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.

You’ve lost me now sorry. How would I check this?

It's perfectly legal to cut a padlock that has been illegally installed. Even if the park is private it is not her property, it belongs equally to all residents of the estate and the dogwalkers wishes to have the gate open is just as valid as her wish to have it shut, she is not the boss.

Bolt cutters

So a very strongly worded letter to the management company telling them to get their finger out of their arse and sort it and another approach to the local authority telling them the same oh and raise it with your local county councillor, they can get stuff done. (I'm a former parish councillor).
If you really want to you can get a group of residents to sign a letter/petition to the CF neighbour telling her to remove the lock or you will take further action.

Have you considered holding a festival on the park opposite her house?

Ok. The developers will have been the original freeholder. As and when houses were sold on your development, the freehold of the land on which each house sits will have been transferred to the home owner.

However, the freehold of any shared spaces - in this case your unadopted private road - can only be owned by one organisation. This will have originally remained the property of the developer, hence why they appointed a management company, but it is quite normal for a developer to sell it off when they wish to walk away from it.

Typically, when they wish to sell, residents who use the shared areas have to be given first refusal to buy it, which they would do by getting together and forming as limited company (it is more complicated than this, but that's the nuts & bolts of it). When this is done, each homeowner owns a % share of the shared area, and pays towards the up keep of it. But if they don't buy it, another company can.

So, the road is either still owned by the developer, or it's owned by everyone on the estate because the developer sold it to them and they formed a company, or it's owned by another company altogether, but no matter who owns it, there has to be a limited company in control of it - and if you don't know who that is then the management company should darn well be telling you.

The best person you can speak to is the person who's lived on the development the longest, from new, as they should know all about what's gone on. I can only conclude you must have moved in some time afterwards, because had you been there from the outset then you would have been made aware that the developer had sold off the freehold of the road. Did your solicitor not tell you any of this when you bought the place?

@BarkItOff this thread I just found has some useful information in it, but you'll need to sift through to see the parts which may apply to your situation:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/property/5044485-would-you-buy-a-house-on-a-private-road

Not worth the agro to get involved with using bolt cutters yourself. Just get the local council involved.
Why not throw a community picnic in the park every weekend?? All invited!! Publicise it with a "bring your own food and drink", ask people with kids to bring stuff for the kids to play with (soccer balls, cricket set etc etc) - that'll really wind up your obnoxious neighbour :) No doubt there are lots of people in your neighbourhood who would love some community get-togethers that make use of the lovely park area - everything from "community cook-outs" (or "potlucks" as my friends in the states call them - I loved those when I lived there - all the neighbours and friends would get together in the local park and people would each bring a dish or two (you'd usually have a little sign up sheet so people would say they'd bring a starter/side/dessert or drinks or whatnot - just so you didn't end up with 25 bowls of potato salad lol!); people would bring a load of different sports equipment/party stuff that was easy for all to play (Cornhole boards, boules, horseshoes etc etc - so many different things these days!) and it would be a good time had by all.

You could also set up a community yoga, or running club, or meditation etc etc. Tons of different ways to use the park. All of which will no doubt drive your nasty neighbour bonkers. But they should have thought about that before they decided to buy a house that's right next to a park!

If it's unadopted the developer is still responsible so I would give them a call.

If they're in the process of getting the estate adopted by the council they'll want to stamp this out.

Otherwise I assume this lady is happy to pay for the street's upkeep. Electric bills for the streetlights, filling in any pot holes to spec, any trip claims if a flag is a bit wonky😉

You report it to the developer or their managing agent.

Op - you need to knock on the door and talk to the neighbour. I do think you can start by asking if they know who’s put the chain on, say how there’s a group of you who are all annoyed by it and the management company don’t seem to be replying, as they live near by they might know who’s put it on the gate. (Add a rant about how annoying it for those of you who live here, that older people and dog walkers enjoyed being able to do the loop etc)

if she insists tell her you’ve given her fair warning and it will have to be cut off if she won’t remove it as she doesn’t have right to control the gate- that it’s not fair she’s decided to make it private access just for her. Why hasn’t she got keys cut for the whole estate? A keypad lock could be installed but she can’t make it private for just her.

then ask the management company to remove the gate

I bought it from new.

There were several phases to the build and I was phase 2 so developers were on site about a year after I moved in.

I haven’t been advised of any sale of the land etc. since moving in. The developers at the time were adamant the roads would be adopted by the council when finished. When I moved in they hadn’t been fully surfaced, no street lights etc. but that never happened as the council went bankrupt and couldn’t afford to take them on. I will chase this with the management company.

In that case contact your local authorities S. 106 officer, their role is to enforce planning obligations. Despite being privately owned this will definitely have been designated as public open space within the planning application, they’ll be able to enforce the removal with the owner as it will be a breach of conditions not to maintain the open space.

I’d also get your local ward councillor involved, they’ll be able to push a timely response within the council.

In the meantime undo the hinges, lift the gate off & leave the chain / padlock intact 🤷‍♀️

Report it to the management Company.

How can it possibly be illegal to cut off a padlock that has been pit there to prevent legal access to a facility?

Could I just put a chain and padlock across my neighbour's front door - and then, when they cut it to access their own home, complain that they've caused criminal damage to my property?

If you're allowed to just leave your padlock on property that doesn't belong (exclusively) to you, how come all the councils that have cut off thousands of 'romance' fad padlocks dangerously weighing down bridges haven't been done for criminal damage?

Not that it makes a difference, but does she have an issue with bad behaviour of children from the other area when using the park, or is she just a misanthrope who wants to stop children from developing normally and enjoying themselves?

This reminds me of the recent thread about the CF who padlocked the door to the communal gardens for the whole block, just because he thought that he alone owned it and had the sole right to dictate how it should be used and by whom.

We had a similar situation near us, but the developers were complicit in it.

Permission was given for a new estate of posh, expensive houses to be built, with the proviso that shops and other community facilities were also built.

Well, the houses were built; but then somebody decided that shops and communal amenities might attract 'the wrong kind of poor people' and lower the value of their homes - so, many years later, they still remain noticeable by their absence.

I don't know whether the council actually took the developers to court to fulfil their agreed obligations, or whether the council's stationery supply deliveries contained an usually large number of brown envelopes or what...

If you are worried about her catching it on camera, get someone with a big van to block the view for a minute, jump out, cut the chain and stick it in the bushes and get back in the van.

If you go in a group someone can stand in front of the ring doorbell which will block her view and she won't know who cut it... But I'm pretty sure that she wouldn't complain of the damage when the counter complaint would be that she has blocked access to which you are all entitled

Or alternatively go with some big golf umbrellas and hold them at an angle so your faces are never on camera

Well then by the sound of that it still belongs to the developers and not the home owners. The management company is acting for the developer, and the home owners are paying towards the upkeep. I know I have asked this several times already and I am not trying to be awkward, but then you haven't addressed it either, where is it written down that you all own a share of the road?

Although you are inconvenienced by what this neighbour has done, the fact is she's done it on property that belongs to the developer (at least from what you've now said) and if she is in breach of the lease (that is, the rules of what you can and can't do on that land while living in a house purchased on it) then you need to take it up with the developer.

That said, the developer sounds like they're not interested, and you've said the management company is willing to help either, so after that it really is anyone's guess who you take it up with. However, if the day comes when the council do wish to adopt the road, this will all come to light, as technically everything to do with the road (including it being up to standard) .

Have you read any of this thread at all?

It's mad to be having to think of ways to prevent her doorcam from seeing you reversing her outrageous CF action.

Would she even have the nerve to report it, anyway? How would that even play out?

"Yes, I decided to padlock the access to a communal facility, so that the community couldn't freely use it anymore - and then people who wanted the community facility to be available to the community as intended by those who established it came and cut it off... so they are the baddies, you see."

It's like the old "Muuuuum - Susie broke my doll when I whacked her over the head with it!!"

Well for what it's worth, I can't believe the OP is the only one troubled by what this woman has done. So either others agree with the gate being bolted, or no one is willing to back the OP. It's very odd.

I assume you have an estate management company, and probably estate directors. If you have estate directors I would go to them, if not, report to the management company.

OP has tried the managment company, she says so several times. They are not helping. I have suggested the directors too, but she says she has no record of them.