Manchester Ship Canal Co Ltd v Vauxhall Motors Ltd (Formerly General Motors UK Ltd) [2018] EWCA Civ 1100; [2019] 2 WLR 330; [2019] Ch 331

Katharine Holland QC and Galina Ward acted for the Manchester Ship Canal Company in an appeal against a judge’s finding that a manufacturer with a factory next to the Manchester Ship Canal, which held a licence in perpetuity to discharge surface water and trade effluent into the canal, had possessory rights over the drainage infrastructure and therefore could claim relief from forfeiture of the licence after it defaulted on payment. The Court upheld the judge’s decision and also held that he had been entitled when granting relief to take into account the windfall that would accrue to the canal company if relief was refused and the manufacturer was made to pay the current value of a discharge right. An appeal on the relief from forfeiture issue only was heard by the Supreme Court in July 2019.