Главная » 2021 » Апрель » 30 » Metal Detecting on "Council" Land
00:16 Metal Detecting on "Council" Land |
| By R C Spanswick Firstly, you must have as much of the law on your side as you can (i.e. by belonging to an association). You do not have to join a club, you can be a member of the Federation of Independent Detectorists, who supply an identification card with your photograph and - most important of all - a public liability third party insurance covered by General Accident for £2 millionAdd to this, plenty of confidence, a sense of justice, and a knowledge of procedure. Thus armed you are ready to proceed. Now it is, in my opinion, a great mistake to ask permission to use a metal detector on what they, the council think is their land. The answer will almost certainly be "NO". Therefore just go about your hobby as unobtrusively and sensibly as possible until confronted by one of those "jumped-up officials". Then, instead of going onto the defensive, counter attack at once do not back down, but stand up to the official. Remember you are not a criminal; what you are doing is no harm to anyone. Ask to see his authority and the relevant bylaws that prohibit you from your hobby. Often as not, he will not have a copy. Even if he does, it will probably be a sheaf of typewritten pages ... and we all know that anyone can type some- thing on a piece of paper. (I know of at least one large Council who have done this and they have officially, no byelaw actually prohibiting metal detecting). Therefore continue your attack. Be polite and show him your identity card with your photograph and give him your name and address. That is all you need to do at this stage. He will, of course tell you, you are breaking the law. Well, are you ?. It is not a criminal offence (unless of course you are digging up the local bowling green) so the police will not be interested. Stand firm and point out your identity and ask him to notify his superiors at the town hall to write to you giving the following information: (A) What was the date the Council applied to the Home Office to grant a Byelaw against metal detecting. (B) What was the reason for asking for this byelaw to be granted? (C) What were the conditions issued by the Home Office when they granted it; also, who sanctioned the byelaw andon what date? (D) Ask for a copy of the actual correspondence between the Council and the Home Office and their Seal of. Authorization. What to do next You can either get into your car and wait until the official has departed, or ignore him and carry on. Personally, I am sixty and having spent three years in the Parachute Regiment with two of them on active service, nobody intimidates me (except perhaps, the dentist!). I therefore usually carry on. But not everyone has the confidence to stand up to a confrontation If you do not wish for a confrontation it is best to go to another recreation ground and come back another day. But what ever you do, do not give up and go home to watch TV If the council does not have a bylaw against metal detecting you may hear nothing more about it. However they may write quoting another byelaw. `A Person shall not in the ground remove or displace any ground soil turf or plant". This appears to be a standard byelaw adopted by all councils and one they all attempt to fall back on. Originally it was granted to stop people picking flowers and cutting turf either for their own use or to sell (an occupation carried on around the turn of the century mainly by traveling people). How is it relevant now in 1997? Well, you are not picking flowers but you are displacing the turf, something none of us can refute. But what about other users of the land? Playing football over the winter months can tear up and ruin the grass until it is turned into a quagmire, you have only to look at the goal mouths ... not a blade of grass left well into July, two months after the season has ended. How about the council letting in the travelling fairs over the bank holidays with their ten ton lorries dripping diesel oil and setting up their stalls (b) rides? We have such a fair right now locally. It is on a hallowed green, where if anyone was found metal detecting they would be marched straight into the Magistrate's court. Have you seen the grass after a fair has left? And how about the council allowing the parks to be used for car boot sales? My council does that regularly, and is there not a byelaw against driving a motor car over the grass? They also hold a vintage car rally, a dog show, a flower show, let in the carnival floats, allow bring and buy stalls, and even permit the boy scouts to have their camp fire on one recreation ground. Then, only last month, the council let the circus set up its big top and site its trailers in the park. I am not one topsoil other people's pleasure, so why should the council try to spoil mine? Start Your Attack Write to the council and ask them to explain why others can do something a hundred times more harmful than yourself; and if you are breaking a byelaw, why then are not the others? In return they must reply, but the excuse will turn out to be "They have given permission for this". So now is the time to ask them to give you your permission. You will not get it of course, so what to do next ?. Well, arm yourself with a camera, preferably one that puts a date on the photograph (but not to worry if it does not). Take a witness along with you and photograph the damage done by other public open space users. If your camera has not the date facility your negative, when it is printed, will have a date and your witness can verify when the photograph was taken. The council will object of course, but if you end up in court any magistrate will accept photographic evidence especially when it is accompanied by a witness. Remember you are not facing a murder charge by the police; it is the council and a very minor matter indeed. Confronted with evidence of damage done by others should deter the council from bringing any prosecution against you in the first place, as they will have no defence to it when challenged. But a word of caution, the photograph is a two handed sword and if you do end up in court for breaking the Council's byelaw and you were foolish enough to dig holes in the Council's ornamental gardens, or areas laid to turf for bowling, tennis or cricket squares you deserve to be prosecuted. Remember they can only succeed in proving their case if they have their own evidence of damage done by yourself. So if you are detecting in rough grass or grassland, already damaged by others, challenge them to produce their evidence. All they can present to the court is that you were holding a metal detector and prodding the grass, something you will not be denying in any case. Now it is your turn. Subject the council official to a long series of embarrassing questions, especially the ones already mentioned regarding the Home Office. Have no pity. Remember it is he who is subjecting you to all this in the first place. If he can not answer your questions, ask him to produce somebody from the council who can. If he cannot, address the bench yourself using the following informationHove Council, like Eastbourne, has a byelaw against metal detecting,. However, when I challenged this I found out from the Home Office that it was only intended to cover: areas laid to lawns, ornamental gardens, playing areas laid to turf, areas set aside for the blind and listed sites. It was not granted to be used on rough grassland or other open spaces. It was the Council who gave themselves the right to impose a blanket ban on all their land, and this point is very much open to challenge. At this juncture ask the bench to dismiss the case against you. If the bench then confers and refuse, carry on. Remind them that horse riding, motorbike scrambling, off the road motor cars, hang gliding and other recreational sports are carried out every day on the downs, doing tremendous damage.Now use your main trump card. Show the bench your public liability insurance. (I have it from General Accident that no claim has ever been made on this policy up to the present time). Point out that as a responsible member of the public using the very public open spaces especially set aside for your enjoyment - you have taken the trouble to protect not only yourself but others as well. Impress on the bench that it is doubtful if any other members of the public - when playing football, cricket, rugby, or any of the other uses of the public land - have availed themselves of the same cover. Ask the bench to compare other damage done as. against that suggested with your little metal detector. Ask for permission to take the bench outside and demonstrate its pinpoint accuracy and explain its modern technology. Remind them that many local museums have items donated to them by local detectorists and much of the town's history is backed up by these very displays. Point out that almost all areas set aside for public use have footpaths crossing them. Suggest that no byelaw set by the council applies to these footpaths, therefore where you were doing your detecting, were you actually breaking it? If by now you still feel the bench need more convincing, carry on Point out that public open spaces were given to the Council by benevolent people especially for others to enjoy recreational pastimes. Point out that Councils only hold a watching brief on our behalf. Therefore if they allow football to be played on the grass and turn it into a quagmire to the detriment of others, then what objection have they got against you? Question if the Council actually own the land. Most parks were laid out for public use around the 1890s. Open common grassland was taken over by the Council and any land bought by the Council on our behalf was purchased with public money, by publicly elected members of the Council. Whose land therefore is it? Finally, when you think you have convinced the bench, ask them again to dismiss the case. Suppose you lose ?. Any byelaw can be challenged, but only when you have been prosecuted and found guilty. I have made enquiries to challenge Hove's metal detecting byelaws and been informed by the Brighton Clerk of the Court, I must be found guilty of breaking it first. Only then can you go to appeal and ask for a judicial review. It will cost the Council a fortune to defend this and with all the publicity it is doubtful if the matter would go any further. Indeed, I have written suggesting a time and a place, where - accompanied by the press and TV - I l wave my detector about and let them charge me with breaking the byelaws. So far they have only threatened on paper. I wait to see the outcome. Remember be brave, stand up and protect our hobby. Attack the Councils if you have not been stupid and caused damage, challenge them to do their worse. The press will love it and I am sure a fighting fund can be set up. Are we not subjected to too many petty regulations and is it not about time we made ourselves heard ?. |
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