South Cambridgeshire District Council v Persons Unknown
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | LORD JUSTICE BROOKE,LORD JUSTICE CLARKE |
| Judgment Date | 17 September 2004 |
| Neutral Citation | [2004] EWCA Civ 1280 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
| Docket Number | B2/04/1655 |
| Date | 17 September 2004 |
[2004] EWCA Civ 1280
Lord Justice Brooke
(Vice President of The Court of Appeal, Civil Division)
Lord Justice Clarke
B2/04/1655
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)
ON APPEAL FROM THE CAMBRIDGE COUNTY COURT
(HIS HONOUR JUDGE O'BRIEN)
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand
London, WC2
MR RICHARD LANGHAM (instructed by Messrs Mills & Reeve, Cambridge, CB2 1PH) appeared on behalf of the Appellant
The Respondent did not appear and was not represented.
This is an appeal by the claimants, The South Cambridgeshire District Council, ("the Council"), against an order made by Judge O'Brien in the Cambridge County Court on 16 July 2004. He dismissed an application for an injunction against the defendants restraining them from causing or permitting the deposit of hardcore or other materials on land known as Plots 1 to 11 Victoria View, Smithy Fen, Cottenham, which is in the council's administrative area; or causing or permitting the entry onto that land of any caravans, mobile homes or other forms of mobile accommodation; or using or permitting the use of that land or any of the caravans or mobile homes thereon, on the date of the council's application on 14 July 2004, for residential or any other non-agricultural purposes (pursuant to section 187B of the Town and County Planning Act 1990).
The defendants were described in the original claim form in the following terms:
"Persons unknown (being persons other than those listed in the Schedule to the claim form) proposing to deposit hardcore and/or to station caravans and/or to occupy existing caravans on land at Victoria View, Smithy Fen, Cottenham, Cambridge."
The schedule to the claim form identified 18 individuals, together with the wives of two of them, who are variously associated with 10 of the 11 plots in question. The council seeks an order for service in these terms:
"Service on the Defendants of this application form, the Claim form herein, the accompanying witness statements and any injunction granted by the Court may be effected by leaving such documents in clear plastic envelopes nailed to a stake or gatepost or other prominent location on each of the plots 1–11 Victoria View, Smithy Fen, Cottenham pursuant to CPR 6.8."
Mr Langham, who appears for the Council, told us that he would be content if the word "proposing" was taken out of the identification of the defendants. We have had a long discussion with him about the way in which the claim form ought to be amended. Certainly, at the time of delivering this judgment, the appropriate language appears to be:
"Persons unknown (being persons other than those listed in the Schedule to the claim form) causing or permitting —
Hardcore to be deposited, caravans, mobile homes or other forms of residential accommodation to be stationed, or existing caravans or other mobile homes to be occupied on land at Victoria View, Smithy Fen, Cottenham, Cambridge."
There are, however, furher drafting details to be mastered if the words "residential or any other non-agricultural purpose" have to be accommodated. We will sit again at 2pm to approve the final form of this amendment.
The judge dismissed the application, but he did not consider he had power to grant an injunction in these terms. However, he granted permission to appeal and commented for the benefit of this court that the Council was attempting to deal with a very serious and notorious local problem. In his view it was a serious point which should be reviewed by a higher court. This is an excellent example of the type of occasion in which a judge should grant permission to appeal. It is also very helpful to have Judge O'Brien's note on the form that he signed.
The seriousness of the problem is described in the witness statement of Mr Gareth Jones, the Council's Deputy Planning Director. The land in question is adjacent to a gypsy caravan site known as Setchel Drove. It is part of a larger site called Smithy Fen. Mr Jones says he has known about the Smithy Fen site for much of the 16 years during which he has been in the Council's service. His evidence shows that in June 1999 the Council issued enforcement notices embracing all eleven plots. These notices were designed to stop the activities...
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