ABSTRACT
In Day v Shropshire Council (Day), the Supreme Court considered the effect of a statutory trust under section 10 of the Open Spaces Act 1906 on a subsequent purchaser. Finding for the claimant, a local resident resisting development, the Supreme Court unanimously held that the local authority’s failure to give notice and consider objections under the Local Government Act 1972 meant that the site’s transfer into private ownership did not extinguish public trust rights to open space, binding the disponee. This note suggests that the decision in Day is to be welcomed, providing clarity on long-established legislative provisions that protect open spaces, even when sites are not identified as such in planning processes. The note applauds the clarity of the Supreme Court’s resistance to drawing on the law of trusts when interpreting statutory provisions and commends the ease with which the Supreme Court confirmed the co-existence of public and private rights in land. The note also considers how Day illustrates the nature of local authority land ownership, a live issue at the boundary between land and administrative law, of particular interest at a time when local authorities are disposing of surplus open spaces for development.
Antonia Layard, Public (Trust) Rights in Open Space: Day v Shropshire Council, Modern Law Review. First published: 20 May 2024.
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