Village green stays a charity – for now
The Charity Tribunal has overruled a decision by the Charity Commission allowing the appeal of Christopher Lasper removing ‘The Town Field’ charity from the Commission’s register.
This is a village green in Keswick, Cumbria established for ‘the recreational use of the local inhabitants for lawful sports and pastimes’. Keswick Town Council is its sole corporate trustee.In 1922, the Charity Commission vested the Town Field (otherwise known as Derwentwater Green) in the Official Trustee of Charity Lands.
This scheme was later replaced by a further scheme made by the minister for education in March 1951 by which the council was appointed as sole corporate trustee of the charity. The village green itself however remained vested in the official trustee until its replacement in 1961 by the official custodian.
On 1 February 2009, Mr Lasper asked the Commission to remove the land from the register of charities due to the operation of the Commons Registration Act 1965, which states charitable trusts on which the green was held had been extinguished. This related in particular to a direction made by the commons commissioner on 23 May 1979 directing that the council be registered as the owner of the green under section 8 of the 1965 Act.
This was despite the existence of the 1922 and 1951 scheme vesting the green in the official trustee. However, the official custodian did not come forward to claim the green after public notice was given by the commons commissioner.
The Commission refused to remove the charity from the register arguing that the commons commissioner’s 1979 direction was made in error and that the direction was based on inaccurate facts – in particular that there was no owner when in fact the green was owned by the official custodian.
The Commission argued that nowhere in the 1965 Act does it state that trusts are extinguished when land has been vested in a local authority.Mr Lasper appealed to the tribunal who, following a failed application by the Commission to strike out the appeal, found unanimously in his favour on 14 January 2010. The tribunal held that, whilst the Commission made a ‘weighty point’ in respect of section 8 of the 1965 Act, the purpose of the 1965 Act had to be recognised.
The Tribunal concluded that the survival of the charitable trusts was inconsistent with the purpose of the 1965 Act which was intended to remove factual and legal uncertainties about the status of town and village greens.
The Tribunal has stated that: “it would be premature for us now to direct the Charity Commission to remove The Town Field from the register” and has instead asked the Commission to talk to the council to decide whether the charity can bring any claim for restitution. Otherwise the charity will be removed from the register after six months.
This summary was provided by Stephen Claus at Brabners.
www.charity.tribunals.gov.uk/documents/decisions/ChristopherLasper_v_CharityCommision.pdf
Author: Stephen Claus
Stephen Claus is head of the Charity and Social Enterprise Team at the Brabners Chaffe Street Charities and Social Enterprise Unit.
Prior to that Stephen worked as a legal advisor with the Charity Commission, a post he held for just under 14 years. Stephen is experienced in all aspects of Charity Law.
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