Unadopted Road

k66yla

I live on an unadopted road which is being abused by a business thats located on it. The person is dumping unroadworthy cars and scrap metal along the whole length of it. The piece of land that the vehicles are on is'nt actually owned by anyone or the land owner cannot be traced.

I have been doing a bit of research (thank goodness for the internet!) and have come across an Enforcement Order issued by the local council in 1974 for that patch of land. It states that a previous person was using the land to park vehicles and trailers and the council issued the Enforcement Notice for it to cease.

My question is would the Enforcement Notice still be valid after 43 years? I have contacted the council and awaiting a response but just wondering if they will even bother dealing with it these days.

patman99

The enforcement order would have been against the person committing the offence. If it is still the same person dumping scrap, then the EO will still be enforcable.

If it is someone different, then the Council will need to issue a new one (that is if they are interested).

You (and your neighbours) could be helpful and tidy the area up, taking any scrap you pick up to the scrap yard and cashing it in.

Or, you could spend less than a fiver on the land registry website to get the registered owner infor.

Geoff1963

If the vehicles aren't taxed, they must be SORN'd, which includes saying where they are being kept. If the number plates or VIN are visible, DVLA might be interested.

Breakers yards will accept scrap cars for free, or need paying to collect ; but there are lots of "entrepreneurs", who will take odd bits of scrap metal from the end of your drive. If it really is unwanted scrap, they'd be happy to take it away.

missile

The council do have a duty to remove abandoned vehicles from private land.

moneyistooshorttomention

patman99 wrote: »

You (and your neighbours) could be helpful and tidy the area up, taking any scrap you pick up to the scrap yard and cashing it in.

.

;):rotfl: Now that sounds like a useful suggestion;) - and you're only "being helpful" ....ahem....

After all - how were you to know that rubbish belongs to the business. It's on land the business doesn't own - so "it must have been dumped by travellers/etc/etc and we were being community-minded tidying up after these travellers/etc";).

The risk of leaving it there is not just the place is being made to look a tip by this business - it's that this business is basically trying to lay claim to this land and use it as their own. Very naughty of them....:cool:

patman99

If the land shows as unregistered on Land Registry, then you could try putting in an ownership claim yourself. It can cost £1500+ in legal fees, but once they 28 day notice placed on the site and published in the local press has expired, the land is yours to fence off and use for whatever you want.

k66yla

The council did a search for a land owner years ago as a building was going up nearby and it bordered the boundary but none was found. I am hoping that because there has been an Enforcement Notice issued in the past to another business for a similar problem that it will set a precedent for another one to this other business.

Indeed the vehicles and scrap do belong to the business.

I have checked on the DVLA website and only 8 out of about 20 vehicles have been SORNed. One was SORNed over 10 years ago. Most of them have flat tyres and moss growing on them.

The road is home to 14 1800's cottages and is causing a lot of problems for us residents due to access. I dread there is ever a fire because it would and has indeed in the past caused issues for the Fire Brigade to get their vehicle into the road (A dumped vehicle caught alight). I have contacted the local Fire & Rescue to ask them if they could bring an Engine down the road when they are in the area checking the hydrants but I don't know if they have been or not.

Thanks to everyone that has responded so far. I really don't think I will be going out there to 'tidy up' though.

moneyistooshorttomention

Tidying up - ? middle of the night with a group of friends?

or

find hefty not-too-concerned-about-problems bloke and pay him and his group of mates to do the same?