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Pippa Middleton and her hedge fund boss husband have won a planning battle to bar the public from using a footpath through their £15million country estate.
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Middleton → see → estate
The Princess of Wales's sister argued that the trail, which runs through their Grade I-listed Barton Court in Berkshire, risked her family's safety.
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which → argue → safety
The path is used by locals in neighbouring Kintbury, who use it to reach the village safely, rather than walking on Station Road – which is narrow and has blind turns, heavy traffic and no pavement.
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which → use → turns
Ms Middleton and her husband James Matthews were accused of using her sister's royal status to justify banning ramblers from walking on the footpath.
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husband → accuse → footpath
Locals claimed the gates to the path were always left open by the estate's previous owner – the late Habitat furniture founder Sir Terence Conran – on the understanding that it could be used as a public passageway.
But shortly after purchasing the estate for £15million in 2022, the couple installed electric gates and signs reading 'Private: No Public Access' and 'No Trespassing' at both ends of the path.
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couple → claim → path
A total of 35 residents, backed by The Ramblers' Association, appealed to West Berkshire Council to have the lane declared a public right of way.
However, Mr Matthews – who is the heir to a Scottish feudal title – argued that the path had not been freely used for 20 years as required by law.
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path → back → law
Pippa Middleton and her husband James Matthews have won the battle to bar the public from using a footpath through their £15million country estate
Mill Lane sits on the couple's Barton Court estate - linking a public footpath with a busy main road
Overturning the path's designation as a public right of way, Ken Taylor – the government-appointed planning inspector – said that while the couple could not rely on privacy and security concerns, there was not sufficient proof that the path was freely used by walkers for 20 years.
A spokesman for the couple said: 'We are grateful for the careful consideration given to the facts and appreciate the time invested by all parties.'
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We → win → parties
Tony Vickers, a local Liberal Democrat councillor, said: 'I am surprised and very disappointed that the inspector came down on the landowner's side.
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inspector → say → side
After attending almost all the inquiry, I could not see any relevant argument put by Mr Matthews' supporters.'
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I → attend → supporters
It was reported in May that locals claimed Ms Middleton was exercising the royal status of her sister to suggest that she and her husband deserved special treatment, owing to their need for privacy and security.
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she → report → privacy
One angry resident told the Daily Mail in April: 'They're not even the proper Royal Family.'
Neil Pike, the local 'footpath secretary' for ramblers, told the inquiry Mill Lane was 'intrinsic' to life in Kintbury.
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Lane → tell → Kintbury
Mr Matthews attended the opening of the Planning Inspectorate inquiry held at Kintbury's village hall without his wife in May
The extensive gardens at the £15million Grade I-listed Barton Court in Berkshire
He said: 'Until recently I have never known Mill Lane to be closed for any reason.
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Lane → attend → reason
In all the time I have been footpath secretary no one has reported to me that they've been stopped or turned back while walking along Mill Lane.
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they → report → Lane
If Mill lane is removed from public use then Station Road is the only alternative and does not bear thinking about.
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Road → remove → use
I do not understand why the present owners are trying to close it when it has been used by the walking public for decades.
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it → understand → decades
But Paul Wilmshurst, the barrister representing Mr Matthews, said in a written submission that declaring the path a public right of way would 'cause very real practical [and] privacy difficulties and security issues'.
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path → represent → difficulties
He said: 'The route is over land, which, at all material times, has formed and has had the local reputation as being the private drive to the house at Barton Court.'
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which → say → Court
Mr Matthews told the public inquiry: 'There are implications for my family, due to their high public profile, which means there is a need for a higher level of security than would otherwise be the case.
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which → tell → security
'Therefore to improve security for my family, before we moved in, I arranged for an electric security gate to be erected on the drive.'
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gate → improve → drive
He was supported by Victoria Conran, the widow of Sir Terence, who sold the estate to him after her husband's death.
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who → support → death
Victoria Conran, who previously lived on the estate with her late husband Sir Terence Conran, was seen speaking to Mr Matthews in May
Lady Conran told the inquiry: 'In the 30 years that I lived at Barton Court, I only ever saw one person using the driveway who should not have been there…
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who → live → driveway
Suffice to say, I never observed any organised groups of ramblers using the driveway.
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groups → suffice → driveway
Mr Taylor, the planning inspector, said that there was evidence from at least 1983 of a 'Barton Court Private Road' sign on the path.
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Taylor → say → path
Another image showed that by June 2020 the sign read 'Barton Court Estate, No Through Road'.
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sign → show → Estate
He concluded that the 'low levels of use' of the drive was not sufficient to demonstrate that the public were asserting a continuous right to use it as a footpath.
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public → conclude → footpath
The Aporia
