New neighbour has put a gate in back fence

[PToosher]

Houses on our side of our street back onto a park. A new neighbour moved in a year or so ago and had a lot of building work done that took up a lot of their garden, so they now have very little garden for their several children to play in.

While walking my dog through the park recently I noticed that the bushes and undergrowth in the park to the rear of their garden have been cut back hard and there is a brand new gate through the 6 foot fence from their back garden into the park. At the weekend I noticed the family had a gazebo set up in the park, the gate was open and they were apparently treating it as an extension of their garden.

Having previously had a problem when we sold a house that had a long established access gate into the car park of an adjacent pub, I'm wondering if you can just do this?
Because I don't think you can and I'm pretty sure if we all did it there would be some comeback from the council.

I back on to a very large cricket grounds and intend to put a gate in when I redo the back fence.

Why wouldn't you if you had the chance?

It’s the logical thing to do. I’d be more surprised by the people who haven’t done it, particularly if they have children

The council around here won’t say s#@t , they don’t even cut the grass outside anyones house anymore. A few bushes in the park wont bother them .
stop being a nosey neighbour and keep your beak out 🦜

It's the right of way. Yes, technically they don't need a fence, but that doesn't mean they can access the park via that "exit". I mean, who's going to stop them, but that' s how it is.

My friend put a gate in her back fence that meant she could pop to a local shop rather than walking round the block, but they had no right to access the shop that way and the council insisted it was removed. I do wonder what would happen if the fence was just removed though.

"Park" is a bit vague as a legal term, and it doesn't fully define the legal access arrangements for the public. PPs have referred to village hall grounds and cricket pitches, both of which are almost certainly private land with public access arrangements in place.

It's definitely CFery to just put a gate in your fence to access someone else's land.

Hi OP. When we did this, we had to get the council’s permission. It might be ‘public’ land but it still has an owner... Our council said yes, FWIW — but we didn’t cut back any plants or affect council property in any way.

Leave them be. In the grand scheme of life are they seriously harming anyone?

Because if there is no right of access it can cause problems when you try to sell the house, which I previously encountered.

And for what it's worth the park is split in two and the other field is used for cricket, the council put a tall chainlink fence along the boundary with the gardens there. So anyone that had a gate and didn't have right of access would be unable to use the gate.

We back onto a park and nearly everyone has gates out to it. One of the perks!

@PToosher if it turns out to be a problem when I come to sell I'll take the hinges and latches off and nail it closed. Not a big deal surely.

It sounds as if increasing footfall through the bushes could be a good thing and but down anti social behaviour!

Honestly, I do not know why you have hefted your bosom over this.

It is presumably their fence to treat as they like, put in a gate, put up a trellis, a Perspex panel to view beds in the park, whatever they like: it’s their fence! Access is into a public park which they have every right to be in. Anyone can put up a gazebo in a park, if the park allows gazebos.

They shouldn’t have cut bushes. Is it a tangle of unkempt undergrowth, or a lovely hedge or display of rhododendrons for example?

Because if there is no right of access it can cause problems when you try to sell the house, which I previously encountered.

This would only be an issue if you tried to claim that there was an official right of access. I cannot for the life of me see how having a DIY gate out of your back garden into a park could cause problems when selling unless you claimed it was officially done by the council, or something. Everyone has ROW over a public park.

Report it to the council.

Neither is a big problem.

If the new owners are advised by their lawyer that there is no right of way through the gate (and they are sticklers for rules) then they can just stop using it. It's hardly a show stopper. The existence of the gate is not an issue.

And if the council choose to put up their own fence (which seems highly unlikely given the cost and the lack of necessity) then the owner of the gate just loses their access. That's their concern and not really yours.

Why?

My childhood home had this when we moved in but my dad ended up blocking it up as a couple of CFs from across the road used to walk through our garden and treat it like a public footpath (was quite obviously a private garden). Their argument was the usual “oh the previous owner let us do it”. Think it did my dad’s blood pressure the world of good the day it was blocked up 😂

I'm pretty sure it isn't legal at all and surprised at all the posts saying its no big deal.

There was a huge saga in the next village a few years ago when a new family put a gate in to access a footpath which led to the play area. They were eventually ordered to close it up.

Padlocks hadn't made it round your way then.

I'd happily put a gate in my back fence and save 10 minutes on the walk to the train station.
Just do it, don't bother asking the council, if they don't know they're unlikely to come and see it unless a jobsworth neighbour reports it. It's not harming anyone.

So who cut back the park's undergrowth etc? I assume it was cut back by the neighbour or the tradesman putting in the gate. So what happens when the park's undergrowth/vegetation etc grows back blocking the gate? Surely the neighbour or neighbour's tradesmen isn't allowed to keep 'trimming' the park? Or did the neighbour ask the council for the park vegetation to be cut back? Would the council be happy to trim the vegetation to enable the gate of a private property to open and close? This trimming will be an ongoing necessity. It is a lovely idea having a gate to a park, but somehow it seems wrong.

No one likes a tell-tale tit

Does it effect you?
Is anyone harmed by it?

I would just do it and see what happens. You should be able to do it in a way that it is easy to slot in a new panel if they demand you take it out.

Also you could be sneaky and cut a short path through the undergrowth to your neighbours path, which isn't actually theres as it is on public property.

That way you can only be done for cutting your short path rather than the big one.

If you fancy doing the same, ring the council and ask if hypothetically if it would be allowed.