Adopted road/cul-de-sac sold by council

DudoRae

We are a couple of neighbours who have been told by the County Council that our local council has not followed the Highways Act 1980 when selling the cul-de-sac/adopted (highway) road in which we live. What can we do? It has been a major headache for quite a while.
DRae

Grumpy_chap

DudoRae said:

We are a couple of neighbours who have been told by the County Council that our local council has not followed the Highways Act 1980 when selling the cul-de-sac/adopted (highway) road in which we live. What can we do? It has been a major headache for quite a while.
DRae

It is unusual that adopted highway would be sold by the Local Authority.
Who owned the highway before?
Who owns the highway now?
When was the highway adopted?

What are the issues you are having as a result of this?

DudoRae

Hi Grumpy-chap,
As far as I am aware, the road became an adopted road a year after construction of the properties was completed. I believe roads become adopted after a short while but we have confirmation it was/is an adopted road.
The area was originally woodland until the council constructed new properties sometime in the 1980's (a long while ago). The County Council owned the road until the local council sold the cul-de-sac....how this was possible I cannot fathom. We are struggling to understand what has happened and cannot get any straight answers from the local council as we know the road was never 'stopped up' (which is required for sale of roads).

Grumpy_chap

DudoRae said:

The County Council owned the road until the local council sold the cul-de-sac.

I remain unclear.
How could the Local Council (District Council?) sell the road if it was owned by the County Council?

When a road is adopted, that often does not transfer ownership at the same time.
Was the road owned by the Developer and now sold to an investor (who may seek revenue from utility services passing under the road)?

DudoRae

That is our question too. We cannot understand how it’s possible. The road was owned by the County Council but somewhere along the line the local council sold the road along a piece land to a developer. The County Council was unaware the road had been included in the sale, and have stated they would have objected to sale of the road. As it is, the road would have to have been stopped up as per Highways Act 1980.

Grumpy_chap

How does the land being sold actually affect you?
The road remains adopted highway.
There are lots of public roads that are not owned by the Local Authority yet remain perfectly suitable as adopted highway.