James Matthews has objected to a bid to make a 285m path across Barton Court a legally recognised public footpath, telling a public inquiry that opening the route would create real security problems for his family. A decision on whether the stretch through the Kintbury estate is a public right of way is expected in August.
The case has drawn attention because Matthews and his wife, Pippa, moved to Barton Court in autumn 2022, and he installed an electric security gate there in September 2022. The dispute now rests on whether the route has been used openly enough, for long enough, to meet the test for a public footpath — a question that matters to walkers in Kintbury as much as it does to the family inside the estate.
West Berkshire Ramblers applied in January 2023 to have the route formally recognised, and West Berkshire Council later concluded it was reasonably alleged to exist as a public right of way. At the inquiry’s final day, Paul Wilmshurst said the group had struggled to show the required use. Matthews, in a written submission, said recognition of the path would cause very real practical, privacy and security issues for him and his family.
Supporters of the claim have answered that the path has not been a dead track at all. Emma Rowland said it has been regularly used for more than 20 years and has been woven into the lives of many people in Kintbury, adding that witnesses gave clear and consistent evidence of its use and that the ramblers had used it from at least 1994. On the other side, Lady Conran said she saw one person using the path in 30 years while living at Barton Court, and Anthony Stansfeld said he regarded it as part of a private drive.
That clash is what planning inspector Ken Taylor now has to weigh. A public footpath can be declared if it has been used for an uninterrupted 20-year period without force, secrecy or permission, or if there is evidence that the land was set aside for that purpose and then used publicly. Barton Court itself is a Grade II listed building dating to the 18th century, but the decision due in August will turn on the evidence about the 935ft route across the estate and whether it was ever truly public.
For Matthews, the issue is not abstract. The inquiry has placed his family’s privacy and security against walkers’ claims of long-standing use, and Ken Taylor’s ruling will decide which side of Barton Court becomes law.
