from the erection of fences or hedges on the side of a highway. There is no simple rule that the land was deemed to have been dedicated to public use ‘from hedge-to-hedge’. Some … Continue reading Hale v Norfolk County Council: CA 17 Nov 2000
The defendant company traded as A and J Bull Containers. They hired out a builder’s skip which was left out, unlit, on the highway at night. A cyclist rode into it and died. An information was laid against ‘A J Bull Ltd’, charging an offence under the Highways Act 1980. The hearing took place after … Continue reading Marco (Croydon) Ltd v Metropolitan Police Commissioner: QBD 1983
The claimant sought an order for possession of land outside St Paul’s cathedral occupied by the protestor defendants, consisting of ‘a large number of tents, between 150 and 200 at the time of the hearing, many of them used by protestors, either regularly or from time to time, as overnight accommodation, and several larger tents … Continue reading City of London v Samede and Others: QBD 18 Jan 2012
Statutory Duty Not Extended by Common Law The claimant sought damages after a road accident. The driver came over the crest of a hill and hit a bus. The road was not marked with any warning as to the need to slow down. Held: The claim failed. The duty could not be extended to include … Continue reading Gorringe v Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council: HL 1 Apr 2004
Statutory Duty Does Not Create Common Law Duty The mere existence of statutory power to remedy a defect cannot of itself create a duty of care to do so. A highway authority need not have a duty of care to highway users because of its duty to maintain the highway. The two stage test ‘involves … Continue reading Stovin v Wise, Norfolk County Council (Third Party): HL 24 Jul 1996
Appeal by case stated against conviction for obstructing a police officer in the execution of his duty. The appellant had been protesting. She, correctly, thought the land to be a rivate highway. The police officer had thought it a public hghway and had acted accordingly under the 1980 Act. Held: The appeal failed. The inspector’s … Continue reading McCann v Crown Prosecution Service: Admn 21 Aug 2015
The appellant had lived in a caravan on the verge of a byway and had been here for more than twelve years. He appealed against rejection of his request for possessory title. He said that there was no support in law for the maxim that adverse possession was not available against land forming part of … Continue reading Smith, Regina (on The Application of) v Land Registry (Peterborough Office) and Another: CA 10 Mar 2010
The landowner practised from property in Harrow. The former garden had now for many years been used as a forecourt open to the highway, for parking cars of staff and clients. Cars crossed the footpath to gain access, and backing out into the road when leaving. That use was recognised as lawful under planning law. … Continue reading Cusack v London Borough of Harrow: SC 19 Jun 2013
A Local Authority is liable for any damage to adjacent property caused by the roots of a tree growing on the verge of a public highway. Held: Pre-adoption trees vest in the highway authority for all purposes. Stuart-Smith, Morritt L, Sir John Balcombe Times 26-Jun-1997, [1997] EWCA Civ 1901, (1997) 96 LGR 27 Bailii Highways … Continue reading Hurst and Another v Hampshire County Council: CA 19 Jun 1997
The court considered the contnuation of public rights of way against the new system of the ending of certain unrecorded rights. Held: he appeal failed. ‘As a matter of plain language, section 67(2)(b) does not, in our judgment, require the list to be fully compliant with section 36(6). The requirement to which it refers is … Continue reading Fortune and Others v Wiltshire Council and Another: CA 20 Mar 2012
The claimant challenged the policy of the respondent council to replace many established trees along streets in the City. Held: Permission to apply for review was refused: ‘Some concern has been expressed by objectors to the scheme that, in some cases, a street has lost all of its trees. Some realism is required. Trees are … Continue reading Dillner, Regina (on The Application of) v Sheffield City Council: Admn 27 Apr 2016
Psychological Obstruction to Public Footpath A public footpath crossed the appellants’ land. They constructed a gateway across it which they now accepted had been a significant obstruction of the right of way. The local authority served a notice requiring its removal, including the stone pillars erected on the path. After a failure to comply the … Continue reading Herrick and Another v Kidner and Another: Admn 17 Feb 2010
Presumption of dedication dates back. The claimant tripped over a tree root raising a path in the park. The court was now asked whether the pathway through a public park, but which was not a public right of way, was maintainable at public expense as a highway governed by the 1980 Act. Held: As to … Continue reading Barlow v Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council: CA 1 Jun 2020
The claimant complained that the respondent had failed properly to secure removal of an admitted obstruction to a public footpath. The landowner had applied for a diversion of the footpath, which the respondent recommended for adoption, but the complainant had objected that the respondent had failed to follow its own policies, in that it should … Continue reading Regina (Ashbrook) v East Sussex County Council: CA 20 Nov 2002
