To ask who I’m supposed to report my CF neighbour to?

[BarkItOff]

I live on a new build estate, it’s been up a few years now but the roads are still unadopted so it’s ‘technically’ private.

There is a park on the estate and there are 2 access points to this park. 1 at the entrance to the estate and 1 further down the estate close to a neighbouring estate.

One of the neighbours has put a sign up further down, stating private road, I mean technically yes but public access is still allowed but the CF has also put a chain and padlock on the gate to the path that leads to the park with a sign saying private!

I have been told this was because children from the neighbouring estate were using the park via this entrance and as we pay for the upkeep of the park it’s private. Except it’s not! It’s still a park able to be accessed by anyone. It’s made it particularly annoying for people on this side of the new build estate that have children as you have to walk all the way round to the front to get onto the park when there is literally a gate that leads to an access path right in front of you. And those of us that walk dogs there like to walk full circle, in one end and out the other and now we have to double back.

As the roads are unadopted will the council sort this and point out that she doesn’t own the park. The builders are long gone and we’re a nightmare to chase up snagging never mind anything else so they will be no help. The management company doesn’t want to know and say it’s not their responsibility. I’m tempted to go and cut the chain but I guess that’s criminal damage as she owns the chain.

I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from cutting it off. I’d be incandescent. I cannot stand stuff like this.

If you could get your neighbours involved you can go one by one to get her to unlock it. Next person waits long enough for her to sit down then needs it unlocking. And so on. Make it a problem for her.

Report it as a blocked footpath to your local council parish/county/borough/city and then escalate via your local councillor.

Wear a disguise and have an outing at 1am tonight with some bolt cutters.

it should actually be the management company who sorts this out. Used to happen years ago when people in market houses prevented those in affordable houses accessing play parks on a new build - all houses on the new build estate. Pretty disgusting really.

at that time I believe that the planning department could get involved as the location and type of play equipment would be controlled by condition or section 106 agreement. It could also fall within the landscape management plan (condition / section 106) or management company.

report to planning enforcement and also let your local councillor know.

but the quickest should be via the management company (who would be the ones responsible if enforcement got involved).

also on many new builds the roads aren’t adopted because the council can’t afford to take on maintenance. So you may find they are never adopted.

Echoing others, council and fire station.
She's an idiot.

Wow

facebook?? Community page. Locals will have been supportive of the park and development.

I could almost follow her thinking if it was something like a dog agility park for “the street” but a park! For kids!! Crazy

I'd invest in not only shiny bolt cutters of my very own, but a range of entertaining costumes in which to appear while removing said obstruction. Money well spent. I bet she's the type who moans about children being on screen too much, too... 🙄

Bolt cutters. Every time. Public access must be maintained under The Outdoor Access Code.

I agree with PP that you should talk to the Council. Get hold of a copy of the local Ordnance Survey map (library, buy one, etc) which will show public footpaths.

You could ask the Ramblers' Association for advice as they're very hot on keeping Rights of Way open, even if this one doesn't quite fall into their remit. It might, though.

I would contact the developer and then your local councillors. On my estate we still have roads not adopted after 25 years!

go out at night and dress admin black

I'd treat this the same as when private landowners block public footpaths. www.ramblers.org.uk/go-walking-hub/getting-obstructions-removed-paths

Boring. Dress up as Big Bird and do it.

Be careful about cutting lock off, I think the police could prosecute you for damage to her property (the lock). At least that's what I was told when we thought somebody had stolen our son's bike and used a lock on it. We wanted to retrieve it, but got told that it would be criminal damage to break the lock.
Ridiculous, I know.

Well if you don’t want to cut the bolt off because she’ll see, time to get angry. Go knock on her door and say you are really cross about the lock being put on the gate stopping people from your estate using the gate, did she see who put it on as you are going to report them. (Be vague about who you’re going to report to). Say that you know lots of the estate are angry about it and you’d hate to be the person who did this when it all comes out. Go knock about selfish people limiting other residents (get in a thing about all the dog walkers hate not being able to do a loop). Say you’re going to borrow some bolt cutters tomorrow and cut it off. You’re going to go door to door and see if you can work out who you’d unreasonable neighbour is. Let’s see if it she sneaks out in the night and takes it off.

The road may well be unadopted but I assume its still a local authority park and so personally id report it the council and a local councillor too

Get a local councillor involved they will know who to liase with, potentially go and talk to her. If you’re brave enough I’d confront her and explain it’s making it inconvenient for families, could you have a key etc

Also she must have to charge that doorbell, I’d maintain surveillance and pounce!

Council - someone in our area put a 'Private Road' sign on our unadopted road. It was reported and the council had it down within hours - they appear not to take kindly to people privatising roads/access etc

If you send your money to the management company for park maintenance, then it is their problem to deal with. You are paying them to manage estate issues. The exception would be if there is a board of elected residents that oversees the management company and the management company is only in charge of logistics.

This is what I was thinking. The fact that the OP describes the road as "technically" a private road confuses me, because it either is or it isn't. Eitherway, if not the Council, someone has to be the owner of it, whether that's a person or company, or each of the freeholders having a share of it.

I accept that what this neighbour has done is probably wrong on many levels, but my question is are you any more in the right to challenge it if it is that the owner(s) of said road are yet to complain?

I mean it’s technically private as in unadopted and so the residents pay for road maintenance but it’s not private in the sense that it belongs to any particular house and it is still a road that can be accessed by the general public. So I own as much of the road as she does regardless of where our houses are (mine is round the corner from her) as we all pay an equal amount to maintain all the roads not our individual road.

This. All day long. The cheeky fucker.

Oh I thought we were the only ones with this type of CF. Ours is the only remaining trustee of the management company. Has bolted the park, used funds from maintenance to plant spiky trees to prevent walkers, put multiple ‘private’ signs. A complete nightmare. Was told to fuck off at a parish council meeting by the elected member! It’s only the residents that can resolve it through the management company- good luck these types are indefatigable!!