The Planning Committee of Swansea Council met on Tuesday 10 September 2024 and approved an amended recommendation regarding an application to add footpaths to the definitive map for a playing field at Waunarlwydd. No personal or prejudicial interests were declared, and no items were deferred or withdrawn.

Application to Add Footpaths to Definitive Map, Playing Field at Waunarlwydd

The committee considered an application to add footpaths to the definitive map and statement for a playing field at Waunarlwydd. The application sought to record rights of way on council-owned land east of Roseland Road. The Countryside & Definitive Map Principal Officer, Chris Dale, presented a report detailing the background, the application received in June 2022, supporting evidence, officer investigations, and legal considerations.

The report outlined various maps and aerial photographs of the site, along with evidence and case law relevant to the application. Members had undertaken a site visit the previous day, and a visual presentation was given during the meeting. An amendment to the recommendation was verbally proposed to add the words for public footpaths across the playing fields, with the officer indicating that the footpaths referred to in the presentation were situated around, but not on, the playing fields themselves.

A legal officer also spoke, clarifying issues around statutory incompatibility and the public's use of the playing fields, which the authority deemed to be by right and not as of right, meaning use was with permission. Suzanne Jeffries, one of the applicants, addressed the committee in support of the application.

The committee resolved to refuse the application for public footpaths across the playing fields. The grounds for refusal were that an application for a modification order under schedule 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is statutorily incompatible with the use for which the land is held by the Council, and that the use of the claimed routes could not have been as of right.

However, the Council did record the tarmac routes not across the playing fields as public footpaths. These were identified on a map as E1-E-D, D-K, D-N, N-S, C-H, C-F-G, and F-D.

The report highlighted significant legal considerations, including the interpretation of the public and the concept of as of right use. The Council's position was that the land was acquired for recreational facilities under the Physical Training and Recreation Act 1937, which implies use with permission and is incompatible with the dedication of public rights of way. This interpretation was disputed by the applicants' solicitors, who argued there was insufficient evidence to support the claim that the land was purchased under the 1937 Act and suggested it was acquired under the 1906 Open Spaces Act. The applicants also pointed to the registration of rights of way over similar council-owned land, such as Cwm Level Park, as evidence against the Council's stance on statutory incompatibility.

The meeting concluded at 2:41 pm.