James Matthews stated his household want the next stage of safety.
James Matthews stated on the inquiry that there’s a want for the next stage of safety (Picture: Getty)
The Princess of Wales’s brother-in-law informed a planning inquiry on Thursday that his dwelling in West Berkshire wants the next stage of safety in a row over whether or not a part of the £15.5 million property’s driveway ought to be recognised as a public footpath. Catherine’s sister Pippa moved along with her husband James Matthews to Barton Court docket in Kintbury again in 2022. Shortly after shifting into the property, the hedge fund supervisor put in an electrical safety gate on the drive which blocked entry to a pathway known as Mill Lane.
This then prompted strolling group West Berkshire Ramblers to use for a “definitive map modification order” in January 2023 in a bid to have the route formally recognised as a public footpath throughout the land. Following an investigation, West Berkshire District Council determined that the order route was “fairly alleged to exist as a public proper of approach primarily based on proof, laws and case regulation,” inquiry paperwork stated.
We use your sign-up to supply content material in methods you’ve got consented to and to enhance our understanding of you. This may increasingly embrace adverts from us and third events primarily based on our understanding. You’ll be able to unsubscribe at any time. Learn our Privateness Coverage
The couple moved to Kintbury in 2022 (Picture: Getty)
Mr Matthews, who bought the 32-room £15.5million property in August 2022, objected and informed the inquiry that the route is never used, and neighbours and the native parish council raised no objections when the gate was put in.
Talking on the inquiry at Kintbury Coronation Corridor in Hungerford on Thursday, Mr Matthews stated there was nothing within the conveyancing course of which alerted him to any public use of the drive when he purchased the property in 2022.
Mr Matthews stated: “There are implications for my household, attributable to their excessive public profile, which suggests there’s a want for the next stage of safety than would in any other case be the case if the circumstances have been totally different.
“Subsequently to enhance safety for my household, earlier than we moved in, I organized for an electrical safety gate to be erected on the drive. That is the gate at Level X. It was put in in September 2022. It’s saved shut, besides maybe on the odd event equivalent to when a go to by household or pals is anticipated.
“When the gate was put in, nobody from the Parish Council or the village got here to talk with us, or contacted us, in regards to the gate to say that there was any drawback with it being there.
“Within the interval after the footpath software, sadly, there was a continued want to reinforce safety, and the gates at Station Highway have due to this fact been upgraded in the summertime of 2025 and saved closed.”
He added that inside the final three-and-a-half years he has seen “solely a handful of individuals, on perhaps two or three events, strolling alongside the drive”.
Mr Matthews informed the inquiry he had spoken to these on the drive and informed them it was not a public footpath they usually had agreed with him.
A spokesperson for Mr and Mrs Matthews stated: “James Matthews has the proper to create a secure setting on his non-public property, for his younger kids taking part in outdoors, away from foreseeable dangers by uncontrolled trespassers and site visitors.
“For so long as data exist, there has by no means been a footpath/public proper of approach on the land at present underneath dialogue.
“For many years previous there has at all times been signage declaring that is the driveway to a personal property, with no public entry. There are different clearly marked footpaths close by.”
West Berkshire District Council stated in a press release to the inquiry that the applying was primarily based on “the authorized precept {that a} public footpath might be deemed to exist if it has been loved by the general public for an uninterrupted interval of 20 years, with out power, secrecy or permission, or if proof infers {that a} public footpath has been devoted by a landowner sooner or later up to now and that dedication has then been accepted by the general public (i.e. by being utilized by the general public).”
Former Barton Court docket property supervisor David Hill Thursday informed the inquiry on Thursday that he didn’t recall commonly encountering folks being requested to go away the driveway.
He stated: “There was no constant sample of individuals coming and going.
“Sometimes I’d come throughout somebody who gave the impression to be misplaced or unaware that they shouldn’t be there. It is onerous to estimate however most likely one particular person each two to a few months though generally not as typically as that.
“All the time people, by no means teams.
“In these cases, I’d ask whether or not they have been misplaced or whether or not they wanted help. I’d inform them that it was not a public footpath and was a personal drive.
“They’d both flip again the best way they’d come, or in the event that they have been near the opposite finish of the route, I’d enable them to proceed.”
The inquiry continues.
Leave a Reply