Legally TGV?

• Statutory requirements.
• Lawful sports and pastimes.
• The principle of ‘give and take’.

The facts in TW Logistics Ltd v Essex County Council [2021] UKSC 4, [2021] All ER (D) 60 (Feb) were somewhat unusual for town or village green (TVG) law and practice. The land adjoined water and was used for working industrial and commercial docks purposes. There was a hard surface; goods were taken on and off site by heavy lorries, stored on site, and were put on and off vessels at the quayside. The locals walked there, sat there, played with the children, let the children play, walked the dogs, played informal games. As time went by, the industrial and commercial activities changed and intensified. The landowner began to get anxious because of health and safety—lorries involved in accidents, boxes falling on people, children falling into the water, risk of interference in the business. Was it legally possible to register the land as a TVG? This