Haringey Council loses Parkland Walk nature reserve tribunal

In 2016, Haringey accused Christopher Pinto, 77, of carrying out a “deliberate and premeditated land grab” by changing his back garden boundaries to encroach on a nature reserve.

A group set up to look after the woodland now says it raised concerns over the council’s pursuit of Mr Pinto, but was assured the council was in the right.

A tribunal this year found in Mr Pinto’s favour, ordering Haringey to pay him £32,000 in costs.

The council failed to pay on time, forcing him to seek a further court judgment.

It has since coughed up, blaming the delay on “an administrative error”.

The cost to taxpayers of Haringey’s own legal fees is yet to be calculated, it said.

Former magistrate Christopher Pinto enjoys gardening and said the garden was an important factor in his decision to buy the Avenue Road property (Image: Charles Thomson)

“It’s been hell,” said Mr Pinto. “Haringey made outlandish statements without producing a shred of evidence to me or the court.

“They don’t care about what they are putting people through. It was a huge emotional stress, very time-consuming and a great expense.”

Encroachment

Mr Pinto bought his home in Avenue Road in 2004.

The property, a 10-minute walk from Highgate tube station, backs onto the Parkland Walk nature reserve.

In 2012, the Friends of Parkland Walk (FPW) said it carried out a boundary review with Haringey Council, in which a concern was raised about the position of Mr Pinto’s back garden fence.

But he was not contacted by Haringey until 2016, when he was informed of the possible encroachment.

The back gardens of properties in Avenue Road, N6, back onto the Parkland Walk nature reserve (Image: Google Maps)

In 2017, the council became more forceful, telling him he was “unlawfully occupying” 42.5sq m of the nature reserve and if he did not “vacate” it, he would be taken to court, where the council would seek “damages and costs”.

Land Registry documents showed that the garden boundary was indeed different to the boundaries on the deeds, but Mr Pinto described the area at issue as “a tiny wedge of land at the bottom of my garden”.

Court Case

Mr Pinto took Haringey to a tribunal, arguing that the land was rightfully his under “adverse possession” rules, under which occupants can seek ownership of land occupied for at least 12 years without challenge.

The council countered that Mr Pinto had not only stolen the land, but had tried to hide it by erecting a tall fence.

The back right corner of Mr Pinto's garden was said by Haringey Council to rightfully belong to the Parkland Walk nature reserve (Image: Charles Thomson)

However, a contractor who worked on the garden shortly after Mr Pinto moved in gave evidence that he simply built a new fence in place of the old one.

Mr Pinto also produced a legal form signed by the previous owner in 2004, stating that the boundary had not changed for a least 20 years.

“I replaced the old fence, but in exactly the same place,” said Mr Pinto. “The boundary clearly had changed at some point, but not by me and not by the owner before me either, as stated in his legal document.”

Judge Roger Cohen found there was “nothing” to support the council’s claims that Mr Pinto had stolen the land or tried to conceal it – claims which had “put [his] integrity in issue”.

He said Mr Pinto’s belief that he owned the land was “inherently credible and backed up by documentation”.

He declared Mr Pinto the rightful owner.

Parkland Walk is a 4.5-mile nature walk along the former railway line between Alexandra Palace and Finsbury Park. It is London's 'longest local nature reserve', says Haringey Council (Image: Charles Thomson)

Reactions

Friends of Parkland Walk said its members had “voiced their concern that public resources would be expended on the case” and “sought assurances” that it was “a good case”.

“Council officers and the legal department indicated it was confident in its lawful position,” FPW said.  

It was therefore disappointed by the outcome.

“Whether lawfully or unlawfully, Mr Pinto has acquired, at no cost to himself and for his personal use or benefit, a portion of a nature reserve that belonged to Haringey and therefore to its residents,” it said.

Mr Pinto said that the legal process had in fact cost him “an awful lot of money”, not all of which was recouped by the court’s costs order. He said he was still “over £10,000” out of pocket.

Mr Pinto's garden backs onto the Parkland Walk nature reserve in Highgate (Image: Charles Thomson)

Haringey Council stood by its decision-making.

“We defended this case at the tribunal as we believed that we had a good case, backed up by witness testimony and photographic evidence,” it said.

“While we were disappointed with the decision of the tribunal, we nonetheless accept the outcome.”

It added: “Parkland Walk is a unique green space which gives residents unparalleled access to nature right in the heart of London.

“We take our role as custodians of this space extremely seriously. That includes acting to prevent encroachment from neighbouring properties, which is in line with our legal obligations to protect the integrity of the nature reserve.”