Trespass on public open space?

HTB_newbie

Hi

It never ceases to amaze me how much knowledgable people on these forums are so I'm hoping you will educate me

We have an enclosed public open space at the end of our garden. We've received notice from the parish council that the fencing enclosing this will be taken down making it public, so makes sense. This is a long strip bounded along the two long sides with gardens.

My question relates to the letter telling us to make sure the bottom of our garden is secure as the PC fencing will come down and to note that we cannot install a gate otherwise we may be trespassing? Really? I could understand installing a gate onto public land such that it swings out wards into the land would effectively do this but a gate which swings inwards and so never goes unto the public open space? I should clarify that due to a shallow ditch our back garden where we are requested to erect a fence would not be on the boundary itself. I'm struggling to understand why a gate which is on private land would be considered trespass when it gives access to land entitled to be used for all the village which is given as a valid reason to subject the properties bounding this space to greater risk of burglary. Any thoughts?

k12479

HTB_newbie wrote: »

I'm struggling to understand why a gate which is on private land would be considered trespass when it gives access to land entitled to be used for all the village which is given as a valid reason to subject the properties bounding this space to greater risk of burglary. Any thoughts?

At a guess, because you have the right to access it like anybody else, but not the right to create your own access point.

CKhalvashi

k12479 wrote: »

At a guess, because you have the right to access it like anybody else, but not the right to create your own access point.

Looking at this from a common sense point of view, my mothers current property has a gate that spills out onto public land, that from what I understand has been there for several years and nobody has complained.

I don't know the legalities of it, but if it's publicly accessible land, I'm not sure I'd want a gate going onto it, however legal it is. This is 2x if it's pitch black outside at night.

CK

Seanymph

Because if you do erect a gate and have access through it for a number of years (I think 12) you create an 'easement'.

This means you have the right to access that land from yours -and they would be unable, in future years, to fence or sell that land.

Creating 'easements' is not good practice for Parish Councils, who are supposed to be protecting future claims and assets.

Therefore generally in these circumstances if you ask them they can charge you a sum per year - usually a small sum, I pay £1.00 a year for my back gate onto a long distance footpath - and that way it is a leased access and they have the right to terminate the agreement.

Your PC may not have faced this before, and are right in saying you have no right to the gate - but you can usually talk to them.

There is a newspaper story from about a month ago where a PC erected a six foot high fence on their own land to stop someone's gate from giving access - £14,000 later and the people won the right to have the fence taken down and their gate returned to functional.

My guess would be the gate had been there for a long time and they had created the right of access.

Your PC is trying to stop you creating the same right.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2535199/Parish-council-wasted-14-000-taxpayers-money-legal-fees-barricaded-retired-couple-OWN-garden-6ft-fence-stop-accessing-public-park.html

HTB_newbie

Seanymph

Thank you! That makes sense now.

Having access from the back may be useful in a good few years time when my kids are old enough to go to the playground without me as they could then get there without going near any road or the river. For now though, I'd rather have the protection of no gate from a security POV, I just couldn't understand why no gates were permitted. Now I do!

embob74

You could always speak to the Parish Council. They are local people just like you. Meetings are held regularly and have to be advertised beforehand.

Errata

A public open space has clearly defined points of ingress and egress - your garden isn't one of them.