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(CNS): The Public Lands Commission has identified 39 landowners who are blocking access to the beach or shoreline around Cayman and has begun the process of prosecuting those who are not compliant with enforcement notices. In the first cases since the commission was created, several people appeared in court Tuesday in relation to seven locations where the owners are accused of breaching the law by obstructing the public right to access or the use of public land.
Most of the owners are being given an opportunity to remove the obstructions, such as fences or other blockages, and become compliant before they are punished in accordance with the law. The lands commission is keen to give landowners a chance to do the right thing once they understand they have breached public access rights.
Chief Magistrate Valdis Foldats reminded some of the parties of the heavy financial penalty that comes with blocking such accesses. “The law prescribes a fine of up to $500 per day for each day that the registered access is blocked. While such a fine would be reserved for the worst case, it is in the best interest of the landowners to clear the accesses to avoid such heavy fines,” he warned.
Speaking to the media following the appearances of those connected with the seven cases, PLC Chief Inspector Winsome Prendergast explained that there are another four cases where enforcement notices have been issued, and those individuals are expected to appear in court shortly. Meanwhile, she said the other 28 landowners had already cleared the access points on their land, and therefore the commission would not be pursuing prosecution in those cases.
The commission monitors over 200 registered access points, and Prendergast said it had a robust enforcement plan in place to check that all registered beach accesses were being kept clear.
“The aim is to get the public to be compliant with the rules and regulations of the Public Lands Act,” she said, as she explained why most people were being given a chance to become compliant. But she warned that the office was not afraid to press ahead with a prosecution against those individual landowners who refuse to clear blocked access points, though she expected those cases would be rare, and it would be “only in extreme circumstances” where the commission will push for a fine.
In addition to the 39 that the commission had already identified, Prendergast said the PLC was also pursuing claims from the public about prescriptive rights, though those issues are being handled through the civil division of the courts because breaching prescriptive rights is still not considered a criminal offence.
“Prescriptive rights are rights to use a property that develop over a period of time,” she said, noting that users have to demonstrate that the public has had access and traditionally used an access point for at least 20 years. “The law is not really clear here with how you deal with prescriptive accesses,” she said but she expects some changes to the legislation in the near future to remove any of the ambiguities relating to the Public Lands Act.
Prendergast also confirmed that the situation at the Seven Mile Public Beach remained a key issue for the commission, and following the recent cease and desist notices issued for vendors there, she said that it would soon move to enforce the notice against those who were not compliant. However, she revealed that there are a number of problems surrounding the commercial activity at the over-stretched public spot, not least that around 58 vendors have submitted past applications to trade there.
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