Neighbouring /bordering unadopted road issues

House_on_the_corner

Hello. I appreciate this may not be the right forum for this question but I thought I would try just in case!

We have bought a house that sits on the corner of an adopted road and an unadopted private road that runs along the length of our property. It runs down the right Side of the house and along the entire length of the garden. Our entrance however is from the adopted road. We are not considered residents of that road and the previous owners of our house were never asked to contribute to the maintenance of the road although they did maintain the grass verge running along the fence line on that side of the road for many years. The dust from this road is now causing us a huge problem as if effects our enjoyment of our garden on a daily basis. We can’t sit outside without getting covered in dust when a resident drives down this part of the road. Our windows are constantly covered in dust and I got hit in the face with a small stone flying over the fence recently. We have tried to talk amicably with the roads residents committee to find a solution, or just ask them to slow down and be considerate, but they are quite hostile. I know we should have realised when buying the house that this might become an issue but the road surface was not that bad at the time at it was not flagged to us as an issue. Does anyone have any experience /knowledge of something like this? We really want this section of the road laid with tarmac but the private road residents don’t want it due to costs but also aesthetics! We have offered to contribute financially. Could I complain to the local council and ask them to tarmac the top section that runs down the side of my house? Do the private road residents have any legal obligation to stop their road affecting other neighbours? No other neighbours live along this section of the road. Sorry it’s a long one!

Grateful for any advise or suggestions. Thank you.

comeandgo

Hi. You could use a hose and wet the road area to reduce the dust but otherwise I don't think there is anything you can do.   The cost to tarmac would be tens of thousands, it's now very expensive.  What I don't understand is your last sentence.  If no other neighbours live along this section who is driving up the road and casing problems?

AdrianC

HKdailly said:

We really want this section of the road laid with tarmac

How large an area are you talking about...?

We have offered to contribute financially.

What proportion of the total cost would you be willing to contribute?

Could I complain to the local council and ask them to tarmac the top section that runs down the side of my house?

You can. But they won't. That's kinda the very definition of "unadopted". If the owners of the unadopted road brought it up to adoption standards, the council might consider adopting it - but the cost would be on the owners.

Do the private road residents have any legal obligation to stop their road affecting other neighbours?

There may be an argument about a dust nuisance.
https://www.environmental-protection.org.uk/policy-areas/air-quality/air-pollution-law-and-policy/pollution-nuisance/
https://www.lgo.org.uk/make-a-complaint/fact-sheets/environment-and-waste/nuisance-from-dust-or-smoke

Your local council's environmental health would be the people to contact. But they are even more massively overstretched than normal with far more serious issues at the moment - most of the workload of enforcing covid regulations falls on them.

House_on_the_corner

Thank you for your quick response! It’s quite a long stretch but narrow of at least 30- 40m long x 2m wide. We’ve not actually had it costed up yet as the residents committee won’t even entertain the idea at this point. I will seek advice from the link you provided.

AdrianC

HKdailly said:

Thank you for your quick response! It’s quite a long stretch but narrow of at least 30- 40m long x 2m wide. We’ve not actually had it costed up yet as the residents committee won’t even entertain the idea at this point. I will seek advice from the link you provided.

So let's call it 80m2. I suspect you're being massively optimistic about the width - 2m isn't barely a car-width.

I'd be surprised if that came in much under ten grand.

So what proportion are you offering to pay? If this is the bit JUST along your boundary, as I suspect from the length, then are you offering 100%?

And who's footing the bills for ongoing maintenance?

House_on_the_corner

comeandgo said:

Hi. You could use a hose and wet the road area to reduce the dust but otherwise I don't think there is anything you can do.   The cost to tarmac would be tens of thousands, it's now very expensive.  What I don't understand is your last sentence.  If no other neighbours live along this section who is driving up the road and casing problems?

Sorry that bits unclear ... there are about 20 houses that live on that road but the houses start further down. The top 50m -60m end of the road Is just running along the boundary fence of our house.

House_on_the_corner

AdrianC said:

HKdailly said:

Thank you for your quick response! It’s quite a long stretch but narrow of at least 30- 40m long x 2m wide. We’ve not actually had it costed up yet as the residents committee won’t even entertain the idea at this point. I will seek advice from the link you provided.

So let's call it 80m2. I suspect you're being massively optimistic about the width - 2m isn't barely a car-width.

I'd be surprised if that came in much under ten grand.

So what proportion are you offering to pay? If this is the bit JUST along your boundary, as I suspect from the length, then are you offering 100%?

And who's footing the bills for ongoing maintenance?

I’m not sure ‘who’s paying the bill’ and how much is actually relevant to you unless you live on this road?? They’ve already said they won’t tarmac it regardless of cost. I’m simply asking for advice from others experience or knowledge in case there is another option we’ve not considered other than living like this and unable to enjoy our garden. We want to have good relations with our neighbours but a solution Or compromise has to be found. 

NinjaTune

Would wood chippings work?  They would gradually be compressed into the dirt and should at least help to reduce the dust problem.  They would be more eco friendly and aesthetically pleasing than tarmac.  

House_on_the_corner

NinjaTune said:

Would wood chippings work?  They would gradually be compressed into the dirt and should at least help to reduce the dust problem.  They would be more eco friendly and aesthetically pleasing than tarmac.  

Thank you. That’s an interesting idea I will look into.

MoneySeeker1

I'm not convinced a wood chippings idea would help. AFAIK they are just meant for covering soil in gardens and not for driving on (even with an ordinary car - and there are bound to be houses that need modernising in that road and therefore the chance that a house-owner in one of them might actually do that work and then there'd be lots of rather bigger/heavier traffic going up that road in the course of that).

Could you do a diagram or photo - so we can visualise better what it looks like.

pimento

If it won't affect your sunlight, how about planting a high hedge?