£18,000 to park your car?
Discussion
Not sure if should have been in general gassing. Best read the link here on HTV Wales
In case the link moves
In case the link moves
HTV Wales said:
People living in a South Wales village have been hit by a bill for £1million -
just to park on the driveways of their own homes.
Families living in Peterstone between Cardiff and Newport face a one-off payment of up to £45,000 each for the right to turn into their driveways.
The sky-high charge is being levied by a businessman who owns common land in the village after buying up the hereditary title of Lord Marcher of Trelleck.
Mark Roberts is claiming the pavements and grass verges they drive across into their houses are part of his land.
Mr Roberts acquired the rights to the common land when he bought the Welsh hereditary title Lord Marcher of Trelleck for £10,000.
Now he has sent letters to the 40 house owners in Peterstone saying they owe him for parking their cars.
He is relying on a 78-year-old act which rules that people must get lawful authority from the owner to drive over his common land. Andd he is demanding nine per cent of the value of their homes for his permission to use their own drives.
He is also asking for a contribution of £411 to cover his legal costs in preparing his case against them.
The average value of houses in the upmarket commuter village is more than £250,000 with some worth twice as much.
It would net father-of-four Mr Roberts almost £1m in fees. In the letter his solicitor Donald Gray warns residents that if they do not pay up they face court action. He says: "Our client would prefer an amicable settlement but the decision is in your hands.
"If you choose to ignore this letter our client has asked us to point out that it is his policy to litigate these matters to a final conclusion."
But angry villagers are refusing to pay up and have banded into an action group to fight Cardiff businessman Mr Roberts, 41, all the way.
Housing officer Ruth Winstanley, who moved into her £200,000 house six years ago, faces a bill of £18,000 to "buy" the right to park her Mazda car in her own drive.
Mrs Winstanley, 48, lives with dental technician husband David, 55, and daughter Heather, 13, in their four-bedroomed detached on the main road through the village.
She said yesterday: "I was flabbergasted when I received the letter demanding I pay for the right to park my car in my own drive.
"I've never heard of such an outrageous thing in my life. We had the normal searched done by a solicitor and this was never mentioned.
"Our house is worth about £200,000 now and it would cost me £18,000 just to be able to turn into my drive.
"There is no way we can afford to pay this amount and will fight it all the way. The final straw was that we pay towards his legal fees."
Mrs Winstanley said that "three or four" families has already paid up after their solicitors told them that a legal battle could cost them even more.
Retired mechanical engineer Alan Thorp, 76, who lives in a bungalow in the village and drives a Rover, said: "This is a disgrace and nothing short of extortion.
"The letter was very distressing because it addressed to me and my wife who died six years ago."
Second World War army veteran Mr Thorp, who has three grown-up sons, added: "I have spent money on improvements to the bungalow and would have to re-mortgage to pay this demand."
The village is one of the oldest in South Wales - its church, St Peter's was flooded to a depth of 20 feet in the Great Storm which swept Britain 400 years ago.
The householders are appealing to the Welsh Assembly and Newport West MP Paul Flynn while local councillor Tony Boswell has taken up their case.
Coun Boswell said: "This is the worst kind of scaremongering. As far as we are concerned Mr Roberts has no claim to the majority of these homes.
"I have been informed by council officials that most of the homes are served by side roads which we regard as public highway and the pavements are council adopted.
"We would argue that this means the residents will not have to pay this iniquitous charge and the council will back them."
Mr Roberts' solicitor Mr Gray said: "Neither my client nor myself wishes to comment about this matter."
Mr Roberts owns several other manorial titles in Britain spanning 200,000 acres. He has clashed with locals before- two years ago he was accused of acting like a feudal baron.
He laid claim to 25,000 acres of Staffordshire moorland after buying the title Lord of the Manor of Alstonefield.
to go 
DustyC said:
But the New forestis in England. Pehaps the rules are different!
Id build a ramp and jump his land.
Or perhaps dig it up and dump it all in his drive way
The law in Wales, is essentially the same as it is in England. Wales does not have the power to pass primary legislation.
Same thing happened in a village in Warwickshire, except it was the local parish council who wanted to impose the charge for crossing common land. Several years of huffing and puffing, blighted house sales, etc, and they came to an agreement for a fraction of the original huge bill. Who wins? The lawyers.
Peter Ward said:
Same thing happened in a village in Warwickshire, except it was the local parish council who wanted to impose the charge for crossing common land. Several years of huffing and puffing, blighted house sales, etc, and they came to an agreement for a fraction of the original huge bill. Who wins? The lawyers.
What would be really slick is if he owned the legal firm which represented all his victims..a great scam...you get hold of common land, threaten the residents, get you other company to approach victims and charge them thousands of pounds in legal fees each for reducing your final bill...HHMMM I like it..
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