Part Adoption of Road

Paulo666d

Hello i am new to this site so this is my first post so sorry if this post isn't relevant.
basically the road where i live is un-surfaced an is classed as un-adopted by the local authority an they have no intention of ever adopting it. the problem i see is that the entire road is not un-surfaced the first part of it is, the council had it surfaced to include it as part of a one way system leading to another road (there is another named road which joins to our road) they also installed a public footpath along the full stretch of the road with street lights and made it a thoroughfare for general public use. (so to simplify the full stretch of road is 50/50 one half surfaced an one half not with a surfaced public path along the entirety of it)
my question is if anyone can help surely the council owns the road because all the keep saying to me is that it is part adopted?? can they actually do that? as at the minute it looks like they are just using the parts which suit them an leaving the rest of it up to someone else, plus if in fact we as residents do have to maintain the un-adopted part the council have made us more at risk from accident claims from the public who travel across it everyday due to the footpath the council have installed... I have paid for a search via the land registry which shows no documents of ownership for the entire road? im just at a dead end now so if anyone as any insights they would be appreciated.

sorry for the essay one last part is, the council say that we as residents are responsible for the road so if this is the case don't we as residents own the road in its entirety including the part the council have surfaced? the road is just called one name an is classed as one road not 2 parts. just wondered as if this is the case surely we will be within our rights to stop the council using the part they have surfaced?

thank you for your time

AdrianC

Adopted is not the same as owned by. Ownership is simply not relevant.

It's entirely possible for one stretch to be adopted, and another part to be unadopted. You residents need to decide how to maintain the unadopted stretch, because nobody else is going to.

I presume you were well aware that it was unadopted and unsurfaced when you bought your home?

davidmcn

Ownership and road adoption are different things - the council don't need to own roads to have adopted them (and vice versa).

Whether you have the right to use a private road is (usually) determined by your title deeds - so what do they say? And what were you told by your solicitor when you bought your house?

And the council probably have the right to use the bit of road they've surfaced, irrespective of whether it's been adopted for maintenance.

bouicca21

Half of my road is adopted, half isn’t. The frontagers have to vote on adoption because they will be charged for it. Them at t’other end of the road prefer their (very substantial) potholes to the nice stretch of tarmac that we have at our end. Someone used to organise some gravel to fill the holes once a quarter but he’s moved and now the potholes just get deeper and deeper.

You want your bit of road adopted, start a campaign and be prepared to pay for it.

Simby

Or if you want the road maintained organize with the other houses to surface it and maintain it and split the costs. Depending on how many houses agree to chip in the cost may only be a few thousand each for the surfacing.

You could also all chip in for someone to mow the grass if there are verges etc... we together with our neighbors each contribute 40£ each summer to mow a green in front of our houses as the council only do it once in a blue moon.