Garden-grab

[Tomm3]

Came home yesterday lunchtime to see 2 men finishing off putting 2 10ft metal posts in my lawn.
I jumped out of the car, couldn't quite believe it, they said they were putting up a sign for the railway station further up.
When I said this is my garden they just replied it was highways land. Basically my boundary extends to the curved path and I planted my hedge 10yrs ago on the line agreed with a highways official standing in the road, so it's splayed back to afford vision down the road.
Anyway, my land registry document is very clear re the boundary being up to the path and I'm just shocked people can turn up and do this without talking to the property owners. It's very clearly a bordered lawn so a polite enquiry should have been made surely. Awaiting the next instalment, having rung the council today. I initially kept my cool yesterday but couldn't hold back when I pulled the posts out of the quick-setting concrete, lost the plot, I suppose the realisation hit at that point.
All a bit surreal, seeing people digging up your garden

[surveyor]

Pictures and title plans would help.


Oh and unless they plan to guard their sign 24 hours, how long do they expect it to last?

[XCP]

This has got to be worth a few bob to the OP.

[Fatball]

Tomm3 said:

Came home yesterday lunchtime to see 2 men finishing off putting 2 10ft metal posts in my lawn.
I jumped out of the car, couldn't quite believe it, they said they were putting up a sign for the railway station further up.
When I said this is my garden they just replied it was highways land. Basically my boundary extends to the curved path and I planted my hedge 10yrs ago on the line agreed with a highways official standing in the road, so it's splayed back to afford vision down the road.
Anyway, my land registry document is very clear re the boundary being up to the path and I'm just shocked people can turn up and do this without talking to the property owners. It's very clearly a bordered lawn so a polite enquiry should have been made surely. Awaiting the next instalment, having rung the council today. I initially kept my cool yesterday but couldn't hold back when I pulled the posts out of the quick-setting concrete, lost the plot, I suppose the realisation hit at that point.
All a bit surreal, seeing people digging up your garden

Don’t blame you for taking the posts out. That’s a lot of remedial work they’ll have to sort out. Interesting to see what they say.

[anonymous-user]

XCP said:

This has got to be worth a few bob to the OP.

Hopefully he gets his lawn carefully reinstated, and a few quid for his trouble.

Typical council.

[anonymous-user]

Tomm3 said:

Basically my boundary extends to the curved path and I planted my hedge 10yrs ago on the line agreed with a highways official standing in the road, so it's splayed back to afford vision down the road.

Does the sign affect the vision?

[AJL308]

catweasle said:

Tomm3 said:

Basically my boundary extends to the curved path and I planted my hedge 10yrs ago on the line agreed with a highways official standing in the road, so it's splayed back to afford vision down the road.

Does the sign affect the vision?

I wouldn't have thought it would matter if something on his property affected the vision of road users as long as it was there lawfully. You can't, for instance erect a fence more than a metre high if it fronts a highway. If the same applies to a hedge and it's a metre or less tall then so what if it affects vision?

[Olivergt]

catweasle said:

Tomm3 said:

Basically my boundary extends to the curved path and I planted my hedge 10yrs ago on the line agreed with a highways official standing in the road, so it's splayed back to afford vision down the road.

Does the sign affect the vision?

So it's ok to put a sign up on his land as long as it doesn't affect vision?

No one has the right to just turn up and build on your land unannounced. There are procedures to follow if the government want to use your land.

[Tyre Smoke]

Olivergt said:

catweasle said:

Tomm3 said:

Basically my boundary extends to the curved path and I planted my hedge 10yrs ago on the line agreed with a highways official standing in the road, so it's splayed back to afford vision down the road.

Does the sign affect the vision?

So it's ok to put a sign up on his land as long as it doesn't affect vision?

No one has the right to just turn up and build on your land unannounced. There are procedures to follow if the government want to use your land.

No, you dope! It's another thing to hit the sign erecters with. Not only is on private land with no permission, it also affects vision on the road.

[Tomm3]

Hi, yes it would drastically affect the line of sight! The very reason the hedge is splayed back. I still cannot believe they started working in that spot without checking at the house.
Should have taken a pic with posts in place.

[Swervin_Mervin]

Tomm3 said:

Anyway, my land registry document is very clear re the boundary

Your land registry document will only be clear about the extents of your title. It's the adopted highway boundary that is the most important and that is highly unlikely to be illustrated on your title. From everything you've said it would appear that the area is indeed adopted highway. In which case, it tough I'm afraid - you have no control over that land.

Your first step is seek clarification from the highway authority of the adopted highway boundary. They should be able to provide you with an extract from their records - usually for a fee, but they may provide it gratis in your circumstances.

[anonymous-user]

Tyre Smoke said:

Olivergt said:

catweasle said:

Tomm3 said:

Basically my boundary extends to the curved path and I planted my hedge 10yrs ago on the line agreed with a highways official standing in the road, so it's splayed back to afford vision down the road.

Does the sign affect the vision?

So it's ok to put a sign up on his land as long as it doesn't affect vision?

No one has the right to just turn up and build on your land unannounced. There are procedures to follow if the government want to use your land.

No, you dope! It's another thing to hit the sign erecters with. Not only is on private land with no permission, it also affects vision on the road.

Thanks

[Swervin_Mervin]

Tyre Smoke said:

Olivergt said:

catweasle said:

Tomm3 said:

Basically my boundary extends to the curved path and I planted my hedge 10yrs ago on the line agreed with a highways official standing in the road, so it's splayed back to afford vision down the road.

Does the sign affect the vision?

So it's ok to put a sign up on his land as long as it doesn't affect vision?

No one has the right to just turn up and build on your land unannounced. There are procedures to follow if the government want to use your land.

No, you dope! It's another thing to hit the sign erecters with. Not only is on private land with no permission, it also affects vision on the road.

Whereas in the likely reality, it's on adopted highway land as it's entitled to be, and street furniture is entitled to be within any visibility splay.

If it is adopted highway, then the OP would be fortunate to escape without being charged costs for his actions in removing the signage poles

[blueg33]

Op - if you PM me the address and postcode I can tell you exactly what he land registry think is your land.

If you own the freehold but the council have adopted it then its less clear. You may need to do a search to show the adopted highway, vis splays are often adopted, but the freeholder can be a private person.

[Swervin_Mervin]

The adopted highway records may be online - if you let us know the location either here or via PM I can take a look.

[donkmeister]

I suspect the sign erectors were just following orders, and the person who gave those orders made an assumption that it wasn't private land.

They should pay for any damage but there really isn't a need for compensation beyond that.

Near me there is a similar-looking arrangement to yours except in our case the hedges mark the boundary between private land and council land... Some residents have been using the wide verges as extensions of their gardens, so perhaps your council project manager assumed that was the case with your road. A bad assumption rather than malice!

[Swervin_Mervin]

donkmeister said:

I suspect the sign erectors were just following orders, and the person who gave those orders made an assumption that it wasn't private land.

They should pay for any damage but there really isn't a need for compensation beyond that.

Near me there is a similar-looking arrangement to yours except in our case the hedges mark the boundary between private land and council land... Some residents have been using the wide verges as extensions of their gardens, so perhaps your council project manager assumed that was the case with your road. A bad assumption rather than malice!

Why do you assume they've made an assumption rather than checking their own records?

[WhiskyDisco]

A mate of mine had a dispute with a neighbour who extended a fency over the boundary of their land. He used his household insurance to raise a legal claim - check your insurance in case you have legal cover.

[over_the_hill]

If it isn't an eyesore perhaps consider keeping the sign and charging them rent or other annual fee.

[Tomm3]

Swervin_Mervin said:

Your land registry document will only be clear about the extents of your title. It's the adopted highway boundary that is the most important and that is highly unlikely to be illustrated on your title. From everything you've said it would appear that the area is indeed adopted highway. In which case, it tough I'm afraid - you have no control over that land.

Your first step is seek clarification from the highway authority of the adopted highway boundary. They should be able to provide you with an extract from their records - usually for a fee, but they may provide it gratis in your circumstances.

Yes, I was wondering what legal pretext there might be. I don't actually understand it though, I bought the existing boundaried plot and agreed a vision line for to suit the wishes of highways. If I had just put a low fence on the boundary how could highways put their sign inside the fence?