Driveway permission revoked

AkoTaco

Hi, I am looking for advice and maybe someone has been in the same situation and can shed some light as I am at a loss.

My garden backs onto council garage site. Beginning of August l I have contacted the council (by email using general enquires email,not any specific department) that owns the garages if I could get a driveway with dropped kerb done to the rear of my property to access it through their site (it does not obstruct with garages at all). I explained clearly where would I need to drop the kerb and how big and what type of hardstanding for the driveway, I attached the plans as well so there is no misunderstanding. I also provided the quotation for the works involved from approved contractor. This was passed onto planning department and I got letter back from them that they may need to hold consultations and 2 weeks later a letter saying I do not need planning permission and the work is approved under condition that a)if the drive is not made of pourous materials (I wanted tarmac) I would need a drain system and soakaway, b)for dropping the kerb I need to apply for permission to highway authority. 

I did that, during application to highway authority I explained that it would be accessible through garages, attached plans and proof that council that owns the garages gave me permission for the hardstanding as required. I explained the situation with garaged being owned by a council so there is no confusion how I am going to access the main road (garages site is not a classified road). After a couple of weeks I got permission to drop a kerb from highway authority. Booked a date with contractors,sent out confirmation when the work is commencing which is end of this month. 

Now, last week the council that owns the garages contacted me that I am not allowed to a)drive my car over this land b)access their site through back of my garden either by foot or by car. (One of the neighbours must've reported me for driving into my back garden once when I tried to get an idea if the drive could be smaller and still fit a car)

I have explained that I got permissions for driveway accessible from the garages and dropped kerb and I advised that the work is happening end of this month. Council worker rang me on Friday and told me I do not have planning permission (the letter stated that planning permission is not needed for this work and development is permitted under conditions of obtaining permissionfrom highways dor droppingkerb and dealing with surface water on site (drainage and soakway) and I have to apply for licence to drive over their site. 

It joins a public footpath and the site is used by public (its a cul de sac so a lot of people use it as it is more convenient) as far as I am aware nobody has any licence to do do and I have never heard of this before nonetheless, I applied for it and they refused. 
Have they mislead me to believe they will permit vehicular access (misled the highway authority too which granted permission to drop kerbs after submitting evidence that council permitted the development) which I can't? Why have they not told me I cannot have a drive before I invested into it? I have already invested money and got 2 permissions (for vehicular access,dropped kerb and hardstanding/driveway) but they deny access to the drive, so it seems like they gave permission for driveway but not for accessing it? At the point of application I thought it goes without saying that the driveway is to be accessed and if there was any more permissions I need I would be made aware of.

I am not sure where does it leave me now. 

Can I go ahead and drop the kerb and install a drive or is it a lost case where I wasted time and money and my permissions are worthless? 

I have already contacted solicitors and got quotes for 1500-2000 for initial advice which then goes to thousands more if it goes to court. I'm not going to lie,I can't afford this and I thought if anyone has been in similar situation and could advise maybe? 

Doozergirl

Your permission hasn't been revoked.   

There are two separate issues. 

The first, and the biggest one, is that the land is privately owned by the council.  It is not an adopted, public road.  

Nobody has an automatic Right of Way over private land.  It needs to be negotiated separately with the landowner and has nothing to do with applying for planning permission. 

You needed to write to the relevant department and ask for a right of way; this issue isn't to be conflated with the need to apply (or not) for planning permission. Planning permission deals with the principal of development, not land ownerships and rights of way. 

By the way, it was almost certainly the planning department that passed the details over to whoever deals with their estates, to deal with the issue that you had raised yourself.  Not your neighbours.  

Imagine if you asked the planning department for permission to install a dropped kerb facing your next door neighbour's grassed back garden with the intention of driving through it to get to the main road.    The planning department might say it's okay to go through the process on your own land of building a driveway, but they cannot and will not give you permission to drive over your neighbour's land.   That is an entirely separate negotiation. 

This is the same.  You can build your access, but you do not yet have permission to use someone else's land to get to the main road.  

I think you're a bit confused because you thought the two were one issue because the council is one entity.   The mistake is yours, not theirs.   It does sound like the planning team did the right thing in passing details across.  

If they have refused then a very expensive option is to attempt to prove an existing and established vehicular RoW over the years.   It would be cheaper if you joined with your neighbours who may also benefit, but can you prove an established RoW? 

Section62

AkoTaco said:

I have already contacted solicitors and got quotes for 1500-2000 for initial advice which then goes to thousands more if it goes to court. I'm not going to lie,I can't afford this and I thought if anyone has been in similar situation and could advise maybe? 

Doozergirl has already covered all the issues.

I just wanted to amplify that there would be no sense whatsoever in spending £1500-£2000 on legal advice. Zero point, you won't get your further investment back.

What you could do is to make a formal complaint to the council which is the highway authority that they have given you consent for a dropped kerb on a road which isn't a highway maintained at public expense rather than telling you that it isn't one of their maintained roads.  The least you can expect is an apology from them for wasting your time.

AkoTaco

Hi, Thank you so much for the replies, it does explain it better. 

It was definitely not planning department passing the information because it all broke down when 2 ladies visited me saying it has been reported I parked in my garden and I have no right to do so. I then told them I do apologise I did but shouldn't make much difference since soon enough I will have a dropped kerb there of which the council and highways are aware. 

I do not want to fight for right of way,I have been using this road only for 8 years parking behind my house so I don't think I have any chance there anyway. 

My issue is that I am not very familiar with building regulations but I still wanted to do it the right way. Thats why at the start I wrote to the general enquires at the council explaining that I wanted vehicular access and asked what do I need to do. Then they forwarded this to planning department. If anyone told me I also need to ask any other department for permission I would do so before I wasted money on anything. Now it seems I am lucky that I have this kind of neighbours otherwise I am afraid I would only be made aware after installing the hardstanding and be good few grands out of pocket. 

I understand where the issue lies but I still can't see where did I make a mistake. I mean,my mistake is definitely not knowing the law but didn't realise I need solicitors advice before applying for driveway,I assumed the land owner will instruct me on what I need to do or at least let me know I need solicitors. 

Anyway, thank you very much for your advice,it's much appreciated.  

Section62

AkoTaco said:

...I mean,my mistake is definitely not knowing the law but didn't realise I need solicitors advice before applying for driveway,I assumed the land owner will instruct me on what I need to do or at least let me know I need solicitors. 

You wouldn't normally need legal advice... just knowing who the landowner(s) are of all the land you need to cross from your property to the 'public' highway, and getting permission from each of them.  If the land is owned by a council then you need to know which department(s) are involved.

Doozergirl

Okay sorry, now you've explained that you asked general enquiries first, the mistake is theirs.   

The planning department did their job, but whoever picked up your initial enquiry sent it to the wrong place.   The first question to answer should have been about the right of way, which it sounds like they ignored. 

You should make a complaint, especially if you have incurred costs making the planning application. 

Apodemus

Doozergirl said:

Okay sorry, now you've explained that you asked general enquiries first, the mistake is theirs.   

Au contraire!  For all we know, the General Enquiries may have forwarded copies to more than one department in an attempt to get it to the right place.  Planning (which normally has a highly automated correspondence process, because of tight deadlines in Planning Law) responded quickly.  The department that owns the verge and garages (Housing? Roads? Legal? - and possibly all three!) were slower to respond, eventually indicating that rights of access would not be granted. 

Either way, the OP incurred expense at his own risk before access rights had been secured.