Secret 136-year-old deal may mean council has no right to charge for parking along Weston-super-Mare seafront

Details of a secret 136-year-old deal made between a land baron family and a council could mean the authority has no right to charge residents to park on a famous seafront.

The mysterious agreement in Weston-super-Mare was made in 1883 between the local council and members of wealthy landowners the Smyth-Pigott family.

Details of the document have, until now, remained unseen by the public, according to a Bristol Live report.

But many have suspected that it contains proof that the council is not legally allowed to charge people to park near the beach in the town.

After a parking row erupted between North Somerset Council and residents over parking fees, and details of the century-old, handwritten contract were unveiled.

Currently, North Somerset Council charges £10 for all day parking on the seafront or £6 to park for up to four hours.

An evening charge of £1.50 after 6pm applies too.

It seems that, although cars or car parking are not mentioned in the document's four covenants, the second clause suggests that parking fees fall under what the council is allowed to use the land for.

The land in Weston-super-Mare was not gifted directly to the public, as was previously thought.

The document shows the land was given over to the Local Board on behalf of the public for their continued recreational use.

It includes four covenants, the first ensuring the council pays a yearly rent to the heirs of Cecil Hugh Smyth-Pigott and Henry Joseph Ruscombe Poole.

The second covenant sets out what the council is allowed to use the land for.

Specifically it says the council cannot use the land for any purpose other than "walks, drives, terraces, esplanades, gardens and ornamental places of recreation".

It adds that the land can be used "as the site of buildings for the convenience, accommodation and amusement of the inhabitants of and visitors to Weston-super-Mare."

The covenant said the land's use is expected to be for the "enjoyment of the said premises by the public."

And Weston-super-Mare's new mayor Mark Canniford said that while parking is not mentioned directly, it is needed in modern day for people to enjoy the site recreationally.

The first car was not built until 1885, two years after the agreement was signed.

Mr Canniford said: "Parking is a part of that recreational use. Yes, there's a fee but most people agree that's important to fund the seafront facilities.

"The covenants only mention what we can use the land for and doesn't detail what we can't. It does not say we cannot charge people for parking.

"The council feel like they have a strong case for being allowed to charge residents to park.

"Any challenge made against the covenants will have to come from the Smyth-Pigott family itself because that's who the agreement was made with."

Mr Canniford added that there needed to be a fairer parking system at the beach.

He said: "I inherited this issue and I will sort it out. Whether that means cutting the fees, adopting the road or changing the charging system.

"Weston seafront has to change and it will change."

People have expressed anger when blue warning notices have been handed out by the council to those who do not pay and display on the land.

The notice is to pay £10, a fine the authority said it could civilly enforce.

A recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the council confirmed it has never taken an individual to court because of non-payment of a ticket.

A spokesman for North Somerset Council said: "We own the beach at Weston-super-Mare - up to the mean tide line, beyond which the land is the property of the Crown - and the entirety of Marine Parade.

"This means we are legally entitled to charge for parking there and are also legally entitled to enforce on the land.

"The covenant in place does not restrict our ability to charge for parking and we are not required to have parking orders in place.

"Any income derived from parking on this land is used to fund council services, including managing and maintaining the seafront, as allowed in law."

Councillor John Crockford-Hawley said: “Though not a lawyer, I do have an interest in deciphering historical documents.

"Although the language is archaic, I can see no reason to suggest the council is acting illegally with the land in question.

"I suspect challengers are groping at anything which might aid their case."

The Smyth-Pigott family line who resided in Brockley Hall inherited the manorial lordship of Weston-super-Mare.

In 1804, a house known as The Grove was the home of the Reverend Wadham Piggott, curate of Weston, whose family had owned the manor of Weston since 1696.

In 1826, a seafront walk was created, and by the mid-1800s, the only open public space was the cemetery.

Eventually, in the 1880s, economic conditions forced the Smyth-Pigotts to gradually sell or lease their land to the town so they could be turned into parks.

The estate had passed from John Hugh Smyth-Pigott to his eldest son John Hugh Wadham Smyth-Pigott in 1862 to his grandson Cecil who got it in the early 1880s.

Cecil faced a decline in income from the development of Weston-super-Mare and it is he who is named first in the indenture.

The land was sought to carry out a sea front improvement scheme which was dedicated to turning it into a destination for 'bathing'.