Snelling & Anor v Burstow Parish Council

Allotments transferred to a parish council by statutory operation and brought within the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908 are governed exclusively by that Act’s disposal regime. The council may exercise section 32 where the land is not needed for allotments or more suitable land is available. The requirement for consent under section 8 of the Allotments Act 1925 applies to such a sale, including land treated as acquired under section 33(4) of the 1908 Act. Section 27 of the Commons Act 1876 does not continue to govern those allotments.

The claimants held allotment plots at Hunter’s Moon, land owned by Burstow Parish Council. The land had been allotted in 1855 under the Inclosure Act 1845 and later came under the council’s management through statutory provisions concerning allotment wardens.

The council proposed selling part of the site for housing and obtained consent under section 8 of the Allotments Act 1925. The claimants sought a declaration that the council had relied on the wrong statutory power. The issue was whether disposal was governed by section 27 of the Commons Act 1876 or section 32 of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908, and whether section 8 consent was required.

1. Claim dismissed. The Hunter’s Moon allotments fell within section 33(4) of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908 and were treated as land acquired by the council under its general allotment powers.
2. Section 33(4) required land transferred to, or brought under the management of, a council under section 33 or a corresponding repealed enactment to be governed by the allotment provisions in sections 26 onwards, including section 32. That regime applied exclusively to the Hunter’s Moon allotments.
3. Section 32 had, to that extent, impliedly repealed the inconsistent disposal power in section 27 of the Commons Act 1876. The statutory scheme did not support retaining section 27 for older field gardens while applying section 32 to other allotments.
4. Section 8 of the Allotments Act 1925 supplemented section 32 and applied where land was bought under section 25 of the 1908 Act or treated as acquired under section 33(4). The Secretary of State’s consent was therefore required.
5. The court left open whether section 27 might retain residual operation for allotments outside section 33(4). As regards Hunter’s Moon, the land was governed exclusively by section 32, subject to section 8 consent.