UKH

Hi

I volunteer at a local kennels and it’s off the beaten track.  One of the local farmers has taken issue with us using one of the unmade roads, claiming it’s private and threatening to make users turn around (tricky).  I can’t see any signs claiming it’s private and it’s not gated.  There are a few houses on it and a local fishing pond  which anglers access via this same road.  If it is indeed private, the owner has right over access.  However, how do we know if it’s private.  Anyone here know this area of law.  The county is cheshire.  

A lot of local councils have their 'definitive map' accessible online (with the caveat that it's not the definitive definitive map, and they're not responsible for errors or bits that are outdated in the online version).

If your unmade road is either an 'adopted highway' or a BOAT (byway open to all traffic), then happy days.

If it's private there is sometimes a covenant protecting access for others - for example even if the farmer owns the road, it's quite likely that the owners of the houses have the right to use it for access.  No idea how likely it would be that you have a right to access your kennels along that road if it is private - not very I would guess, especially if there's another way in.  Are the anglers & residents friendly?  You could always try asking them what they know.

I'll second Deepsoups post.  Find Your  on-line  Definitive ROW map.  

The owner doesn't need to advertise it is private.  The BOAT designation is not used by our highways department and they use the definition UUR  (Unsufaced, Unclassified Road)  Unlike a BOAT which is open to all traffic a UUR is what it says.  There's no classification of use.  So as  minimum it must be on foot.  It could also be on horse, or it could also be by vehicle as well.   So find the map....  Good luck.

Failing all that, most farmers have bad days - some more than others, my experience, limited as it is, is just be nice a friendly to the farmer and he may well come around and let you use it. 

Just for info, here's ours.  https://maps.northyorks.gov.uk/connect/analyst/mobile/#/main?mapcfg=Roads

You can zoom in and see the size of gardens if you wish.  And its also uses OS Maps.

My Mrs studied some law some years back (post grad) and I helped her revise, not that this means I know squat about law.. but I remember a topic about "easements" which are rights over land owned by others. For example if you have a semi detached house with a drive between yourself and your neighbour wide enough for 1 car you may well have the right to use each others half to drive on to access the rear of the properties. Easments can be prescriptive like stated in title deeds, noted on land registry or local authority, or implied by established use. If it's an implied easment through established use for a long time, you might need to go to court to have it made into a prescriptive easment so it can't be disputed. So make sure you check with local authority as kipper linked above, plus get the title of the property checked and the farmers property with a land registry search for registered easments here --  https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

If the farmer persists, the kennels should get advice from a qualified solicitor!

I live on an unadopted road which is not maintained by the council. There is no single owner of the road, it's the responsibility of all the houses on it to maintain it. There is no easement on the title to my house giving access so it might be that there is none for the houses on the road in your case either. 

Our road does get constantly messed up by people using it as a car park for the local bars. It has occurred to me that a sign saying private road/no access might assist but ultimately unless I was willing to chain it off, which obviously I'm not, it probably wouldn't do much. I doubt the farmer will actually block access as it would be inconvenient to the residents on the road and anglers, but it would be worth doing as others suggest and checking the relevant maps to see if its adopted by the council. You also say one of the roads ; if there are other ways to access the kennels it's probably better to just use them as much as possible in the meantime. 

Do not assume the farmer is the owner.  As others have mentioned the kennels may benefit from an easement over the road.  If the land upon which the road sits is not registered, the only definitive source of the easement will be the paper deeds.  The owners of the kennels should have a copy, so I would ask them.

I smell a potential can of worms here, tread lightly until the situation is established, belligerent farmer or not.

Surely the owners of the kennels should.know the answer?

Have long have they been there for?

1. check the council's definitive map of PROWs. If it's on there as a BOAT, anyone can drive along it.

2. If it's not on the definitive map, ask the council if it's on the List Of Streets. If it's on there, it's a public road (even if it doesn't look like one) and anyone can drive along it.

3. If it's not on the DM as a BOAT or on the LoS, do the kennels own their land and property? If so, ask them to check their deeds to see if they specify a private right of vehicular access along it. If they only rent their premises, check the lease to see what that says about rights of access.

4. If none of these steps gives you your answer, it starts to get difficult and/or expensive and you probably need a solicitor, unless you're happy to just ignore the farmer and carry on as you were. Happy to advise further if steps 1 to 3 give you no joy (this kind of issue has been a big part of my working life for 25 years).

An unadopted road is not the same as a private road. An unadopted public road is one that the public has a right to drive along, that no-one has the right to obstruct, that is maintainable by the residents rather than the council. If you have nothing in your deeds about an easement (private right of access) then it is probably an unadopted public road. The council's List Of Streets will tell you if it is or not.

If it is an unadopted road then the public has a right to travel along it but not park on it. You and the other residents would be entitled to put up No Parking signs, but enforcing that could be tricky.

Thanks everyone.  I’ll follow the advice up 

Thanks for this, most helpful 

Good knowledge, cheers; that does sound familiar from when I was researching it when we bought the house! 

I agree with this; but some unadopted unclassified roads have fallen so by the wayside the landowner and/or farmer who uses them have no idea about their status and are more than a little belligerent about it.  There’s an unadopted UNC near us that would complete a great circular walk, but you one has to ask if one is prepared to fall out with a farming neighbour in a small rural community….

Fair enough

If things get complicated then we’ve found “Private Roads: The Legal Framework” by Andrew Barsby to be a very good book on the subject. A fair bit of the subject appears not to be black and white.

It is also worth considering the possibility of being liable for maintenance costs if visitors are regularly driving along it to access a property.

I'm not a lawyer but I've read up on this before for similar reasons. Assuming the track is actually private, If the kennels are completely 'landlocked', ie. there is no way to access kennels via another route, then there would be an easement of necessity. This would allow people to use the track to access the kennels. This wouldn't have to be written down in any deeds, but is simply implied.

If you believe you have a right of access / easement along a track and it isn't in the deeds to the land or property you're trying to access and someone tries to stop you using the track then it all gets a bit tricky I'm afraid

It gets even trickier if you want to mortgage or sell the property and a lender is sharp enough to spot the lack of a deed of easement