Changing the location of driveway in the front garden - no pavement

Section62

_Sam_ said:

Section62 said:

Ownership of the land is separate from whether it is highway or not.  You can own (public) highway as an adjoining land owner - it doesn't mean the land isn't highway.

Agree, but ownership does mean that I maintain that part of highway and not the highway authority, hence while I cannot enclose the verge with the fence I should be within my rights to plant some grass on it.

I think you've misunderstood something.  If it is highway then you have no responsibility for maintaining it. The land will be 'maintained at public expense'.  Members of the public never have a responsibility to maintain (public) highway.  Did someone tell you you were responsibile for maintaining the 'verge' area?

_Sam_ said:

Many thanks for your replies! I understand better to be safe than sorry, but also it doesn't seem a very good idea to run to the council for confirmation on every little thing I may want to do in my garden.

I think there's another misunderstanding there.  If the 'verge' is highway then it isn't your garden.

I wouldn't suggest anyone runs to the council.  But if there is uncertainty whether this 'verge' is or isn't highway then the best people to ask are the council.  This is one of those situations where it is better to ask before doing, as the consequences of getting it wrong can be quite serious (and expensive).

_Sam_ said:

It just doesn't seem plausible that planting some grass is going to damage high voltage lines or any other services below the ground, that's why I refer to it as a little thing.

To plant grass you'll need to dig up the concrete/tarmac surface and whatever base and sub-base has been laid under the driveway.  At that depth there is a risk of coming into contact with utility plant, which could include high voltage cables or phone lines.  You may feel it is a little thing - but I've been involved in dealing with the consequences of people who thought it was a little thing and paid the price. It isn't very pleasant.  You don't have to follow any of the advice given on this forum, but ignoring advice not to start digging around where there may be utility equipment would be an unwise decision.

_Sam_ said:

Sadly local authorities aren't perfect and plenty of people there can make mistakes, and can easily complicate things unnecessarily!

Of course.

But you are planning on doing something (removing parking) which your neighbours currently make use of.  You say you don't intend to cheese them off by doing this, but there is a very real probability you will.

Getting yourself on the wrong side of the council before neighbours start complaining to them will put you in a very poor position.

Before that happens you want the council to make the 'mistake' of telling you the 'verge' is not highway and is your private land to do what you like with.  There's a chance they will.  But if instead they tell you it is highway then you've not lost anything as you were never free to do what you want to do anyway.

_Sam_

Section62 said:

I think you've misunderstood something.  If it is highway then you have no responsibility for maintaining it. The land will be 'maintained at public expense'.  Members of the public never have a responsibility to maintain (public) highway.  Did someone tell you you were responsibile for maintaining the 'verge' area?

Just common sense thinking that if you own something then you have to look after it (for example if you don't and someone say gets injured they'll come knocking on your door....) the neighbours opposite do look after their patch of grass. Ownership normally implies certain rights, for as long as exercising those rights doesn't conflict with the law. Reading about the purpose of verges it appears that the point is not obstructing them so that the public can use them. So putting a fence up enclosing the verge would obstruct the public use. But planting some grass instead of tarmac will not create an obstruction. 

(Probably more tricky putting stones in, as this will obstruct the occasional parking. But I haven't read anywhere that the purpose of verges has ever been for the benefit of parking cars - it seems that the purpose is for the passage of people, horses, for wildlife, etc. I'm also thinking that if the verge was meant to be used for parking then the local authority would have put parking lines there.)

Myopinion_2

Hi all,

I know it's some time since these comments were posted. I have a question if anyone can help.

For years the land accross the road from me was owned by the builders who built the estate and they kept it as shrubery and trees. It meant I could park in front of my driveway if I needed to clean the drive or if we had visitors. There was still access to the end of the road.
 A couple of years ago my neighbour across the road bought this land and built a new driveway on it directly oopposite mine. This meant I could no longer park in front of my drive as it affects the accessibility into their new drive. I thought you needed planning permission for such a change as there are building regulations for new builds stating that driveways cannot be built opposite each other. I have measured the area roughly on google maps and calculated the area as 55 square metres.

Can anyone help with this?

Thanks.