June 14 2013.

The on-going legal wrangle to uphold the rights of local people to access Newhaven's sandy West Beach continued today with the case between Newhaven Port and Properties (NPP) and the government.

Newhaven Town Council Release:

The Court of Appeal has handed down its latest judgement this morning in the long running legal battle to get the sandy West Beach in Newhaven re-opened to the public by registering it as a village green. Newhaven Port and Properties (NPP), the owners of the beach, had argued that the village green legislation contained in the Commons Act 2006 was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. The judge at the judicial review held in November 2011 dismissed this argument. NPP appealed against his judgement.

The Court of Appeal has upheld the original decision and NPP has lost its case.

This argument was heard separately from the other arguments which were heard in February because this was a case between NPP and the Government and did not directly involve East Sussex County Council or Newhaven Town Council.

The Mayor of Newhaven, Councillor Julie Carr, said; "We are delighted with this victory for common sense, which confirms the decision handed down in February. It is a great shame that NPP is continuing to spend money on fighting this through the courts instead of on the repairs that are needed to re-open the beach. Another summer is now here, and the people of Newhaven still cannot enjoy the use of their beach. I appeal to NPP to accept the ruling of the court now and sit down and talk to the town council about how we can get the beach open for this summer without compromising port operations or the safety of the public".




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