Grass Verge

houseman2013

Hi all,

I know this topic has come up before a few times but am just looking for info on the following:

I bought a house with a large front garden a few years ago. At the time, the only thing sepatating the garden from the road was a small mound of earth and some overgrown ditch (there was no grass verge etc.. for traffic to pull in to in order to allow on coming vehicles such as tractors etc to get by).

So, a few years ago I did some landscaping in which I removed the ditch from the front of the property and replaced it with a post and rail fence set back back approx 1 meter from the road. This left me with a nice grass verge. Now, being a city slicker I hadn't expected that people would be constantly driving on to it to allow larger vehicles to get by which has now ruined the lovely grass verge I once had.

So my question is this, can I now move my post and rail fence out nearer to the road to reclaim my grass verge and thereby prevent drivers from using it?

I can't see any reason why not, the verge only exits because I created it. Looking forward to your replies.

CIARAN_BOYLE

houseman2013 wrote: »

Hi all,

I know this topic has come up before a few times but am just looking for info on the following:

I bought a house with a large front garden a few years ago. At the time, the only thing sepatating the garden from the road was a small mound of earth and some overgrown ditch (there was no grass verge etc.. for traffic to pull in to in order to allow on coming vehicles such as tractors etc to get by).

So, a few years ago I did some landscaping in which I removed the ditch from the front of the property and replaced it with a post and rail fence set back back approx 1 meter from the road. This left me with a nice grass verge. Now, being a city slicker I hadn't expected that people would be constantly driving on to it to allow larger vehicles to get by which has now ruined the lovely grass verge I once had.

So my question is this, can I now move my post and rail fence out nearer to the road to reclaim my grass verge and thereby prevent drivers from using it?

I can't see any reason why not, the verge only exits because I created it. Looking forward to your replies.

If you own the land then sure, if you don't then no. It may be public property on the side of the road or it may not. The border of your property might be set down in your deeds.

houseman2013

Thanks Ciaran, yes i do own the land. The border of the property is where it meets the roadside.

CIARAN_BOYLE

houseman2013 wrote: »

Thanks Ciaran, yes i do own the land. The border of the property is where it meets the roadside.

then you can put a fence up at the border of the land. A lot of roads have some land on either side as public property but if its your land feel free to put up a fence.

Victor

There may be planning permission issues.

Honey and Milk

Victor wrote: »

There may be planning permission issues.

Marking a boundary is an exempt development unless it is a protected structure or is greater than 2 metres in height.

godwin

Just a question , why would you create more of a hazard for road users by making a narrow road even narrower? There is obviously an issue with traffic volume vs road width. My sister had much the same issue at her house and cut her losses and removed the grass verge and filled it with gravel , much cheaper than extending a fence.

dan_ep82

godwin wrote: »

Just a question , why would you create more of a hazard for road users by making a narrow road even narrower? There is obviously an issue with traffic volume vs road width. My sister had much the same issue at her house and cut her losses and removed the grass verge and filled it with gravel , much cheaper than extending a fence.

Thats a pretty odd stance to take.

The Council didn't make the road capable of holding two vehicles, which is a pretty basic concept when building roads, so the blame for the initial "hazard" should lie with them. Besides,he said it was this way a few years ago,they managed to get by before,I'm sure they can again.

godwin

dan_ep82 wrote: »

Thats a pretty odd stance to take.

The Council didn't make the road capable of holding two vehicles, which is a pretty basic concept when building roads, so the blame for the initial "hazard" should lie with them. Besides,he said it was this way a few years ago,they managed to get by before,I'm sure they can again.

The council made these roads 70+ years ago , basic concepts were met when the road was constructed at that time , the size of the vehicles using these road has increased significantly , the roads have not. speaking of someone who lives besides roads like this , the odds of the council winding roads like this is slim and none , the odds of the OPs fence needing repairing because it gets clipped by tractors etc are much lower.

Victor

Honey and Milk wrote: »

Marking a boundary is an exempt development unless it is a protected structure or is greater than 2 metres in height.

Are you sure it's 2 metres? There is also the matter of where the boundary is positioned.

dan_ep82 wrote: »

Thats a pretty odd stance to take.

The Council didn't make the road capable of holding two vehicles, which is a pretty basic concept when building roads, so the blame for the initial "hazard" should lie with them. Besides,he said it was this way a few years ago,they managed to get by before,I'm sure they can again.

Perhaps fewer people should build houses in there middle of nowhere? There would be less traffic forcing people up on the verge.

discus

dan_ep82 wrote: »

Thats a pretty odd stance to take.

The Council didn't make the road capable of holding two vehicles, which is a pretty basic concept when building roads, so the blame for the initial "hazard" should lie with them. Besides,he said it was this way a few years ago,they managed to get by before,I'm sure they can again.

Rather than blaming the council, the OP is taking it upon himself to remedy the situation. Fair play OP, good to see someone take some civic responsibility upon themselves!!

Kosseegan

The o/p can put his boundary wher he thinks it is and if the council want to widen the road rthey can buy the land from him and build him a new boundary wall. This is often done.

dan_ep82

discus wrote: »

Rather than blaming the council, the OP is taking it upon himself to remedy the situation. Fair play OP, good to see someone take some civic responsibility upon themselves!!

I don't think you read the thread.

My post was concerning the others who thought the OP should not move his fence to reclaim his land,to give it up freely otherwise it would create a hazard.

I simply said that the hazard wasn't initially created by the OP, and if blame for a hazard was to be leveled against anyone it would be the Council.

The land is his,I'd think he has every right to re-claim it.

Perhaps fewer people should build houses in there middle of nowhere? There would be less traffic forcing people up on the verge.

Ah but if theres no house there's no verge to argue over. Still,these types of roads can be found close to any major town.

Maybe the new property tax will mean road upgrades lol

discus

I've read the thread, and I understand both your point and his.