Householder celebrates winning court battle over quad biking noise (From The Northern Echo)

Householder celebrates winning court battle over quad biking noise

8:00am Wednesday 15th February 2012 in News By Bruce Unwin, Chief Reporter (Durham)

A HOUSEHOLDER is celebrating after winning a lengthy court battle to curb what he considers a noise nuisance from quad biking.

David Reid risked a large legal bill by pursuing a private prosecution of neighbouring land owners over the use of a field at various times of day and night by quad bikers and motorcyclists.

The business consultant, from Burnhope, County Durham, took the action under the Environmental Protection Act to restrict use of the three-acre pasture land, known as The Organics, by quad bikers.

He won the original case after a five-day hearing at Consett Magistrates’ Court in January 2010, when District Judge Simon Hickey imposed a two-year noise abatement order over use of the pasture.

But joint land owners Paul Jonathan Wright and Robert Wright, of Fellside View, Burnhope, and Joseph Charles Burnside, of Meadowcroft, in nearby Holmside, appealed against the outcome of that hearing.

It led to an appeal hearing of ten days’ court duration staged over the past three weeks at Durham Crown Court.

The Wrights and Mr Burnside said they were unable to prevent people using the land for quad biking and accused Mr Reid and neighbours of being over sensitive and running a vendetta against them.

But Judge Christopher Prince, sitting with two magistrates, dismissed the appeal, and imposed the original sentence of two year conditional discharges on the three appellants.

More importantly to Mr Reid and neighbours in St John’s Mews, the court extended the abatement order, to make it run “indefinitely”.

It limits use of The Organics for quad biking to 30 days a year, between 11am and 5pm, no more than twice a week, and not on successive days, Sundays or bank holidays.

The land owners must also carry out fencing work on the land within three months.

Judge Prince and the magistrates also ordered the unsuccessful appellants to meet the costs of both the original hearing and the appeal, which could be in the region of £130,000.

Speaking in the aftermath of the court ruling yesterday, Mr Reid, a father-ofthree, said: “This has been a four-year saga and there were times we thought we might never see an end to it.

“If it had gone differently I would have probably lost my home, but it’s a huge relief that the outcome has gone our way and the real bonus is the indefinite abatement order.

“It’s absolutely marvellous the judge vindicated us and the fact it’s effectively a permanent order is unbelievable.”

Mr Reid thanked his legal team, led by barrister Glenn Gatland, for helping to win the case.