Ancillary use of a right of way for the benefit of non-dominant land | Practical Law

Ancillary use of a right of way for the benefit of non-dominant land | Practical Law

Macepark (Whittlebury) Ltd v Sargeant, 5 March 2003 (High Court, Ch Div).

Ancillary use of a right of way for the benefit of non-dominant land

Practical Law UK Legal Update Case Report 4-107-0716 (Approx. 4 pages)

Ancillary use of a right of way for the benefit of non-dominant land

Law stated as at 12 Mar 2003England, Wales
Macepark (Whittlebury) Ltd v Sargeant, 5 March 2003 (High Court, Ch Div).
Examining the sometimes contradictory case law on the ancillary use of a right of way in connection with land that is not the dominant land, the judge in this case concluded: (1) the use of a right of way in connection with non-dominant land may be within the scope of the right that has been granted, if the use is not 'in substance' for the benefit of the non-dominant land; (2) to satisfy this test, either the extent of the use for the benefit of the non-dominant land must be insubstantial, or there must be no benefit to the non-dominant land resulting from the use of the way and (3) 'benefit' includes the ability to extract profit from the non-dominant land by reason of the use of the way.
On the facts of this case, the use in connection with the non-dominant land was both substantial and for the benefit of the non-dominant land.