Narrow Country Road - Overgrown hedges

[kerrymaid]

Hello everybody.
I'm looking for some advice please & would be grateful for any replies. I live in a rural area, my "road" is very narrow, full of potholes on 1 side & extremely overgrown trees/hedges on the other side. I contacted the county council in July 2017 in relation to the trees/hedges & explained that they were obstructing our view of the road when we were coming out of our property. I also explained that there are times when we have to reverse back up the road & back into our property as we cannot see if there is traffic coming up the road because of the overgrown hedges/tress. I was informed by the county council that my email was forwarded to the local municipal council. To date i have received no reply. In August a man in a white van drove onto my property, asked why I Mrs X & I replied yes (thought he was a courier). He said he was from the council but showed me no form of ID. Foolishly I didnt think to ask at the time. In the last week I met the same man in the same white van at the bottom of my "road" and asked him for an update. He told me they were trying to find out who owned the land! Is this possible for it to take so long, am i being naive or am i missing something here?

 

[bcol1]

Contact your local councillor directly, they will more than likely know who the landowner is, and may be able to help you.

 

[DirectDevil]

Is the overgrowth based on the public road or intruding in to it from neighbouring lands ?

If the overgrowth is based on the public road the local authority should be dealing with it on the basis that it is actually their property or at least property of which they have charge.

If the overgrowth is coming from neighbouring lands the primary responsibility for that lies with the owner / occupier. In these circumstances this would appear to be both nuisance and trespass. It might be that if it is sufficiently dangerous the local authority may have to take steps to deal with it and try and bill the errant landowner who is allowing the overgrowth to trespass on to the highway and thus creating a public danger and or nuisance as well as trespassing.

Additionally, it seems most unfair to saddle you with the unreasonable burden of having to use the "highway" in the circumstances you describe. What happens if you have an accident with another vehicle whilst engaging in the manoeuvring gymnastics that you have to execute.

My inclination would be to put pen and paper to the council insisting on them taking immediate steps to abate the danger on the highway. Stress that the consequence of the continuing hazard is placing you at considerable peril and that you are putting them on formal notice of the problem especially if there should be an accident.

One problem with local authorities - in the event of an accident - is that they are not liable for their failure to maintain the highway. This is called non-feasance or doing nothing. They would be liable for misfeasance or doing something wrong. For example, if they dug a big hole in the road and left it open overnight with no warning.

The other thing to watch out for is them trying to shift responsibility to the owner of other lands if the overgrowth is coming from there. In that case they will try and set up a situation whereby they will say that your problem is with that landowner and not them. They could be right which is why I would try and focus them on the public danger of the hazard.

Good look with it.....

 

[shweeney]

If the overgrowth is coming from neighbouring lands the primary responsibility for that lies with the owner / occupier. In these circumstances this would appear to be both nuisance and trespass. It might be that if it is sufficiently dangerous the local authority may have to take steps to deal with it and try and bill the errant landowner who is allowing the overgrowth to trespass on to the highway and thus creating a public danger and or nuisance as well as trespassing.

really - I see the council cutting hedges all the time, and often the actual plants are growing from adjacent fields. I'd assume the council has the right to cut whatever they want if it's obstructing a public road.

The problem here may be that the "road" sounds like it's only used by one or two houses - pretty much bottom of the priority list for any council. I think this is a particular problem in Ireland where we have lot more road per head than in other jurisdictions, where minor lanes like this are generally privately owned and maintained.

 

[DirectDevil]

really - I see the council cutting hedges all the time, and often the actual plants are growing from adjacent fields. I'd assume the council has the right to cut whatever they want if it's obstructing a public road.

The problem here may be that the "road" sounds like it's only used by one or two houses - pretty much bottom of the priority list for any council. I think this is a particular problem in Ireland where we have lot more road per head than in other jurisdictions, where minor lanes like this are generally privately owned and maintained.

Unfortunately for road users I think that your view is right !

The council would have the right to cut road obstructions and hazards on the basis of trespass and public safety.