Issue - meetings

13.1 GTP/TVG01/2014 -  Newry Beach and Greens, Holyhead

13.1    GTP/TVG01/2014 – Application to register land as a Town or Village Green (TVG) at Newry Beach and Greens, Holyhead

Application REJECTED.

13.1    GTP/TVG01/2014 – Application to register land as a Town or Village Green (TVG) at Newry Beach and Greens, Holyhead

The matter was reported to the Planning an Orders Committee as the Isle of Anglesey County Council is the Registration Authority for its area for the purposes of the Commons Act 2006.The Registration Authority is responsible for determining applications to register land as new town or village green (TVG) under the Act. Under the Council’s Constitution, full Council has allocated the responsibility to determine TVG applications to the Planning and Orders Committee

The Legal Officer reported that the history of the application and how it has been dealt with is summarised in the Officer’s report. As the law of TVG is specialised and complicated, Officers of the Isle of Anglesey County Council as the Registration Authority took advice from Mr Jeremy Pike, a barrister with expertise in the subject.On 31 March, 2016, Mr Pike provided written advice to the Registration Authority on the application, the objections made to it and the further submissions received from the Applicant (the Waterfront Action Group) and principal objectors (Stena Line Ports Ltd. and Conygar Stena Line Limited). Mr Pike advised that the application did not make a prima facie case for registration. Mr Pike also advised that the Registration Authority should not determine the application until evidence and arguments had been heard on certain matters as detailed in his advice. In accepting the advice, Officers of the Registration Authority instructed Mr Pike to act as inspector at a non-statutory public inquiry into the application and then to prepare a report in light of the evidence presented with a recommendation as to how the Registration Authority should determine the application. The report by Mr Pike included as an appendix to the Head of Function’s report, sets out the evidence presented at the public inquiry which was held between 3 and 7 October, 2016 at Holyhead Town Hall.

The report by Mr Pike concludes at paragraph 296 that “use of the land was “by right” and not “as of right” for the whole of the Relevant Period because the Council held it and made it available for such use, and because until 2007 the whole of the land was subject to Byelaws, which either caused any sports and pastimes on the Land to be unlawful rather than lawful, or alternatively when considered in conjunction with the lease to the Council gave rise to the grant of permission to the public use to the land.” His recommendation therefore is that the land cannot be registered at this time and that the application must be rejected. The Officer recommends that Mr Pike’s recommendation and conclusions should be accepted and that the Registration Authority should reject the application.

The Legal Officer informed the Committee that following the receipt of Mr Pike’s report by the Council, Professor Emeritus Terence Looker on behalf of the Waterfront Action Group sent an e-mail on 23 February, 2017 to the Council’s Legal Services Manager  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13