We have today sent a formal letter to Northwich Town Council objecting to their actions in stepping beyond their legal powers by discussing the commercial lease of part of Verdin Park to the NHS Trust.

Verdin Park was gifted to the people of Northwich for recreation, and the Council holds it in trust for public use only.

Our letter sets out the legal covenants and statutory duties that protect the park and makes clear that any attempt to lease or develop it would be unlawful and against the public interest.

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Subject: Verdin Park – Council’s Legal Authority to Lease or Dispose of Land 

Dear Mr Shaw, 

I am writing formally to raise serious concerns about the legality of Northwich Town Council’s ongoing discussions with the Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust regarding the proposed use of part of Verdin Park for staff car parking. 

As you will be aware, Verdin Park was donated to the people of Northwich for recreation and leisure under a deed executed in 1889 between Joseph Verdin and the Northwich Local Board. The accompanying covenant requires the Council “to maintain and keep the said land in good order and condition as a place for public recreation and not, without consent, to erect any cottage or dwelling house or other building whatsoever except such as shall be required for the purposes of the said recreation ground.” 

That restriction has been explicitly reaffirmed in subsequent conveyances, including: 

• The 1935 Conveyance (Verdin Trustees to the Urban District Council of Northwich), which merged the 999-year lease and freehold reversion, “but subject to the covenant contained in the Indenture dated 31 March 1889.” 
• The 1942 and 1949 Transactions (Stabb and Hitchen deeds), which incorporated adjoining parcels of the former Verdin estate into the park and again expressly stated that the property  remained “subject to the restrictive covenant as to user contained in the said Conveyance of 11 January 1935.” 

I must also place on record a further concern. Land Registry records indicate the freehold was registered in the Council’s name in 2009. Residents were not consulted, notified, or afforded transparency in that process. Verdin Park belongs to the people of Northwich; the beneficial ownership is vested in the public. The Council holds only the legal estate as trustee and has no beneficial title in its own right. 

The 2009 registration appears to show Northwich Town Council as if it were an unencumbered proprietor, rather than as a trustee of public trust land. That registration does not - and cannot - extinguish the statutory trust or transfer beneficial title away from residents. 

Given that defect, the Land Registry title must be corrected or notated to explicitly record that the land is held under statutory trust for public recreation. I therefore request that Northwich Town Council confirm it will take appropriate steps to ensure the title is amended to reflect its trustee status. 

The Council therefore holds Verdin Park subject to binding restrictive covenants and statutory trust duties under: 

• Section 164 of the Public Health Act 1875 
• Section 10 of the Open Spaces Act 1906 

Those statutory duties require that the land remain dedicated to public recreation - not disposal, not commercial leasing, and not ancillary institutional use.

Any negotiation or “agreement in principle” with the NHS Trust would therefore be ultra vires - beyond the Council’s legal powers. Before any change of use could even be considered, the Council would first be required to: 

1. Publish statutory public notices under section 123(2A) of the Local Government Act 1972; 
2. Consider all objections, and 
3.  Obtain the consent of the Secretary of State to release the land from its recreational trust and covenants. 

No such process has occurred. 

Accordingly, I request that Northwich Town Council: 

1. Confirm in writing under what legal authority it believes it may offer or negotiate the lease of any part of Verdin Park to the NHS Trust; and 
2. Suspend all discussions or negotiations with the Trust until the Council has obtained formal legal advice and complied fully with its statutory duties. 

Verdin Park is not the Council’s asset to trade; it is held in trust for the people of Northwich. Any attempt to dispose of or re-purpose it without due legal process would constitute a clear breach of covenant and statutory trust. 

I look forward to your prompt written response.