Trainspotting 2 - private space?

The other interesting question raised by the Macclesfield trainspotting saga is one of public vs private space.

In some respect I feel that Virgin should have the right to do what the wish as they own the station. If I want to stop visitors from taking photos in my home then there's nothing that anyone should be able to do to stop that.

Yet should the stations be private land? I'm not really one for nationalisation, but I get very nervous when land that was once owned by the people suddenly become in private ownership with new conditions enforced upon them.

For example - last summer I was happily walking my dog through Bristol Town Centre when I was accosted by a private security guard. It seems that the road I was walking down had been sold by the council to a private company who now ran part of the shopping centre. They ruled no dogs - and therefore Mutley and I were trespassing.

Why should this bother you?

I believe that Macclesfield Borough Council signed an agreement with Wilson Boden which means that a large amount of publicly owned land will soon be owned by WB. The chances are that they will be free to impose any rules they wish on people using this land with no control by the council.

And the punchline to this story? When I, a Councillor representing 10,000 people in Macclesfield, asked to know what was contained in this agreement I was told that I didn't need to know unless I could prove otherwise. Personally, I think it's pretty self evident.