AIBU to think my new home developer can't put a wildlife corridor in my garden

[Homemoans]

I've just bought a new build house, when we moved in we realised that the developer had fenced a strip of land at the side of our garden off, when we asked why they said it's a wildlife corridor. The boundary on the deeds is the second fence so we immediately on completing took down the internal fence. They are now saying we need to reinstall it or they may contact the council who will Inforce it?! Surely this isn't possible for them to dictate what we do within our boundary. I'll try and attach some pictures if I can work out how to make this a bit clearer

Part of our property is communal land. We own it, but we couldn't just put up a fence around it or take the connecting fence down.

Yes I second that you need to check actual deeds not the plans

Just found this plan in with paperwork from the solicitor, can't find anything bigger though. Guess I will be giving them a ring

You know that pink hatched area? I'm pretty sure you'll lose that if a planning application for further development succeeds.

That picture also sems to show the wildlife corridor, albeit smaller(narrower) than the other image. I'm really surprised you don't have a detailed plan of your plot though - I naively thought that sort of thing came with the house...

For those asking here's a picture of the front garden which was going to be an access road but now is not

It looks to me like your boundary is the darker lining running from the corner of your house. So not the wildlife bit which would match what you are being told.

I'd worry that the wildlife corridor is there because they're going to whack another development next to you on the other side of it.

This is incredibly weird for a developer to give up a potential access to a future development site...

I think if a new development was ever built next door then she may lose that pink hatched bit as it says "licence". But the solicitor should be able to confirm.

Which would explain why the wildlife corridor is there maybe - as they are hoping to get the permission to build next door one day?

Looking at the site plan it seems like the wildlife corridor isn't part of your garden. Looks like it's your fence, wildlife corridor, estate boundary fence.

This is what I thought from the pictures, although the one that is a plan with red lines is missing the left hand side so it's hard to see.

This is incredibly weird for a developer to give up a potential access to a future development site...

I'd hazard a guess that they havent, and that they have retained the right of access at any point in the future.

DH is an architect planner and he said a red line usually denotes a boundary line. He's said that from the plans, it does indeed look like the extra land is yours, as you need to be able to maintain your property with scaffolding etc should you need to. However, a wildlife strip is a legitimate clause and they will be able to enforce it. The wildlife strip will need to be maintained under environmental policy and allowed to thrive and flourish. DH couldn't clarify who would be liable for maintenance. However you have a right to maintain your property and a balance would need to be struck between potential maintenance of your property and the hedgerow, and that balance should've been struck up when the boundary lines were drawn up.

However any boundary treatment is subject to local authority planning approval and would need to be negotiated with either local authority estate department and any private land owners with a vested interest.

What he says is, in short you shouldn't have taken it down without discussion with the developer and local authority as it represents unlawful development.

He advises you to speak to local authority planning department voicing concerns over potential future maintenance with limited access due to the enforced boundary conditions.

HTH.

That's not your land I think it's clear to see on plan also don't most new build estate or certainly did have to leave a strip for public one space, tree belt , nature type thing when planning was given for estate..?

I live in a newbuild and have the same bit of land out the back if you check your deeds carefully I will bet you there is mention of a factoring charge, it will be to maintain that land

We recently tried to get the land off builder who was happy to give it up for extra gardens but council refused planning to change its use to residential gardens due to it being a condition of the planning given for the estate

I'm afraid your garden is where your fence is I would say, and I wouldn't bother fighting the council as I doubt they will change from the original plans without good reason and extra garden isn't a good reason.

Edit: He's said that from the plans, it does indeed look like the red line denotes the extreme of your boundary.
Not that extra land is yours.

You have to speak to your solicitor to get the full facts. Did you receive a "report" letter? I wonder if the plans have been incorrectly marked? This is not unheard of and can cause all manner of problems. In the meantime, it might be worth looking at the original planning permission documents to see what was agreed between the LA and the developer.

I wouldn't rely on what the Land Registry plan says (if you have received this yet) because they will go by the estate and plot plans and if these are incorrect so will their plan be.

Looks like the wildlife corridor was added when they secured the removal of condition 16 on the original outline permission - but can't find the docs on the council website.

You've got a great size plot for a new development. I'd ask the Solicetor about the possibility of getting the license removed from the front garden. It's great if the proposed future development has been turned down but it would still be nice to know that your land can't be used in future. I don't know if you can buy the rights of the license back from the builder. (BTW sorry about my rubbish wording - I hope you get the drift)

As said above, red edging will indicate your boundary.

I think the more alarming thing is the area at the front of your house.

You said "The pink line in this photo which goes around the second fence and the large front garden which has now been confirmed as being ours".

How has the large front garden been confirmed as being yours? What proof of ownership do you have? You need to ask your solicitor that.

Just because planning consent was turned down for another development this time does not mean that it will be again in the future. And developers don't usually give away valuable access to potential development sites.

If the developers already own the land the other side of that fence then they will intend to build something on it at some point in the future. And if you don't own that area in front of the house, then it may become an access road to the new development. I'd be onto the solicitors pronto.

I would still be asking the question "who maintains this wildlife corridor?" if it is not my land. As I said before, this happened to us, nobody maintained it. It was left to grow wild,then people started dumping stuff on it!

The wildlife corridor runs right down the western boundry of the estate. It's not just your house that has it. You can see it in the estate plans.

the front garden which was going to be an access road but now is not
Until they apply for the next phase.

It's clear to me...that bit isn't yours so you can't take the fence down and incorporate it. I've no idea why you would think it's yours...it's for the corridor as the guy said!