Neighbours building drive on public land

Mumtobe2016

Hi, 

I don't know if this goes into here or not but saw other neighbour problems here. 

I live at the bottom of a cul de sac, everyone has driveways that can fit 2 cars on, some more, but parking with one of the neighbours has always been an issue. The cul de sac is quite narrow at the top and then opens out into a large space at the bottom. One of the neighbours always parks their car in a space at the start of the opening. It's public land yet they leave their car their everyday, even when they go on holiday (and leave their drive empty as they take their other car). They could easily fit 2 cars onto their drive but refuse as they claim the space is theirs as they have parked there for 12 years! If anyone else dares to park there (on the rare occasion the car moves) then they will come banging on the door, shouting all vile threats and swearing to get people to move their car. 

Anyway that's the background. I have been away for the weekend and have returned today to see they have dug up their front garden in front of the space and heard them telling another neighbour they plan to extend their drive to the side so they can drive in using the space. Therefore if anyone parks there then they will be illegally blocking their drive. 

Can they really do this? Can they use public land to extend their drive or at the very least make it impossible for people to ever park there? 

Mumtobe2016

Hope this picture helps to make sense of the drive. They are planning to build a drive in the squiggle space including the space in front. Thanks

jonnydeppiwish!

Ask the council is they have planning permission for it. That’ll start questions being asked

Brie

Def would need permission from the council.  

Emmia

I'd get onto your council about this pronto. 

Brie

Have re read.  So they are planning on expanding their parking and driving over the pavement in order to access this? 

Definitely something that needs to be cleared with the council.  It's an application generally costing a few hundred at least to get a dropped kerb and may be declined if there are pipes etc that may be damaged by the weight of a vehicle. 

Of course letting them go ahead and then informing the council might be fun.  Especially if they do damage council property and have to pay for major renovations.  

35har1old

Brie said:

Have re read.  So they are planning on expanding their parking and driving over the pavement in order to access this? 

Definitely something that needs to be cleared with the council.  It's an application generally costing a few hundred at least to get a dropped kerb and may be declined if there are pipes etc that may be damaged by the weight of a vehicle. 

Of course letting them go ahead and then informing the council might be fun.  Especially if they do damage council property and have to pay for major renovations.  

The drawing doesn't indicate if there is a footpath.
As it is a cul de sac it could be that it has a service strip and kerbs would already be at a low level.
A photo would be useful.
Is the road even adopted?
.

Mumtobe2016

35har1old said:

Brie said:

Have re read.  So they are planning on expanding their parking and driving over the pavement in order to access this? 

Definitely something that needs to be cleared with the council.  It's an application generally costing a few hundred at least to get a dropped kerb and may be declined if there are pipes etc that may be damaged by the weight of a vehicle. 

Of course letting them go ahead and then informing the council might be fun.  Especially if they do damage council property and have to pay for major renovations.  

The drawing doesn't indicate if there is a footpath.
As it is a cul de sac it could be that it has a service strip and kerbs would already be at a low level.
A photo would be useful.
Is the road even adopted?
.

Thanks for your reply. 

There is no footpath just low level kerbs all around the cul de sac. The road is adopted.

Mumtobe2016

The car is parked in the space, their garden is in front. They intend on converting the garden into a drive using space as access to the new drive 

FreeBear

You need to download a copy of their deeds from the Land Registry (it will cost you £3). The site plan should tell you where the boundary is.

My initial reaction, based on the block paving of the property to the left, is the boundary extends to the kerb stones. So this neighbough may be perfectly entitled to extend his drive. This would fall under permitted development and would not require planning permission. PP would be required if the property was subject to an Article 4 restriction, is a listed property, is within a conservation area, or more than 5m² is of an impermeable material (i.e. concrete slabs or tarmac).

Mumtobe2016

FreeBear said:

You need to download a copy of their deeds from the Land Registry (it will cost you £3). The site plan should tell you where the boundary is.

My initial reaction, based on the block paving of the property to the left, is the boundary extends to the kerb stones. So this neighbough may be perfectly entitled to extend his drive. This would fall under permitted development and would not require planning permission. PP would be required if the property was subject to an Article 4 restriction, is a listed property, is within a conservation area, or more than 5m² is of an impermeable material (i.e. concrete slabs or tarmac).

Would they still be able to extend if their access to the drive means blocking off a public space?