Public place - A place to which the public have access on payment or otherwise.

Put a gate up to be 100% sure. A couple of large notices at the entrance saying private road, residents only would probably sufffice though.

I'm pretty sure there's a clause in law about agricultural and industrial machines not needing tax and mot for short journeys on the road.
If you are just driving the short distance from your house to the potholes then you should be ok. Just get a man in a high vis and a roadworks sign.

In Scotland (Section 151 Roads Scotland Act 1984) a "road" is defined as "any way over which there is a public right of passage, by whatever means" (the actual definition is a bit longer than that but includes references to excluding waterways but including bridges that hold the road up etc).

There are 2 separate types of "road".

1. A "public road" - this is defined in the Act as "a road maintainable at public expense". That means a road that has been adopted by the Council.

2. A private road - although not explicitly defined, this means a "road" (ie public right of passage and all that) that isn't maintained by the public authority. Note that the rights of public use and access are exactly the same, the only difference is "who is responsible for maintaining it". Road Traffic Act etc all still apply.

3. A private access. This is what most people MEAN when they say "private road" but legally, it isn't the same thing. THis is the only one of these 3 that could be a "private place" for the purposes of Road Traffic Act etc (but not always - for example an access and carpark at a supermarket is "private" in this sense but "a public place" in terms of the Road Traffoc Act).

So the obvious question is - So what constitutes "a public right of passage" and this unfortunately is where it gets confusing. The only precedent that I am aware of dates back over 100 years, and in that case, the judge said "everybody knows what a public right of passage is, and I don't need to rule on that in my decision". So not exactly helpful.

All of these definitions are slightly different from the Highways Act 1980 that applies to England and Wales, so be careful who you take advice from.

The kind of questions to ask to determmine whether yours is a type 2 road or a type 3 private access, are - does it have a street name? Does it have street lighting? Are the public free to use it (ie no gates etc)? If the answers to these questions are "yes" then it's probably a private road.

IF it IS a private road, then you can't just put up signs and gates and decide that it's now a private access and keep the public out.

Unfortunately, (and this isn't aimed at a particular council), even local authorities get confused between "public road" and "public right of passage" and I have been involved in cases where, for example, the Council have said "put up a gate" and then others have complained and they've had to take it out again.

I am not taking sides, I am just saying beware - this is a minefield, with many possible twists and turns in interpretation that have never been tested in court, and with many "experts", in local authorities and in private practice, who think they know, but don't.

There is indeed a rule that definitely applies to unregistered forklifts and, I think, to other industrial and agricultural macj=hinery, that says that provided is use of the road is limited in distance, then the vehicle doesn't need to be registered or taxed. Have a look on the directgov web site where I am sure there is information on this. I think that might be more productive than trying to argue whether the road is a road or a private access.

Perhaps we could settle it by "crowd-sourcing".

Streaky

There is a lot of rubbish posted on here about what constitutes a road/public place for the purposes of the RTA. The presence or otherwise of a gate/sign are unlikely to be the determining factor.

Have a look at this case law to see what the Scottish courts have taken to be the relevant factors.

Cat