Jury's out on Rumney Rec

Residents hoping to protect their local recreation from development in Llanrumney have a long wait before the final verdict, in what has been described as a case which could 'redefine law'.

After emotions ran high throughout the three-day long public inquiry into the application for village green status for Rumney Recreation Ground, inspector Leslie Blohm QC will now assess the evidence and will publish his advice to Cardiff Council, the objectors and the registering body. It is expected this may take up to six weeks.

A 'law-changing' case

The case for residents, who hope to protect their playing fields from being turned into the Llanrumney High School by Cardif Council, was led by local MP Alun Michael, and presented at the inquiry by Civitas barrister Mair Coombes Davies.

The evidence from local people saw 145 statements and 30 witnesses come forward. Coombes Davies said the result could be law-changing and have extreme implications for public law in this area which dates back to the 1800s. She said:

"I don't think we could have done any more than we have done. The local people really put their backs into it and it's really impressive.

"It is a very complicated piece of law. To produce the amount of evidence in order to succeed – it's very difficult, especially when you're starting way back 20 years before the 50s. It's a tall order for anyone."

"From a legal point of view it's got all the potential to become part of case law and define how lawyers approach this part of law. It could basically re-write law."

A trial based on wording

Essentially the fate of Rumney Recreation Ground rests on a few words – a discrepancy between residents using the land 'as of right' and 'by right'. Read our previous post here.

Campaigners hope to have convinced the inspector the recreation ground was used freely by locals for more than 20 years before Cardiff Council acquired the land. This would mean the land was theirs as of right, making their application for village green status eligible.

Summing up her argument yesterday, Coombes Davies said:

"A significant number of inhabitants within the locality in which Rumney Recreation Ground is situated have indulged, 'as of right', in lawful sports and pastimes on the land for a period of at least 20 years from at least the beginning of the 1900s and continued to so at the time of the application.

"Where permission was granted by the council in respect of use of Rumney Recreation Ground for the purposes of sports and pastimes the permission is to be disregarded in determining whether, 'persons continue to indulge in lawful sports and pastimes on the land, 'as of right'. There is a considerable body of first hand, consistent evidence from local people that they continued to use the Rumney Recreation Ground for sport and recreation.

"Therefore, Rumney Recreation Ground should be registered as a village or town green."

Coombes Davies hoped to persuade with evidence that before the council acquisition in 1952 the land was owned by residents by right of them using it for recreational purposes for 20 years before the date.

Speaking on behalf of the objectors, Cardiff Council, Harriet Townsend hoped to persuade Blohm that residents had only used the grounds with permission given expressly by Cardiff Council. A copy of Townsend's closing statement was unavailable at the time of publishing.

Read the rest of our posts on the Rumney Recreation Ground public inquiry here. We will bring you news of Blohm's advice to Cardiff Council on the blog. What do you think? Add your comments below.