Preliminary Sections
| Author | William Webster/Robert Weatherley |
| Pages | 1-21 |
RESTRICTIONS ON THE USE OF LAND
William Webster and Robert WeatherleyWildy, Simmonds & Hill Publishing
© William Webster and Robert Weatherley, 2016
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0
ISBN: 9780854901975
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
The right of William Webster and Robert Weatherley to be identified as the authors of this Work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the consent of the copyright owners, application for which should be addressed to the publisher. Such a written permission must also be obtained before any part of this publication is stored in a retrieval system of any nature.
All reasonable care was taken in the preparation of this book, but any person relying on any of the statements, express or implied, in this book does so entirely at his or her own risk and without liability on the part of either the authors or the publisher.
First published in 2016 by
Wildy, Simmonds & Hill Publishing
58 Carey Street
London WC2A 2JF
England
www.wildy.com
Typeset by Heather Jones, North Petherton, Somerset.
Printed in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, Wiltshire.
The idea behind this book is original and welcome. The subject-matter of almost all legal textbooks is determined by legal categorisation – either broad topics such as land law or planning law, or comparatively narrow topics such as easements or planning gain. In this book, William Webster and Robert Weatherley have approached matters in a less hidebound and more practical manner, namely from the perspective of those who own or occupy land, of those with concerns about, or with rights over, other people’s land, and of their respective advisers. In particular, this book concentrates on the very practical issue of private and public rights over land, and public control of land, which may affect its use.
Almost every person who owns or occupies land will at some point have to face up to a potential or actual claim or limitation which amounts to a restriction on the current or a projected new use of that land. It may arise from a private law claim, such as a right to light or a restrictive covenant; or it may derive from public law, as in the case of a public right of way or planning control. Similarly, virtually every person will at some point find that they have legal rights or personal interests which impel them into wanting to object to a current use of land or object to a change in the use of land, particularly if they own or occupy property which adjoins or is close to that land. For all such people, and their advisers, this book gives clear and authoritative guidance as to the existence, nature, consequences and legal incidents of the various private and public rights which can affect the use of land.
The rights which may affect the use of land range from rights, mostly of a private law nature, which were developed by judges more than 700 years ago, with a more recent, often relatively light, overlay of statutory provisions (in particular, easements, public rights of way, profits à prendre and restrictive covenants), to relatively modern statutory developments, which have often been interpreted and refined by judges (including planning control, village greens and the very recent notion of assets of community value introduced by the Localism Act 2011).
As many parts of England and Wales became ever more intensely populated and industrialised during the 19th century, the perceived importance of control over the use of land in the public interest, as well as the importance of private rights over land, became increasingly apparent. These perceptions have persisted, indeed they have accelerated, over the subsequent 100 years or more; and the perceived importance of public control and private rights over land has been heavily reinforced over the past 50 years or so, by the fact that we have all been becoming increasingly aware of, and increasingly concerned by, environmental
vi Restrictions on the Use of Land
issues. The consequence of all this has been very substantial developments and changes in the law relating to private rights and public control over land, partly through judicial decisions, and, perhaps even more markedly, through legislation.
Over the past few years, there have been a significant number of statutes, and even more of statutory instruments, which have changed and widened the law in the areas covered by this book. In my 4 years in the Supreme Court, I have been struck by the number of cases we have been called upon to decide in those areas – on topics such as village greens (which we have learned need not be green or connected with a village), the right of piscary, the Aarhus Convention, the environmental impact of HS2, the law of nuisance, the rights of water authorities to discharge, the law of footpaths and windfarm permits. In addition, when one looks at the far greater caseload of the Court of Appeal and the High Court (especially the Administrative Court and the Chancery Division), one can quickly see that the number of significant cases on topics covered by this book is substantial.
The consequence of the developments and changes resulting from this primary and secondary legislation and from these judicial decisions is that there is a great deal of complex law governing the use of land, much of it of recent origin. A book which analyses and explains this complex law in an authoritative, up-to-date, practical and clear way is to be warmly welcomed. William Webster and Robert Weatherley deserve warm thanks for having produced such a timely book.
David Neuberger Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
August 2016
This book comprises separate sections dealing with easements, village greens, public rights of way, restrictive covenants, assets of community value (and the right of community groups to bid for listed assets) and a lengthy section on elements of planning law. The purpose of the book is to fill a gap in a book market dominated by some very heavy, well-known texts. It occurred to us that it would be to the advantage of practitioners if they were provided with comprehensive and up-to-date assistance in the case of the above topics under cover of a single volume. We also like to think that the book’s layout provides a clear and effective narrative, with ample footnotes where the reader is looking for specific legislative materials and case summaries in areas of the law which have undergone very considerable growth in recent years.
The increasing pressure nowadays on land use means that the disposal, development or other realisation of valuable land assets is more likely to give rise to one or more of a range of topics covered by our book, which we hope will provide practitioners with ready guidance with a view to being able to advise their clients about the rights they enjoy and the burdens they face, and what they can do to protect themselves when it comes to the private and public rights and control over land which may affect its use.
As the law changes on a virtual daily basis, it has not been easy keeping abreast of the material primary and secondary legislative changes and emerging case law, but we like...
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