The Princess of Wales's brother-in-law has told a planning inquiry that there is a need for a higher level of security at his property due to his family's high public profile, in a dispute over part of their driveway being designated a public footpath.
Kate's sister Pippa married James Matthews, a hedge fund manager, in May 2017, and the family relocated to Barton Court in West Berkshire in autumn 2022. Mr Matthews installed an electric security gate on the drive in September 2022, which prompted walking group West Berkshire Ramblers to apply for a 'definitive map modification order' in January 2023 to recognise a public footpath on the land.
West Berkshire District Council investigated and determined that the order route was 'reasonably alleged to exist as a public right of way based on evidence, legislation and case law', according to inquiry documents.
Mr Matthews objected and told the inquiry that the route is rarely used and the gate raised no objections from the local parish council or neighbours. Speaking at the inquiry on Thursday, Mr Matthews added that there was nothing in the conveyancing process which alerted him to any public use of the drive when he purchased the property in August 2022.
Mr Matthews said: 'There are implications for my family, due to their high public profile, which means there is a need for a higher level of security than would otherwise be the case if the circumstances were different. Therefore to improve security for my family, before we moved in, I arranged for an electric security gate to be erected on the drive. This is the gate at Point X. It was installed in September 2022. It is kept shut, except perhaps on the odd occasion such as when a visit by family or friends is expected. When the gate was put in, no one from the Parish Council or the village came to speak with us, or contacted us, about the gate to say that there was any problem with it being there. In the period after the footpath application, unfortunately there has been a continued need to enhance security and the gates at Station Road have therefore been upgraded in the summer of 2025 and kept closed.'
He also said that in the last three-and-a-half years he has seen 'only a handful of people, on maybe two or three occasions, walking along the drive'. Each time he said he spoke to those on the drive and told them it was not a public footpath and they acknowledged that it was not a footpath.
Just over a dozen people sat in the public seats as Mr Matthews spoke. In a statement to the inquiry, West Berkshire District Council said the application was based on 'the legal principle that a public footpath can be deemed to exist if it has been enjoyed by the public for an uninterrupted period of 20 years, without force, secrecy or permission, or if evidence infers that a public footpath has been dedicated by a landowner at some point in the past and that dedication has then been accepted by the public (i.e. by being used by the public)'.
The inquiry is being heard in Kintbury Coronation Hall in Hungerford. David Hill, who was the estate manager for Barton Court between 2016 and 2022, told the inquiry on Thursday morning he does not recall regularly encountering people on the drive who were being told not to be there. He said: 'There was no consistent pattern of people coming and going. Occasionally I would come across someone who appeared to be lost or unaware that they should not be there. It's hard to estimate but probably one person every two-to-three months although sometimes not as often as that. Always individuals, never groups. In those instances, I would ask whether they were lost or whether they needed assistance. I would tell them that it was not a public footpath and was a private drive. They would either turn back the way they had come, or if they were close to the other end of the route, I might allow them to continue.'
The inquiry continues.
