Installing a Fence Beside a Public Road

Bronco Bullfrog · 08-04-2021 3:32pm #1

Hello, I live in a rural area. I have a small patch of land opposite my house, it's on the deeds to the property its about 60 feet long by 20 feet wide. It serves no purpose but It lies adjacent to the road. The road is really a single track laneway / Boreen. The current fence on it needs replacing. The fence is made up of wooden fence posts and wire. I asked a local handyman to help me replace the fence. He had a look and came back to me and said he was thinking of putting one concrete fence post at one end as it would greatly improve the strain / tautness of the wire, he then said he wasn't sure if he should do that in case anyone were to hit it in a car The rest of the fence posts would be wooden.
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The fence posts in their current position are all about 2 feet back from the road on private land. If In the unfortunate event of an accident that if a concrete fence post cemented into the ground were to be struck by a car it would cause more damage than a wooden fence post. A wooden fence post would just give way.Should I consider this? Although it's a single track road the speed limit is 80 kmh which is crazy and people do drive too fast. Obviously if a car were to veer 2 feet off the road the driver would be at fault but I am just trying to cover myself. There has been a couple of incidents of cars leaving the road in other parts of the lane over the years and my fence was struck once by a Combine Harvester, the fence was damaged from this.

If we install one concrete post in on private land and all the rest wooden posts which would be 2 feet or more back from the road would I need to make any considerations? Would I need to put some kind of warning marker in front of the concrete post? Would I need to check with the local council? Or can I just go ahead?

I notice the local council have put up metal posts along the side of roads in certain areas to prevent people parking eg close to schools and on an industrial estate. If a car struck one of them there would be considerable damage. When you drive around the countryside you often see all kinds of obstructions that people put out on verges outside their houses to prevent cars driving on verges or prevent parking. My handyman friend tells me these obstructions on verges are not legal.

I may be over-thinkinking this, but you hear stories of people having a minor knock in their car in a supermarket car park & then someone tries to make a claim against them for 30,000 etc.
Thanks in advance for any replies and advice.

looksee · 08-04-2021 5:28pm

You probably are overthinking it, but why not ring the county council and talk to one of the roads engineers see what they think. If the land is not serving any purpose why bother fencing it? Why not just plant a few trees on it?

Bronco Bullfrog · 08-04-2021 9:02pm

Hi thanks for your suggestion. I had to put a fence on it because my family had a legal dispute with a local farmer over it. Our property was stood empty for a number of years. We were the victims of a "land grab" back in the early 90's.The farmer has land to the rear of this patch of land, he broke a gap in a hedge and then put up a fence and fenced us off our own property. Took us 12 years to get it back. Have tried planting trees, but someone comes and digs them up in the night! And takes them away. Lots of other little acts of petty vandalism etc ongoing, since 2005. Last incident was at Christmas.

Hence the overthinking on legalities I guess.

looksee · 08-04-2021 10:02pm

Yes, that does put rather a different complexion on it. I doubt you will get a conclusive answer here - I think most people would say, like me, no problem about putting in a concrete post - but if there is something about the site that makes it a possible problem then as I suggested, talk to the Roads department. I have found them helpful in a couple of instances, in two different counties.

Bronco Bullfrog · 08-04-2021 11:15pm

I just found a book on garden law in the house, it has a section on "fencing against the road". It states "Though you are not obliged to have a barrier against the road, it is often desirable to do so. If you are arranging this yourself you should clearly take care that it is built on your land and does not encroach the road. If in doubt about the exact position of the.boundary, you should check with the local highway authority".

So the boundary position is not the issue, it sounds like as long is the fence is on your own land it should be OK, no mention of what fencing material is used, but I will check with the local council roads dept. Thanks.

...Ghost... · 09-04-2021 10:25am

Sound like the perfect spot for a family of moles. Farmers love those

The little buggers aren't found here though.

The council engineer might recommend you put a reflective material on the post.

GreeBo · 09-04-2021 11:29am

OP could you just stick a few boulders on it to prevent the farmer from using it, saves you putting up and maintaining fence?

Calahonda52 · 09-04-2021 1:20pm

Bronco Bullfrog wrote: »

I just found a book on garden law in the house, it has a section on "fencing against the road". It states "Though you are not obliged to have a barrier against the road, it is often desirable to do so. If you are arranging this yourself you should clearly take care that it is built on your land and does not encroach the road. If in doubt about the exact position of the.boundary, you should check with the local highway authority".

So the boundary position is not the issue, it sounds like as long is the fence is on your own land it should be OK, no mention of what fencing material is used, but I will check with the local council roads dept. Thanks.

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Installing a Fence Beside a Public Road

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