The Couple who fought the Council in court, and won!
Hannah Walsh, 1st June 2017, Caravan
Couple Stephen and Alison Moore, from Northern Ireland fought the Causeway Coast and Glens District Council regarding the siting of their caravan.
Back in Janaury 2014 Stephen and Alison entered in to a licensed agreement with the council to allow them to pitch and use their static caravan at the Council's caravan site, Juniper Hill. The agreement was to allow the couple to use their caravan for "holiday and recreational purposes" whilst sited at Juniper Hill, from the 17th of March 2014 to the 16th March 2015.
The agreement was set
The couple paid the relevant license fee of £2279 to the council on or around the 20th of January 2014. It is here where you would expect the story to end. But unfortunately, the story had only just begun.
It started on the 29th of September 2014 when the couple went to Juniper Hill to access their caravan only to be turned away, being told that they could not use the site due to the Council undertaking certain work. This was surprising to the couple as neither they, nor other users of Juniper Hill, had noted that there were any issues concerning the services on the site.
Over the weeks that followed the couple continued to attempt to access their caravan, and on each occasion, were turned away with the same explanation. This saga continued until the 31st of March 2015!! During this awful turn of events, the couple sought legal action and began the process of suing the Council £2500 for loss and damage.
The Court Proceedings
The case was eventually taken to court in 2017, where after due deliberation District Judge Gilpin determined that the Council had broken Part 1 of the Licence Agreement and Clause 2.1 of Part 2.
Judge Gilpin ruled that:
"˜Having heard Mrs Moore give her evidence I am satisfied that she and her family would have made use of their caravan at Juniper Hill on average 2 weekends per month during the off season"
"It seems to me that an assessment of the amount of money necessary to compensate the Plaintiffs is a matter of general assessment to determine the appropriate compensation rather than an arithmetical calculation based on the number of days use of the caravan was denied to them."
"In the particular circumstances of these Plaintiffs, in this case, I determine that figure to be one of £750.00."
Have you experienced anything similar to this? If so we want to know, email us at media@ceta.co.uk to share your story.
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