Cheapest way of bringing disused lane back into use

Dan-Dan

boliston wrote: »

If I had an overgrown lane behind my house I'd be grateful to have it cleared at someone else's expense. Clearing a right of way is pretty much a non issue, like worrying about annoying a farmer if you have to whack away a few brambles on a footpath to get through.

Seems from the op post that a lot of the neighbours are happy as it is , especially as it looks like they may be able to extend their gardens in the future , and in the meantime the lane is not a haven for anti social behaviour and/or risk of burglars

DigForVictory

+1 for a petrol brushcutter, with goggles as a minimum & full bike leathers if you can borrow & abuse them thus. The brushcutter is a formidable tool & once the worst of the greenery is shifted, likely your neighbours will become a great deal more interested/helpful/cooperative as they see a useful lane re-emerge.

Plus better access for fire & ambulance, plus better access for delivery of gardening supplies (anyone who might have been daydreaming of landscaping, or building the kids a swing set etc? Can now have the heavy stuff delivered closer to target & it won't need being dragged through the house.

cross posted with Dan-Dan who may have a point but neither of us know where you live.

DaftyDuck

Yes to clear the lane, petrol brushcutter from Amazon (a cheap one will cost around £60, may not be nice, comfortable, but will do the job). I'd buy, rather than hire, as you can nip out and do a bit ata a time. Glyphosate is fine: there's all sorts of misconstrued data being bandied around but, used sensibly, it's absolutely fine.

However, to appease the wrath of the neighbours, get an estate agent around, and get a valuation for your house (and theirs by default) with on-street parking, then for getting the lane freed, with garage parking. I suspect they may well see the advantage, if you need ask/tell them. {And if you have really upset them, you can sell up, and pocket the extra 10% on sale price... }

It is always worth discussing such matters beforehand, if you can.

Cisco001

Why the quote for doing your front so expensive?
I image the cheapest way is put down plastic paving grid with pea gravel. (assuming you already got dropped kerb) You can do it yourself easily and should not cost £4.5k - 8k

chappers

First of all you need to check what you can actually do to other peoples parcels of land as they actually own these and you are granted right of way over them, but may not have rights to actually do anything to the land. You might have to enforce through the courts that your rights of way are maintained by the other owners but not have the rights to clear them yourself.
If you do, get a man in with a JCB for a few hours to clear the route and then as suggested throw down a load of road planings.

lstar337

My guess is that the neighbours will act uninterested until you complete the work, then they will happily enjoy the benefits of your hard labour.

My experience is that they mostly have an initial 'freak-out' over the fact that they may be asked to pay out some money or put in some effort, then they are happy when they realise they don't.