Seven-year 'unpleasant' land dispute finally resolved by court

A GRANDFATHER has spoken of a "deeply unpleasant" seven-year dispute with a neighbour over a tiny plot of scrubland which had to be finally resolved by the High Court.

John Farrar said he had to dismantle the swing he built for his grandchildren after neighbour Chris Parsons demolished a brick wall and took over the barren plot, saying they had encroached onto part of his garden.

Mr Farrar and his wife Anne have lived at the property in Burnley Road, Sowerby, Halifax, for 42 years.

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But the tranquillity of their retirement became overshadowed by tensions with their neighbour, an information technology consultant, who moved in to his property 10 years ago.

The dispute centred on a plot of scrub – measuring 13 feet by 13 feet – which was in the original deeds to Mr Parsons' home but has been part of Mr Farrar's property since it was built in 1958.

Mr Parsons' frustrations boiled over in 2004 when he pulled apart a brick wall surrounding the land and he has remained in possession since, taking the matter to court to establish his rights.

Mr Justice Norris said that, over the past five years, the neighbours had become locked in a series of disputes over small pieces of land in their respective gardens.

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He said that in the end their wrangle boiled down to the piece of scrubland "on which only brambles will ever grow".

Mr Farrar, a 74-year-old retired engineer, had tried to plant a cherry tree on the plot before Mr Parsons took it over, but the soil had proved too barren, the court heard.

In January last year, a specialist land adjudicator concluded that Mr Farrar had been in occupation of the plot of land for 30 years and had established a right to keep hold of it.

Mr Parsons challenged the adjudicator's ruling at the High Court, claiming that it went against the weight of the evidence, but had his appeal rejected.

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The judge said the hearing before the adjudicator had been "clouded by argumentative and belligerent correspondence" from Mr Parsons in which – "in frequently ripe language" – he complained about the "blatant ineptitude" of the court system.

The judge rejected his appeal and ordered Mr Parsons to pay 860 legal costs.

After the hearing, Mr Farrar and his wife said they were delighted with the outcome, which confirms their right to possession of the disputed scrubland. He said: "It has been going on for seven-years now and it has been unpleasant, deeply unpleasant to have a neighbour like that.

"It is still going on now sadly – he has been ordered to take down the fencing he put up but is yet to do so.

"We have had to go through appeal after appeal and we are glad that now that process can go no further.

"We have the judge's ruling, and feel that justice has been done."

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