Hartlepool Borough Council will attempt to claim adverse possession of the land home to the Seaton Carew war memorial so that works to refurbish it can be undertaken.
Thursday 8th December 2022 07:47am
Hartlepool Borough Council is reportedly seeking to claim adverse possession on what's said to be unclaimed land which is home to a war memorial according to documents which go before the councils finance & policy meeting scheduled for next week.
Its claimed that last month, an Independent Councillor representing the areas Seaton Ward highlighted the condition of the Seaton Carew War Memorial Site situated just a few metres away from the areas sea front which they believed was in need of repair.
However issues reportedly arose after land registry checks of the land showed that the council didn’t own the land itself, with the small area deemed to be “unclaimed land” despite the local council for a significant number of years tending to its grounds.
Checks by council officers reportedly found that the ownership of the land is currently “unknown” & despite claims the council would have to apply to the secretary of state to officially claim ownership of the land, its now believed the council would need to approach the Land Registry itself in order to officially declare ownership of the land the memorial stands on in order to claim what’s known as Adverse Possession before any repairs on the memorial or any part of its grounds could be undertaken.
Council officers have also reported that the War Memorial itself is reported to be a listed structure which means any works other than maintenance would require planning permission & listed building consent status before any works would be authorised.
However its claimed that the council itself may not actually be given ownership status of the land & as a result the plans for any works on the memorial itself other than groundwork’s undertaken already to keep the area tidy would be on hold pending the outcome of a Land Registry decision.
Council officers say that there’s no certainty that the council will be given ownership status by the Land Registry and the situation could revert to that of the present time of unknown ownership.
According to the report The Council has, for many years, cut and maintained the public green open space surrounding the Seaton Carew War Memorial, so formally registering the land as Council owned would not create any additional financial or resource pressures according to council officers, however whilst the War Memorial and surrounding areas are currently in a good condition based on a recent inspection, the visit did highlight that repairs will be needed at some point in the near future.
The estimated costs of those works are said to be approximately £15,000.
Council chiefs who commissioned the report set to go before councillors next week say that there's currently no budget provision for this and work will have to be done to identify a source of funding before any works can be undertaken.
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