New Ferry Butterfly Park wins legal battle to stay open

Jun 30 2011 By Lorna Hughes

A WIRRAL nature reserve has won a long-running legal battle to stay open.

New Ferry Butterfly Park has been under threat of closure since 2009, when leaseholder Cheshire Wildlife Trust (CWT) was told to vacate the site by land owner Frithmere Ltd.

At Liverpool County Court yesterday barristers for the Trust successfully argued that the park’s environmental work meant it could be classed as a business under part of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.

It means the Trust is protected from Frithmere’s notice to quit because it was served under different legislation.

But Judge David Hodge rejected claims by CWT that a letter from Frithmere’s agents asking it to go was invalid because it did not specify a leaving date.

Frithmere could now serve a notice to quit under the 1954 Act – but Judge Hodge warned the firm would find it difficult to succeed and refused to allow an appeal.

He said: "The only grounds on which I can conceive it succeeding are on redevelopment of the site, and there may be difficulty in securing planning permission in view of the nature of this land."

The Trust was granted the tenancy in 1993 by the site’s previous owner the British Railways Board. Frithmere bought the land in 1997.

Frithmere’s agent David Youngs told the court he visited Dr Janel Fone, chief executive of CWT in December 2008, telling her the lease would be withdrawn and suggesting an alternative location at Bromborough Dock landfill.

Dr Fone said: "He implied they would be thinking about developing it at some stage in the future. I took that to mean mid to long-term."

But in February 2009 she received a letter formally serving six months’ notice to quit the site.

She responded urging the firm to reconsider but received a reply from Mr Youngs telling her that the tenancy was "always temporary".

He wrote: "It was always going to end at some point and unfortunately we believe that moment has been reached."

Dr Fone said the park attracted 450 visitors on its first open day this summer but the short term leases it was given made it difficult to apply for grants.

The land supports at least 397 species, including butterflies, moths, bees and spiders. shield bugs, pond life, and a long list of plants including two species of orchid.

She described the landfill project as a "red herring" and said the location was unsuitable.

Frithmere company director Denis Morgansaid: "We had a close working relationship with the Bromborough site’s owner and we felt we should do whatever we could to facilitate CWT benefiting from it."

Cheshire Wildlife Trust was awarded 80%of its costs.