what obligation does the owners of a nature reserve have to private property uk?

lckid

my garden backs onto a small strip of land (about 3M) and then a disused but under restoreation canal. the land is registered by a private housing company, who is very big on concervation and has prob listed it as nature reserve, but is seperately owned to the canal.

the land was prob left over from the build of the street and un useable, there is a thick blanket of Laurel tightly packed and has reached maturety, standing over the hight of our house, due to the lack of light the ground is just loose dirt that is at an incline of over 45 deg and slipping into the canal. can land like this be presurving the wildlife or be a nature reserve or just disused?

im an engineer and my workshop is built right across the end of my garden and due to the laurel i am worred about the dammage the over hanging trees/ roots/ loose soil would have on my workshop...

most people in my street have taken the land in one way or another and i would like to do the same as i end up maintaining it anyway and would like to make better acsess to the land and build a small seating area overlooking the canal.

fixing the land would cost a bunch, along with adding a door for acsess and im worred that if i just do it i could end up throwing away money when someone takes it back from me and restore it.

ether way if i do it myself or someone else looks after the land, it needs to be done, or if its reserve does it have to be done at all??

hope some one has some answers out there :huh:

Running_Horse

Have you spoken to the landowner?

What has happened to others who have taken over the land?

How would "fixing" the land "cost a bunch"?

maninthestreet

How are you going to install and use a seating area on land that is a 45 degree slope????

lckid

thanks for replying

i have located the land owners and plan to call them in office hours tomorow, i didnt want to write as i wanted to start on an informal basis to test the water... i have found a home number for the owner but i would rather contact him at work as its a rather big company...

the others think the land belongs to the council and are hoping to just get away with it i think.... they have been using if for a few years now, one has made a multi level garden, one has a decking another a stilted platform, others have just extended the garden by shifting the boundry fence. i would like some sort of platform and was thinking as nether of my neighbours have shown an interest in the land or trees i could buy part of that land too and save them the hassle of hacking back or cleaning up after them and of cource extending my garden... neighbours on both sides worry about the berries at this time of year due to the kids playing in the gardens.

to be able to use the land i would have to acsess it by making a door in the rear of my workshop, this is i think a good thing because it keeps my property secure and my baby away from the canal... this would cost a bit and for the structure to sit on and its planning permit as it would be over 300mm off the ground due to the slope, which if i just do it could be money down the toilet

G_M

If the owner is not aware and you bring this to his attention, your neighbours ar going to be delighted with you if he subsequently takes action against those of them who have already extended............

lckid

i realise that but the land backs onto a public canal and walkway in center of town, 100s of people see the rear gardens every week, the gardens are seen by members of the canal trust, senior council members and even featured on nature watch! if some one objected im sure we would have heard about it and truely belive that the owners already know that they are there, they are not hidden! they are taken care of, make the area look nicer and i belive better for the inviroment, this is why i want to do somthing similar... but at the end of the day who is in the wrong the man who steals or the man who takes with concent?

i think that the current owners save alot of money by having other people look after and care for the waste land left over after the houses were built and would only be too pleased for someone to take over their responcabilitys? unless that is, its protected land for wild life.... in that case should the resedents be able to take the land in the first place?

the other thing is if the owners are accountable for the land and the resedents did know who they were, would they and my self included still pay for or cut the trees ourselves?? or just phone them up and tell them to look after their own land?? that has no acsess and is worthles to every one else apart from the resedents?? i did have to work very hard to find them and pay for several documents for an address... even then there was very limated information if you ask me thats the best way of escaping responcabilitys what do you think?

mynameisdave

I don't agree that removing threes/shrubbery (no matter how overgrown) and replacing it with a decked seating area is better for the environment.

What did they say about the land when the canal towpath appeared on Nature Watch. Did they say it was protected land?

lckid

i do agree with you there, but letting the bare soil and rubbish fall into the canal is hardly conservation, i want diversify and let some light in, i dont want to loose the trees its the laurel thats the problem, i want to make a make a natural reedy/bull rushes area with small flower garden to incourage more bees, i already have bee boxes in my garden and get alot of visiters... i dont just want to rip it all up and pave it!!! i just wanted some where to sit where i could enjoy the canal.

as for spring watch im not sure, the land is owned privatly, not by the canal, council or the trust and has no acsess but by boat or as the 5 differant cats ive seen down there get there, over the fence... a spring watch photogropher is always down there taking picures of the herrons, which may i add dont live in the laurel...they fish from the reeds, i spoken to the canal trust information center and the work party members all of which say the laurel is a pest as it blacks out the land and doent let anything else grow, it runs away without being looked after... which is what im wanting to do and of course sit there for my efforts....