Maintenance on public land behind my fence

[Myfamily]

I'm so sorry I know this is the wrong section but I can't seem to find an appropriate section - admin please move where appropriate.

 

I have part of a fence that has been pushed down and broken by the weight of weeds and ivy etc growing from the public footpath/land behind it. also a lot of stuff obviously dumped by people passing by, like plastic bottles and beer cans but also some random flytipped things such as kids toys.

 

The rest of the fencing is quite week now that a couple of panels have come out, and it's leaning inwards, I know that it will be more weight from the other side pushing it over and one section I can see a lot of Ivy coming over the top of it, I cannot tackle it from my side, would be useless anyway - it needs to be removed completely from where its growing.

 

Further down from me there is a path leading to the rear of the properties garages, where earth from the publice foot[ath has slipped down and made it virtually impossible for a car to pass through.

 

who's responsibility is it? is there anything i can quote as if it's the council it can be hard to get them to do anything!

 

Many thanks in advance

 

Myfamily

[maroondevo52]

Hi,

 

I have moved this thread to the Residential and Commercial lettings/Freehold issues Forum for the time being.

 

Regards,

 

Scott.

[Myfamily]

thank you Maroon

[stu007]

Hi

 

The main issue you have is who owns the Land concerned that's caused the damage to your Fence before you can do anything.

 

Make sure and take lots of photographs of the damage.

 

Have you contacted the Council to see if they are responsible for that area of land?

 

There is the Land Registry service (they do charge a fee so please check the cost first) : https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry

is another option if you can't find out from Council who the Landowner is.

Edited March 13, 2017 by stu007

[Myfamily]

I'm pretty certain it is the council - its a pathway that divides between my back garden and a cemetary on the other side , leads up to a woods. I took some pics of the fence that came down, but have cleared it away now. but I have the rest that the ivy is growing over to take pictures of, and all the rubbish there. Just not sure how to approach it with them really

[stu007]

Formal Complaint in writing to the Council (with copies of your photos not the originals) requesting there Insurers details and claim form as this has reduce your properties privacy and security.

(make sure and keep copies for yourself and get free proof of posting from the post office)

 

Only call them if you can record the call on the other hand if you do decide to call and cant record call always follow up that call with a written letter specifically referring to the date & time of the call and keep copies.

 

Please be aware that you may have to get a couple of quotes to repair the damage

[Myfamily]

if i'm going to be claiming from their insurance won't I need proof of the cost of the fencing? This was put up about 8-9 years ago, so no idea where a receipt might be!

[Steve__M]

if i'm going to be claiming from their insurance won't I need proof of the cost of the fencing? This was put up about 8-9 years ago, so no idea where a receipt might be!

 

Theoretically it would be the cost of replacement, but accounting for normal life-span. So if it is deemed that a fence usually lasts 10 years you'd only get 10% of the cost if it lasted 9 years. As a comparison all my neighbour's fences were replaced within 10 years of us moving into a new estate (thankfully we got a wall and no fences ) so the council may argue that you got your money's worth.

 

I think it might be more pragmatic to politely request maintenance, or to contact your local councillor. Additionally, go out once a year in the spring and cut it back yourself if you can.

[Myfamily]

HI Steve,

 

Yes I see what you mean, tbh I'm not holding out for the fencing to be replaced as I think it might be a little bit over ambitious! but I can only ask I suppose.

 

But I would like them to maintain it better! area we're talking about is huge - there's no way I could tackle it myself - my garden is big enough and takes all my time in the spring to do!

 

Oh well, I will write to them and see what happens - will update whan I hear

[ericsbrother]

The council has a responsibility to maintain its land and it is an offence to allow certain weeds and plants to grow in a manner that allows them to spread onto other people's property. Your complaint should focus on the cost of "making good" as this can include action to remove the weeds ect, groundworks ect , not just the cost of the fence. They will make noises about all sorst of things like their contractors are responsible but the buck stops with them. There is also case law that is in your favour so they cant really argue it isnt their problem. They may agree to replace the fence as part of remedial works anyway if theplace is suffering from other problems. Generally these will be covered by the Environmental Protection Act and councils are happy to fine people for putting their bins out a day early but they dont like it when they ahve to act so if you dont get a decent response to a strong and focussed letter of complaint get the local paper involved on the amenity issue regarding the footpath.

[Myfamily]

Thanks ericsbrother!

 

I think I have taken all the pics I can. I am not sure how to begin though, is there any chance that you can help here? sounds like you know your stuff!

[ericsbrother]

give me a couple of days and I will pen something for you. if anyone else can dive in and quote the chapeter and verse of the act to save me having to look it up please feel free.

[Guest Mrs Hobbit]

Find out who the local parish councillors are. I am this this will come in their remit. We (parish Council) here have the responsibility to keep the public areas clear of rubbish and litter. To do this we have employed a maintenance man who does the area twice a week and any heavy work needed, he reports back to the Parish Council so we can then get hold of the contractors who do this type of work.

[mariner51]

On the Deeds, who is liable for the fence & alleyway?

An alley may suggest a Public Right of Way, but each Deed may make Property Owner liable for a proportion.

In these straitened times, I doubt Council would object to you occ accessing their property to clear rubbish.

[Myfamily]

give me a couple of days and I will pen something for you. if anyone else can dive in and quote the chapeter and verse of the act to save me having to look it up please feel free.

 

Thanks ericsbrother - really appreciate it

[Myfamily]

On the Deeds, who is liable for the fence & alleyway?

An alley may suggest a Public Right of Way, but each Deed may make Property Owner liable for a proportion.

In these straitened times, I doubt Council would object to you occ accessing their property to clear rubbish.

 

the fence is my responsibility, but the road behind and land behind is a public footpath/road that leads up to woodlands and runs between my garden (behind my fence) and the cemetary on the other side. it's a dirt road which stops at the house at the rear of the cemetary (behind my fence) then becomes a footpath

 

I have never been told that I have any responsibility for that footpath/road.

 

I have a big enough garden and house to look after without going over the other side of my fence to clear their land, it's not just a kittle bit of rubbish, it's thick with bramble and ivy.

[ericsbrother]

I think Mariner is try to say look up wat the deeds say about the land if anthing as it may be covered by a thing called curtilage, where each property has rights and obligations in common. However, you should check with the council who actually owns the land before you write to the as it will then make more sense to whoever in the enviromental section gets the disrepair letter to knw that you have proof that the council owns the land.

Obvioulsy, if they dont then you cans till write to teh council and get them to discharge their duties under the EPA (make the owner do it or get into bother)

[Myfamily]

mmm, might have just got complicated, I went to the land reg and it tells me that the person who own the land is LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL of County Hall, London SE1. that is obvisouly not my local council - what do I do now??

[mariner51]

So where do you live -what local Council?

[Myfamily]

I live in Greenwich council

[ericsbrother]

it is then they mayor of London's office who is responsible. You may have a bit of bother gettig to the right person but they do have a database of all the land they own. You can aslo ask your council to do their bit and instruct the Mayor's office to clear up their muck. They have that authority.

[Myfamily]

Hi ericsbrother,

 

sorry ot sure if I've mis understood - should I just write to my local council then and they can pass on if they have the details anyway? are you able to help with a letter at all please?

[ericsbrother]

well, you know who owns the land so you write to your local council and tell them that the landowner is allowing it t become overgrown and littered and you would ask them to serve an abatement notice under S80 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Basically they should send someone round to have a look as it has the be witnessed by their officer. They can then decide what to do. Once you have set the ball rolling you can consider asking for the repair/replacement of your fence.

[Myfamily]

Hi All,

 

Well I wrote to my local council and explained the issues.

 

Last week I was a way for some of the week and in that time, someone has been to the area behind my fence and had a bit of a tidy up, they have pulled over a lot of the ivy that was growing over the top, but in the process have pulled down another 2 panels (unless they were already broken by the weight of the ivy - I can't tell as it was totally covered! ) , it's not finished by any means - it's still a mess back there but nothing else has happened.

 

I have not had any written response from them about what they plan to do about damage to my fence or the issue with the path leading to my garage.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Myfamily

[Myfamily]

I would like to chase up these guys as I've had no reply to my e-mail but they have been and cleared some of it as explained above but also further damaged my fence.

 

Any ideas about what I should write to them?