Who owns a public footpath?

Norman_Castle

Beenie said:

A new neighbour has started to encroach upon the lane by planting leylandii outside the boundary of his garden. When challenged, he said he owned 2' of the footpath adjoining his garden. This doesn't make sense.

As a new neighbour there should be up to date deeds showing the property boundary. Can you download his property deeds and establish where his boundary is in relation to other features.

The ownership of the lane is secondary to the location of the boundary between the lane and his property. 

AdrianC

Norman_Castle said:

The ownership of the lane is secondary to the location of the boundary between the lane and his property. 

It is, and it isn't.

The OP might be able to prove he's doing some guerrilla gardening... but can't do a sausage about it, because it's not his land, either.

Norman_Castle

Are you friendly with the owners of the property on the right? Do their deeds show the lane and do they claim ownership of the land outside their fence? Its very likely the row extends to both fences but has been maintained as it is for practical reasons.

Norman_Castle

AdrianC said:

Norman_Castle said:

The ownership of the lane is secondary to the location of the boundary between the lane and his property. 

It is, and it isn't.

The OP might be able to prove he's doing some guerrilla gardening... but can't do a sausage about it, because it's not his land, either.

It clearly is as you've helpfully demonstrated.

Section62

Continental said:

@Beenie - you stated that you are in the middle of a Conservation Area. It may be worthwhile contacting your local Conservation Officer. Leyllandi trees are not native to the UK and the Conservation Officer may decide that the trees have to come down as he/she may deem that they are “not in keeping” with the local area and detrimental to the visual aspect.

In this situation being native or not isn't relevant to a conservation area in the planning sense.

The neighbour has planted a hedge, arguably partially screening the wooden fence in a beneficial way. They are close to other Leylandii-type 'trees', so not inconsistent with the existing landscaping.

A Conservation Officer is unlikely to take any interest in a short length of hedge planting, and would really struggle to find any grounds to 'order' their removal.

Continental said:

We live in a Conservation area (albeit in a Grade II listed house) and we had to get permission for a monster sized laurel tree to be removed which was in the garden when we moved into our house.

Removal of trees is always more problematic than planting them. In a conservation area there is a requirement to notify the planning authority of planned removal, based on trunk size. The reason for this is primarily to give the authority time to consider whether a TPO would be appropriate.

Continental said:

There was no problem with our request being granted as the tree is not native to Britain and certainly had no TPO (Tree Protection Order) on it.

Being native or not isn't the issue. What matters is the amenity value of the tree - the visual impact, historical value, relationship to other features, scarcity etc.

For example, Cedar is a non-native species, but that didn't stop this person getting a £60,000 fine for destroying the one in his garden.
https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/chelmsford-man-fined-60000-after-3666334

The size of the fine was partly based on the perceived value of the tree to the community.

Continental said:

Come to think of it, I’m wondering if Leyllandi are considered as “High Hedges”?

One day, if the owner doesn't keep them sensibly maintained, a neighbour might make a 'High Hedge' complaint about them. But that isn't relevant to the OP's current concerns.

princeofpounds

Amazed this has got to 6 pages. The legal debate about ownership and adoption is interesting, but the bottom line here is that the OP has a right of way over the road and is entitled to enforce that (including the ancillary right to maintain the right of way).

So if the trees become a problem, cut them back. The width of your ROW is basically the historical width you have enjoyed, so that could even mean cutting them back to the ground if necessary and justified by your historic access, but I should imagine just keeping them off the road is enough.