Service Strip enforcement notice

clon

Back in September 2006 I moved my boundary fence to the end of the road (I live on a corner) The main reason was the burden of upkeeping the hedges had got too much for me (single parent following divorce etc) and this made it easy to maintain. The Council came down on me like a ton of bricks following a complaint (neighbour?) and told me I had to remove the fence or else they would serve me with an enforcement notice, remove it and bill me etc. After discussing it all with a solicitor and local councillor it became apparent that I probably would end up having to move it and I agreed to do so in 12 months (May 2009) I then asked the Council to maintain the remaining hedges which are now growing through my fence but they refused saying its my neighbours property and nothing to do with them!!
Thing is, I feel I am being victimised now as other people on my street have done similar things and have been left in peace. Its making me ill as the stress has been going on for so long.
I asked the council for the number of times this had happened over the last 10 years to gauge a) whether I AM being picked on (eg. only you in the last 10 years) or b) lots of the public are suffering and therefore they should promote this issue more as a preventative step. they have refused to give this information saying they do not categorise it in this way (?)

Has anyone ANY ideas what I can do? At the moment, I am facing the prospect of paying to have the fence down and getting back out the groundsmen to cut down the bushes. Is this REALLY in the public interest??

latecomer

So you moved your fence to encompass land that wasn't yours?

maninthestreet

In moving your boundary fence, did you encompass land that you didn't own, or did you move the fence close to your own property? A picture might help.

Gavin57

Did the Council say why the fence was unacceptable in it new location. What was the height of the fence, being on a corner was it causing a visibility hazard for traffic on the Road.

helenjg

I then asked the Council to maintain the remaining hedges which are now growing through my fence but they refused saying its my neighbours property and nothing to do with them!!

This is probably right - they're your neighbours hedges not the councils.

Its making me ill as the stress has been going on for so long.

I think the word we need here is perspective. Its a hedge, not a bogeyman. If you really are struggling to cope then speak with your neighbour and explain the situation and ask them if they could help you trim your side? I say help you because it would be a good way of meeting them half way if you feel you are unable to cope with it on your own.

As a bit of advice to you and to others on this board, neighbours can be !!!!!! with each other sometimes, its sad and unfortunate but you have to live with it. Please don't let it get you down

ormus

move the fence back to where it was and then burn the hedge down.
november the 5th is a really good night to do it.

27col

I am not at all sure what you are saying. I am unable to visualise the problem. Can you not put up a picture of exactly what is happening.

clon

Thanks to you all for the reply - the fence now encompasses SOME of my land and SOME that isn't mine - I haven't got anything in electronic format but basically I am on a corner plot. The entire corner is shown on my deeds as being mine (outlined in red) What the deeds and land registry picture DOESN'T show is the service strip. This is mentioned in the words themselves but itsn't reflected on the picure.

So foolishly I assumed the corner was ALL mine, when in effect there's an additional 2 m strip that goes up to the kerb. You're right - a picture would help and I'll get one scanned in at work next week, that might help explain what's happened.

clon

Thanks for the feedback but the neighbours are not the problem here at all - its the Council.

clon

They said it was cos a neighbour complained about it - presumably cos they don't like the view now the hedges have gone. No problem with height, safety etc. there aren't even any services under the land which is the usual reason for challenging these. they admitted to me there are no services under there and its basically in response to a complaint.

oilit

surely the fact that you have moved your legal boundary to a point where you have included a piece of land that is not legally yours is enclosed within your 'new curtilage' is issue enough? You cant just go around doing that - regardless of who owns the land. If its a service strip - I would assume that it belongs to somebody like a council or housing association or if the service strip leads upto a public utility appliance like a substation then it may well be theres - but net net it sounds like you shoudl move your fence back to where the edge of you legal boundary is as defined by the deeds. IF the aforementioned hedge was on your neighbours side of the boundary and was intruding into your property you are legally permitted to trim back to the boundary of the two properties. If you care cutting trees you are obliged legally to give the wood back to the neighbour - the key here is communication - ask them if they mind/want the trimmings/would help/contribute etc etc.