Stephanie Tozer & Nathaniel Duckworth discuss recent cases on & around rights of way
Stephanie Tozer & Nathaniel Duckworth discuss recent cases on & around rights of way
Despite the prevailing doom and gloom about development prospects in the present economic climate, there have been several recent cases concerning rights of way. In this article, we summarise the effect of four of them. We will use the following abbreviations: O is the servient owner and W is the person with the benefit of the right of way.
In Waterman v Boyle [2009] EWCA Civ 115, the Court of Appeal considered the vexed question of whether (or rather, when) a right to park will be implied in a right of way.
Decision
A right to park can only be implied if it is reasonably necessary for the exercise of the right of way. The test was not met in this case because there were other parking facilities available to W.
Comment
The Court of Appeal has clarified that the test for whether a right to park should be implied, ie reasonable necessity, is a high hurdle to get over.
