Private Nuisance Flashcards
Concerned with protecting rights of occupier against:
Unreasonable interference with the enjoyment or use of his land
To bring a claim in PN c must have
An interest in the land in which they claim their enjoyment or use has been unreasonably interfered with
Interest means legal interest but not necessarily legal ownership
Hunter v Carnary Wharf
D doesn’t need to own or occupy the land they just need to have used it
Jones Ltd v Portsmouth City Council
Interference
C must prove Ds activity amounts to an unlawful use of the land
Unlawful
Unreasonable use of land which lead to an unreasonable interference with the Cs use or enjoyment of the land
(London Borough of SouthWork v mills)
Factors to be dealt with to decide if use of land was unreasonable
•Locality
•Duration
•Sensitivity
•Foreseeability
•Malice
•Social Benefit
Locality
Consider what questions whether the areas purely residential and partly commercial or industrial. Or if it’s situated in the town or county
Duration
To be actionable the interference must be continuous and carried out on unreasonable hours of the day
Longer N last higher I will be and more likely to be unlawful I
Temporary nuisance can still amount to nuisance
CRC Ltd V kimbolton fireworks
Sensitivity
If C is particularly sensitive then then action may not be N
(Robinson V kilvert)
Foreseeability
If I wasn’t foreseeable then no liability
(NRI v Morris)
Malice
A deliberately harmful act will usually be considered unreasonable and considered a N
(Hollywood Silver Fox Farm V Morris)
Social Benefit
If it’s considered the D is providing a social benefit to the community the courts may consider the actions reasonable
(Miller V Jackson)
Defences
•Prescription
•Moving to the nuisance
•Statutory Authority
