Defination of a highway

Grizebeck

@Section62 sound ok?

Good evening
I live on xx xx, this is a private road with access for the houses and each house owns the part of the road in front of them.  The road is only for access to the properties by the owners and visitors etc

My question is does the council believe this to be a Highway or not (i do not mean does it believe it to be a public highway) but does the council take this be a highway at all

I look forward to an answer from your department on this matter

Regards

Grumpy_chap

I suspect the Council will ignore any informal request to confirm anything.

The simplest way to get a determination might be to apply for Certificate of Lawful Development in relation to the wall that is to be taken down.  That will force the Council to actually consider and provide a response.  If they determine it is not lawful development, they might then issue an invitation to apply for full planning permission if it is something they would be minded to agree.

A word of experience though - the Planning Department can get confused when very basic applications land for review.  I once applied for planning to change the windows at the rear ground floor (change of fenestration) because I was subject to an Article 4 Direction which restricted changes.  The Council were really perplexed by the application and it was clear that the Officers suspected it was really a cover for something else (which it was not).

Section62

Grizebeck said:

@Section62 sound ok?

Good evening
I live on xx xx, this is a private road with access for the houses and each house owns the part of the road in front of them.  The road is only for access to the properties by the owners and visitors etc

My question is does the council believe this to be a Highway or not (i do not mean does it believe it to be a public highway) but does the council take this be a highway at all

I look forward to an answer from your department on this matter

Regards

I'd probably be more direct and say -

"My question is does the council believe this private road to be highway in relation to planning matters"

I also agree with Grumpy_chap that there's a chance you won't get a response, but there's not much lost in trying.

Grizebeck

Thanks guys email sent will see if I get a reply or not!

SDLT_Geek

Grizebeck said:

The property i am buying is in a conservation area.  We have managed to to sort an issue with the LR where the boundary did not go to the river and the plan is now correct
We are now looking at demolishing some walls at the front.  We can do this without consent / PP if one of two conditions are met.

From the planning portal guidance

Please note that in a conservation area you do not need permission to demolish a building which does not exceed 115 cubic metres or to take down any wall, gate or fence which is less than 1 metre high where abutting a highway, or less than 2 metres high elsewhere.

 
I am not in a position to the measure the wall until i am next at the property but i think its border line

The road in front which serves other properties only is unadopted road/private road so to speak.  However rather then it being simply unadopted by the council the house i am buying actually owns the piece of road in front of it (with the garden on the other side) (as show on the conveyance document.

I understand that an unadopted road can be a highway but not sure if the ownership situation changes this

Thoughts please...

So pleased you got the title plan corrected.  Ad medium filum!

Grizebeck

As you thought @Section62 it is viewed by the council as a highway 
Out comes the tape measure.....

Section62

Grizebeck said:

As you thought @Section62 it is viewed by the council as a highway 
Out comes the tape measure.....

Get some photos of the wall plus tape measure, and if the measurement is close to (but under) 1m my next suggestion would be to email one to the conservation officer asking if they agree it is less than 1m.  That gives them the opportunity to dispute the accuracy of your measuring.  Make sure the picture shows the full height of the wall+tape, not just the top, as this will confirm you are't pulling a stunt by placing the 99cm mark (on the tape) at the top of a (say) 1.2m wall.  If the numerals on the tape are too small to see clearly in an 'overall' picture then take a closeup of the top as well - preferably without the tape being moved (even slightly) inbetween.

Just referring back to a point earlier in the thread I didn't comment on at the time - when you said "...looking at the photos it's hard to define the height..." this is a double-edged sword.  The inability of the council to prove the wall is more than 'x' high based on the picture also means you'd lack the evidence to prove the wall was less than 'x' high.

Hence the importance of taking picture(s) when you measure now, so there can be no dispute about it later.

Grizebeck

@Section62 thanks will be going that way in about 10 days so will update the thread then ! So will do as you suggest

jimbo6977

You can get an "extent of highway" (might not be the exact name) report from the council but it costs £250 or so. This will tell you whether the wall abuts the highway. 

Section62

jimbo6977 said:

You can get an "extent of highway" (might not be the exact name) report from the council but it costs £250 or so. This will tell you whether the wall abuts the highway. 

Not much point in the OP's case.

1) It isn't a public highway, so the highways department won't have this information and wouldn't get involved.

2) The extent of the highway isn't the only factor in determining whether the wall abuts the highway.

3) If the wall is more than 1m and does abut the highway, then all the OP needs to do is make an application for consent - with no fee payable because it is exempt.  I.e. cheaper than paying £250 for a report and then starting an argument with the planners whether it abuts or not.