End in sight for land dispute

The Charity Commission is supporting Dene Valley Parish Council's move to take over as trustees of land near William Street, Auckland Park, which was used as a recreation field in the 1930s and 1940s.

As trustees, the council has legal status to lodge a claim with the Land Registry for ownership of part of the site, which was originally bought by the village colliery's welfare scheme and left in trust to residents.

But there are other claims on the land and the council could face a lengthy legal battle with developer Miller Homes, which recently bought it from Hall Construction.

Two years ago, the Land Registry accepted a claim of squatter's rights over the plot and registered it to a private individual without, the council said, consulting it or Wear Valley District Council.

The district council later granted planning permission for 40 homes and Miller Homes has already started work on the site's drainage.

Councillor Chris Foote Wood is hoping the issue can be resolved between the council and the developer.

He said: "The whole area is two acres, but we are only concerned with about one acre.

"We have the original sale deeds for the land and now we have approval in principle from the Charity Commission. The deeds show that two acres of land were purchased for community recreation 70 years ago.

"There is a covenant which says that it must be used for recreation purposes in perpetuity and that nothing will be built there other than for recreation.

"The covenants are held by the original owners, who are the Church Commissioners and they have been very supportive.

"I hope we can sit round the table with the developers and resolve this issue to everyone's satisfaction.

"We need a recreation ground for our children more than ever. We have a growing population and people want their young children to be able to play safely near their homes."

Miller Homes was contacted by The Northern Echo but no one was able to comment.