[Closed] Would you class this as private land

what does land registry say?

Was there evidence of a van being driven across the grass?

ignorance is bliss. add a bit of deafness, perfect. makes em fume.

I used to live on a corner plot just like this, and yes, the land belonged to me in the deeds. I never bothered to put a fence up.

Which also meant I had to cut the grass.

This can only be in England, a dog walking on some unfenced grass, WGAF?

Was the dogs name Louise and did you have pistols or swords?

You've made a new friend, perhaps gift him some razor wire?

OP I think you've borne the brunt of the actions of one or more less responsible dog walkers who are unwilling or unable to get beyond the end of the close before letting the pooch unload on the verge.

The ownership of the land is a side issue really. If the bloke is civic minded enough to maintain it, he shouldn't have to deal with dog cr@p.

Looking at the pic again, the land isnt exactly on your way anywhere, so it was a reasonable assumption on his part that you were intending to empty and go.

At least you talked it out. Good result.

simmy - Member
What is the forums opinion ?

Public land just by looking at the photo above unless there is a sign.

https://data.gov.uk/dataset/land-registry-inspire-view-service-and-metadata

You could always screw him over by applying for village green status for it 🙂

OP I think you've borne the brunt of the actions of one or more less responsible dog walkers who are unwilling or unable to get beyond the end of the close before letting the pooch unload on the verge.

The ownership of the land is a side issue really. If the bloke is civic minded enough to maintain it, he shouldn't have to deal with dog cr@p.

Looking at the pic again, the land isnt exactly on your way anywhere, so it was a reasonable assumption on his part that you were intending to empty and go.

Yeah I kind of understand where he was coming from, but one day behaving like that he is going to end on a liquid diet. Few years ago I would have planted him one myself.

My dog just loves sniffing about and he had walked the length of the verge from the left of the picture then we got to the part in question and he appeared.

I said to him that he needs to think before accusing and he admitted he felt ashamed of his initial actions when I showed him the dog bag I'd picked up and the 2 empty ones in my pocket

I used to "own" the snicket path that went down the side of my entire plot from the front road to the rear road. It was a proper dogsh1t alley. For the first few years i tried to keep on top of my hedges overhanging the path whilst braving the dog eggs literally everywhere. It was particularly bad the time when i accidentally trod through the house whilst i had kids at drawling age.

When the current craze for hanging dog baubles in the trees took off, i put away the clippers for good and just let it turn into an eyesore.

[quote=chewkw ]Public land just by looking at the photo above unless there is a sign.

What are you basing that assumption on? Is there a "private land" sign on your garden?

There's a bloke who owns some land where we ride local. He's a ****ing rager. I lost my shit with him once, over us using the footpaths to push bikes up. He keeps on going, I no longer talk to him if he approaches now. He's got loads of pics of me I reckon. Just ignore.

Technically up to the back of the footway would most likely be highway/local authority land. After that could be anything but if he doesn't want people on it he should put a fence up.

......one day behaving like that he is going to end on a liquid diet. Few years ago I would have planted him one myself.

You sound impressive.

*swoons*

I'd say as there is a street sign on it (at least it looks like it's on the land not the path on a phone screen ) there's a fair chance it's public land.

They are not typically fixed on private land as the council would have to legally "enter" the property for maintenance.

I'd have expected that sign to be on posts in the pavement if the corner bit was part of the house.

Maybe just my experience round here of signage.

[quote=garage-dweller ]I'd say as there is a street sign on it

Are you sure about that?

would you have just treated it as public land ?

No.

if he doesn't want people on it he should put a fence up

Just say it is his property, why should he? Plenty of people have land/gardens like this, why should the lack of a fence automatically give people the right to wander onto it?

I've got dogs and an unfenced front garden 😆

Got to confess if I saw that bit of land I'd assume it to be council owned and maintained. If it is his land he must have a crushing low sense of imagination - with the cost of land for domestic use why have it arranged like that? You don't get to use it like your own garden yet have the double whammy of still having to maintain it.

I would have thought public land. If it was private and owned by the house I would expect them to have continued the hedge/trees all the way round the outside rather than having it go halfway through their garden...

aracer - Member

chewkw » Public land just by looking at the photo above unless there is a sign.

What are you basing that assumption on? Is there a "private land" sign on your garden?

cornholio98 - Member
I would have thought public land. If it was private and owned by the house I would expect them to have continued the hedge/trees all the way round the outside rather than having it go halfway through their garden...

The position of the hedge is pretty irrelevant as far as ownership goes, though having it planted back a bot from the pavement does create a better sight-line for that junction, making it a good bit safer for all users.

I find it hard to believe that so many folk haven't seen private gardens extending to a public pavement without a fence of hedge separating them.

....if he doesn't want people on it he should put a fence up.

my memory says that a lot of cul de sac style developments from that sort of period came with specific covenants preventing front fencing - think was meant to make them look pleasant open and spacey - no one likes that now - we like rules/ownership/privacy/car horns and shouting - blame thatcher?

scotroutes - Member
The position of the hedge is pretty irrelevant as far as ownership goes, though having it planted back a bot from the pavement does create a better sight-line for that junction, making it a good bit safer for all users.

I find it hard to believe that so many folk haven't seen private gardens extending to a public pavement without a fence of hedge separating them.

antigee - Member
my memory says that a lot of cul de sac style developments from that sort of period came with specific covenants preventing front fencing - think was meant to make them look pleasant open and spacey - no one likes that now - we like rules/ownership/privacy/car horns and shouting - blame thatcher?

[quote=antigee ]my memory says that a lot of cul de sac style developments from that sort of period came with specific covenants preventing front fencing - think was meant to make them look pleasant open and spacey - no one likes that now - we like rules/ownership/privacy/car horns and shouting - blame thatcher?

Ours does, and was built a while after Thatcher (mostly the front gardens are all still unfenced and open straight onto the road, and I reckon it's one thing which helps towards creating a sense of community as you're not separated from your neighbours). A lot more of the land is privately owned than you might expect (we own a large paved area in front of several houses), though it's also a bit peculiar as the front 1m strip of privately owned land also counts as part of the highway.

I think the point some are missing is that all land is owned by somebody, and it would be even more illogical for the council/highways to own that bit of land away from the highway. It certainly looks like relatively recent developer build estate, and developers don't give more land to the council than they have to - my expectation of any sort of fairly recent development is that all land behind the pavement is privately owned. Too much significance seems to be being given to the position of plants whilst missing the bigger picture.

When we last moved house we looked at (and tried to buy) a house that was on a corner plot and it similarly had land that appeared to be outside of the boundary (a wall). It had to be kept clear of fencing / hedges due to the sight lines at the junction.

I have sharing garden without fence near public area and guess what, I have people playing football on the road to see how many windows they can break by "accidentally" kicking the ball towards the house, drunken people punched through the windows due arguments with their own, drug dealers hanging outside of my door way pretending to be the occupant of the house, tree outside the house becomes public toilet when drunk ...

Chewkw - I thought you lived in Newcastle not the bad end of Johannesburg?

Not dissimilar to my house. We're on the corner of a cul-de-sac, and the road name sign is in our flowerbed.
There is a covenant saying no fencing or hedging in of the front garden. It's a bit more obviously private and ours compared to that one, but we still get idiots letting their dogs foul on the grass.
We have a swing in a tree on the front lawn, and my wife came around the corner the other day to find a woman giving her kid a push on it. Her excuse? There's no hedge so I thought it was public land......no it's not, you're trespassing! Safe to say my wife was far nicer to her than I would have been.

Chewkw - I thought you lived in Newcastle not the bad end of Johannesburg?

Not much in it IMNHO

I've had both private and public land not too dissimilar to the given example. The private one we ended up completely filling with flowers so it did become obvious to most not to cross through.

Currently we have a decent size patch of grassy land out the front intersected by a public footpath with is public, but as the council do nothing to manage it we've sort of taken 'ownership' of the maintenance which includes planting. Dog eggs when strimming are a hazard. The view makes up for it tho!

Years ago I use to cut the grass for the local council and we had lots of grass that was council owned like in the picture above, though a few bits were private. The problem is the property's next to it sometimes plant flowers, trees, shrubs and start to maintain it and try to lay claim it's theirs when they have no right what so ever to it.

Property is theft. Should've told him to **** off.

my memory says that a lot of cul de sac style developments from that sort of period came with specific covenants preventing front fencing - think was meant to make them look pleasant open and spacey

Yup that was my first thought.

Why do people need to put signs up to tell you it's there garden? Punching someone because they shouted at you. 🙄

I find it hard to believe that so many folk haven't seen private gardens extending to a public pavement without a fence of hedge separating them.

And signs telling you too. 😆

I'd say as there is a street sign on it (at least it looks like it's on the land not the path on a phone screen ) there's a fair chance it's public land.

I feel sorry for anyone with a street sign attached to their house, seems the house isn't theirs.

There are a lot of people on this thread that seem like the type to put signs like this up.
[img] [/img]

Our garden runs right down to the pavement, infact we just dug the hedge out so we didnt have to look at it from the living room!

We're on a corner of a road and a newer estate which for no particular reason has an electric gate which means

A) people dump their rubbish sacks at the end of our garden on a thursday night for the foxes to shred so we have to clear up.

B) people now treat the pavement as a parking space when they cant get through the gate forcing people to walk through our flower bed.

Basicly some people are ****s when it comes to other peoples property. A bit like some hyper-millitant keyboard warriors when it comes to cheeky trails.

Just say it is his property, why should he?

He shouldn't have to put a fence up, but he's the one with the massive beef about it...

Must admit I'd think that was public land, it like having a road sign and the bushes behind ,we've got some around our way like it but tbh never thought it would belong to anybody - as council maintain it.

If it looks like a duck ,walks like a duck and sounds like a duck I can't see why the owner would expect people to not think it was a duck IMHO

I'd think it was private. Old house was on a close similar, again I think covenants prevented actually using it to extend a garden, house had walled back garden but then a side and front area kept clear. It's a quid on land registry if your actually bothered.

could be anyone of the two hundred houses on our estate. boundary fences are strictly off limits covenant shit and no one has one.. rare for hedges and several that do arent on the edge of the property.. keep off it.. its not yours.. simple really