Village Green Application No. 48 - Gorsey Bank Field, Wilmslow
Meeting: 13/12/2010 - Public Rights of Way Committee (Item 31)
31 Village Green Application No. 48 - Gorsey Bank Field, Wilmslow 
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To consider a report on how to proceed with Village Green Application No. 48 – Gorsey Bank Field, Wilmslow
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee received a report seeking a decision on how to proceed with village green application No.48 – Gorsey Bank Field, Wilmslow.
The Council was the registration authority for village greens and responsibility for this function was delegated to the Public Rights of Way Committee under the Council’s Constitution.
An application had been submitted in March 2009 to Cheshire County Council by Mr C Stubbs on behalf of the Friends of Gorsey Field. The land involved was at the rear of Gorsey Bank Primary School, Wilmslow and was bounded to the north by 23 to 33 Alton Road and to the west by 1 to 7 Gorsey Road.
The application alleged that the land was a village green because it had been used as of right for lawful sports and pastimes for a period of at least 20 years by a significant number of inhabitants of a locality or a neighbourhood within a locality.
An objection had been submitted by Cheshire East Borough Council as landowner and by the Governing Body of the Gorsey Bank Primary School.
The Public Rights of Way Committee had adopted a procedure for determining village green applications on 7 December 2009. Option 4 of the procedure stated that an application validly made may be referred to an independent person to either to consider the application on the basis of written representations or to hold a non-statutory public inquiry and to provide a report to the Committee.
The Committee agreed that a non-statutory public inquiry should be held into the application as objections had been received, because there were substantial disputes as to fact, and because Cheshire East Council was the landowner.
RESOLVED:
1 That a non-statutory public inquiry be held into the application.
2 The Borough Solicitor be authorised to appoint an appropriately qualified independent person to conduct that Inquiry and provide the Public Rights of Way Committee with a report and a recommendation.