Can a servient tenement owner stop the use of their driveway?

Nova Scotia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Deal & Rand v. Palmeter & George, 2004 NSSC 190 (CanLII):

Nathanson J. noted that in Wynne there was no proof of adverse use, and therefore “the owner of the servient tenement could at any time put a stop to the use of the particular way of necessity provided that he placed at her disposal an equally convenient route in order to service the continuing necessity” In the case before him, however, there was proof of a prescriptive right. He concluded, referring to Pearson v. Spencer, that “the plaintiff has no authority for his claim that he, as owner of the servient tenement, has the right to relocate the driveway and, therefore, to alter the right of way which the defendant acquired by prescription.” He added that “the plaintiff has no right to alter the way of necessity which is vested in the defendant by prescription attained as a result of open, continuous and adverse usage for more than 40 years.”

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