Shared Access Drive and Trespassing

[WorTortle]

I live on a cul-de-sac which terminates at a shared access drive. At the end of this is a metal fence which separates it from another cul-de-sac which terminates at a shared access drive. This was a per plan when all the houses were sold.

When these streets were being constructed the fence wasn't there and when construction was finished the housebuilder put up a fence with a 1m gap in it. People started using it as a through path even though it should never have been accessible.

Recently the housebuilder has come back and closed off the fence entirely. People are now cutting across 2 gardens to circumvent the fence and continue using the route they became accustomed to.

What rights do we have to stop people from using the 2 streets as a shortcut and ruining two gardens? Is the housebuilder obliged to do anything to stop this?

 

[peterwalkley]

A photo would help here, however you are probably going to need to get it all fenced off so there is no way through without climbing something.

 

[Demon]

A photo would be useful, I don't think the housebuilder is responsible for stopping people cutting across gardens, that's down to the homeowners to sort out.

We have a fence seperating two housing estates which is the same, initially it was a loosly fence that people would squeeze through, that turned in to a fence that they could only climb over, so they tried going over an adjoining houses garden, but the house owner just put a 6ft fence along that side and the problem went away.

 

[Destination]

How long was it there before the builder closed off the access?

 

[WorTortle]

How do you go about adding a picture?

The route had been left open approximately 18 months which has been long enough for people to think they should still have right of way.

The issue is the fence stops at 2 properties who share a front garden that has no fence separating them. Also construction workers are taking this route too despite words being had with the site manager.

 

[Quartz]

Barbed wire, mines, sentry guns. You know, the ususal.

 

[WorTortle]

Barbed wire, mines, sentry guns. You know, the ususal.

I've already considered following back to their property and utilising the letterbox...

 

[roadie]

This is the issue with cul-de-sacs from an urban design point of view. It forces pedestrians to take a very long route round.

Maybe open it back up? That would at least stop people using gardens!

 

[alexakasloth]

To add a photo host it on somewhere such as Imgur and then use the [ img ] and [ / IMG ] tags either side of the image link, without spaces.

Without adding a fence for the garden the only thing you can do is put up signs and verbally tell people to get off your land.

 

[DB_SamX]

A photo or plan will help.

If it's your garden they are trespassing in, then, just plant some flowers and hedges to block their way, and add in some big stones too. It'll look less obtrusiveband prettier than fencing off.

 

[Sitoo1]

if the path has been used by the public for more than 20 years without interruptions it becomes a public right of way

 

[MadMan-JaMeS]

How do you go about adding a picture?

The route had been left open approximately 18 months which has been long enough for people to think they should still have right of way.

The issue is the fence stops at 2 properties who share a front garden that has no fence separating them. Also construction workers are taking this route too despite words being had with the site manager.

if the path has been used by the public for more than 20 years without interruptions it becomes a public right of way

@Sitoo1 you should really read the whole thread before posting. The OP does state its been 18months.

Anyway at OP. Once we have a pic we can advise more.

Is there no way to fence the gardens they are walking across ?

 

[Sitoo1]

@Sitoo1 you should really read the whole thread before posting. The OP does state its been 18months.

Anyway at OP. Once we have a pic we can advise more.

Is there no way to fence the gardens they are walking across ?

Hi thank you for your response and input. Sorry my understanding was that these might be new builds and / or recent construction and that the land may have been used by the public prior to construction. similar to the quote below.

"you may still be able to access private land if:

• the land was used as a public right of way in the past - check old maps and documents
• the land was accessed by the public for at least 20 years and nobody has asked them to stop" - https://www.gov.uk/right-of-way-open-access-land (2020)

 

[Kutter]

Get a big dog.

 

[NoobCannon]

I live on a cul-de-sac which terminates at a shared access drive. At the end of this is a metal fence which separates it from another cul-de-sac which terminates at a shared access drive. This was a per plan when all the houses were sold.

When these streets were being constructed the fence wasn't there and when construction was finished the housebuilder put up a fence with a 1m gap in it. People started using it as a through path even though it should never have been accessible.

Recently the housebuilder has come back and closed off the fence entirely. People are now cutting across 2 gardens to circumvent the fence and continue using the route they became accustomed to.

What rights do we have to stop people from using the 2 streets as a shortcut and ruining two gardens? Is the housebuilder obliged to do anything to stop this?

as this threads been bumped. What was the outcome op?

 

[LeeUK]

Neighbour should just put a fence up to stop them. Public have no right to cut across a private garden to access the next cul-de-sac.

 

[WorTortle]

I'll try my best to get a photo up.

Basically they took away the gap in the fence. More complaining about gardens being walked on.

Came back from work one day and there was a new gap in the fence without any consultation and I just can't be ar-bothered to complain because it'll go absolutely nowhere.

There has never been any right of way, this was a field 4 years ago and the only access was to a farmer and his machinery.

 

[WorTortle]

blue is the shared access driveway. Purple denotes boundary line, the purple should actually join up along the edge of the fence as the grassy bit is private land but you'd lose sight of the fence/line.

The streets are seperate either side of the fence and the fence was supposed to be a grassed area with shrubs and absolutely no access. Ironically the main road that linked the 2 driveways was opened 2 weeks after this cut was created again.

Done my best with smartphone scribbles.

 

[WorTortle]

the link is imgur.com/a/mKDFdSq

 

[andy_mk3]

You need the link in tags from Imgur for BBCode/fourms