| Topic: | Gunnersbury Park for exclusive private school? | |
| Posted by: | Victor Mishiku | |
| Date/Time: | 14/04/13 14:07:00 |
| As far as I recall, the restrictive covenant covers the entire Park. In another case in the "Latchmere Recreation Ground" in Kingston, the Council were supporting a private Martial Arts company "Khalsa Karate Federation" who had offered to rebuild a new sports pavilion. The previous pavilion (changing rooms, etc) for use by the public only had been demolished about 5 years ago. Mr Satinder Singh Sehra, owner of the private Karate Club concern, intended that his business would have occupied the main part of the proposed development with some parts of the building being available to the public. There is however a restrictive covenant imposed by Lord Dyson and supported by an Act of Parliament in order to maintain the use of the land for public recreation and sports use. Whilst a new pavilion is allowed under the 1904 covenant, it could only be used in connection with the public use of the open space - not for private commercial purposes. The Council's legal experts at first considered that the proposals did not breach the Dyson covenant but later admitted that they were wrong after representations from local resident Mrs Margaret Levy and others. Khalsa Karate abandoned their scheme which the Council had backed fully for financial reasons. The problem with schools (as aptly shown in the Wembley case at Preston Manor) is that sooner or later, they wish to expand, add new buildings such as an Arts Centre, Concert Hall, New Classes Wings, Access Road & Car-Parking Areas, Swimming-Pool Building, etc and they would want control of these areas and may want to segregate parts of the Public Open Space for their sole use. Some of the buildings might well be let out to outside concerns for use at weekends, at night, etc bringing traffic into the Park where there is no public vehicular access at present. The Councils must not allow the covenant to be breached which they hold on trust for the public. Any proposals to modify the Park covenant must be made to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) which is the only body able to modify a restrictive covenant under the Law of Property Act 1925. Such proposals must be made known to all of the surrounding residents who are legally entitled to the benefit of the restrictive covenant on the former Rothschild Estate. V.Mishiku "The Covenant Movement" 14/4/13. |