AFC Holdings Pty Ltd v Shiprock Holdings Pty Ltd

The case involved a dispute between AFC Holdings Pty Ltd and Shiprock Holdings Pty Ltd concerning the use of a right of carriageway. The dispute centred around the interpretation and scope of the easement that granted a right of carriageway over a defined strip of land. The parties came before the Supreme Court of Queensland to resolve their differences.

The primary legal issues were whether the right of carriageway included the right to park vehicles, and whether driving a private motor vehicle over a section of the carriageway where sandstone pavers had been laid constituted an unreasonable use of the easement. The Court was also required to determine if an injunction should be granted to restrain parking on the sandstone pavers.

The Court held that the right of carriageway included the right to pass and to go, and impliedly extended to the right to stop for a short period. However, it did not encompass the right to park a vehicle where it could be reasonably parked wholly on the dominant tenement's land. The Court found that driving a private motor vehicle on the right of carriageway for part of its length over which sandstone pavers had been laid did not constitute an unreasonable use of the right of carriageway. Consequently, the Court determined that an injunction to restrain parking on the sandstone pavers was not warranted.