Pippa and James Matthews have responded after a Government planning inspector ruled the couple are unable to cite privacy and security worries as grounds for blocking a disputed footpath running through their £15.5million Berkshire estate.
Ken Taylor, the inspector presiding over a six-day public inquiry, determined on Wednesday that such considerations fall outside the hearing’s remit.
The inquiry will instead examine whether local residents walked the route, known as Mill Lane, with sufficient regularity during a two-decade period between 2002 and 2022 to establish lawful public access rights.
A spokesman for the couple rejected claims that any public footpath had ever existed on the land in question.
Pippa and James Matthews have spoken out after a ruling was issued in their bitter £15.5million footpath fight
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PA
The spokesman told the Telegraph: “For as long as records exist, there has never been a footpath/public right of way on the land currently under discussion.
“There are other clearly marked footpaths nearby. Contrary to media reports, the previous owners of the property from as far back as the 1970s did not allow public access to the land under discussion. It has always been private property.”
The Matthewses acquired the 145-acre Barton Court property near Kintbury in 2022 and subsequently restricted access to the track, erecting signs stating “Private: No Public Access” and “No Trespassing”.
More than 30 villagers, with backing from the Ramblers, lodged an application seeking formal designation of the lane as a public right of way.
Pippa married James Matthews in 2017 | GETTY
Their case rested on the argument that walkers had crossed the path without interruption for decades.
West Berkshire Council sided with the applicants, a decision that Mr Matthews subsequently contested, leading to the current public inquiry.
The track had previously allowed dog walkers and ramblers to pass through the grounds, which sit alongside the River Kennet.
Before the Matthewses took ownership, the estate belonged to Sir Terence Conran, founder of Habitat, who died in 2020.
Catherine and Pippa Matthews taking their seats at Wimbledon in 2024
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REUTERS
Mrs Matthews, younger sister of the Princess of Wales, lives at the property with her husband and their three children.
Paul Wilmshurst, the barrister acting for Mr Matthews, contended that too few people had walked the route for it to qualify as a public footpath.
He told the inquiry: “It’s not a question of whether it’s a good or a bad thing. It works based on the history of the land, based on how people have used it.”
Mr Wilmshurst added: “It has certainly not been used by a significant number of people from the village of Kintbury. It doesn’t lead anywhere particularly useful.”
Pippa Matthews was the Princess of Wales’s bridesmaid in 2011
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PALegal submissions for the family maintained that permitting public access would generate “very real practical, privacy difficulties and security issues”.
Residents offered contrasting accounts, with several describing the lane as a valued recreational route and a safer alternative to a nearby main road lacking pavements.
Samuel Robins, a lifelong Kintbury resident, testified: “It’s a calm and attractive walk. I’ve never been stopped or asked to turn around.”
Sophie Redmond, programme manager for paths at the Ramblers, stated that the lane had “been walked by the community for more than 20 years without interruption”, which she argued established a legal right of way.
She noted that obstructed paths across the country were restricting public access to natural spaces and green areas.