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.

Whats the problem. Their fence i presume. Council can put up their own if they don't like it. But frankly i would be livid if my council tax was spent on such a frolic.

If they've damaged the undergrowth and bushes recently, when birds would have been nesting, absolutely report them and they'll hopefully be prosecuted.

A grave yard is rather different to a public park!

What a brilliant idea , how fab that they have their own access to all that lovely space . Surely you’re not planning to spoil it and report them Op ?

It's highly doubtful they'd be able to prove there was a nest there.

My Mum lives in Ireland and had a gate into a field at the bottom of her garden since the house was built (55 years ago). It now belongs to the council and has turned into a public park and she was told to remove the gate or be taken to court. The council also put up a 10 ft chain link fence and line of conifers on their side of the boundary.

Presumably depends on the council then.

I guess it shows that people can be divided into 2 groups
Those that ask permission
Those that beg forgiveness
It looks like your neighbours are in the first category.
Wait and see what happens. I mean worse case, the have to replace the gate

I do t k ow if the law is the same in Ireland but in England if you have used an access for a certain number of years it becomes a right. That is probably why so,e councils refuse or block up these gates. Your Mum should look into whether she has a right to access that land.

Just a gate is fine - anything else (cutting down bushes, even mowing the grass - our council leaves some long for wildlife) and our council would definitely be talking to them and making them put it back how it was.

There have been CFs who have cut the grass, planted flowers, put ornaments etc. onto the parkland then tried to claim that bit as an extension of their garden....

Do you know your neighbours have not asked permission from the council?

My brother and I suggested that a solicitor's letter would make them back down straight away, especially as there is a park near my house (same council) with a house that does have a garden gate entry to the park. My Mum feels that she's too old for the fight though, and we don't want to push her. The main use for the gate had been a short cut to visit her brother who was very ill for the last decade or so of his life, but he has since died.

and here in Scotland.

Both of which have different legal systems to England and quite likely different council rules accordingly.

A cursory Google shows that this question get asked a lot and councils can charge you or refuse outright. That’s assuming that the OP’s neighbour backs onto council-owned land. If the land is owned by someone else then they would also need to get the landowner’s permission.

Honestly, the bullshit that people spout on here is astonishing. ‘Oh just create a gate onto someone else’s land, cut down their trees and bushes and it’ll all be fiiiiine! My cousin’s dad’s mate down the pub said so and even if it isn’t it should be because it’s public land and who is it actually hurting???!!’

Jeeze, this thread is peak MN ex-Head Girl's with their rule books out for such a non-issue.

If this was my neighbour I wouldn't give it a second thought, or maybe just how lovely it is that the park is being used so much by them/their family. I have a feeling you'll report them to the council, or at least 'accidently' let the council know when you ask for permission for your own gate.

And a great bit of homophobia there too about the men in the bushes.

I think it was Grand Designs that I remember this issue from but it was access to a park/public common rather than a cemetery.

And a great bit of homophobia there too about the men in the bushes.

How is mentioning two men shagging in the bushes homophobia?

It also depends on who owns the fence. If it's the council's fence, it's criminal damage, surely?

Some people near us did this a few years ago, and they were very smartly told by the local council to block the fence up again, and that they had no right of access onto the park from their garden.

Some properties will have a covenant in place which restricts such access, or there may be local byelaws preventing it.

People can't just do whatever they damn well please, however entitled they feel.

The question was asked, 'can you do this'? and it was answered by those who have had experience of the matter; if you haven't got permission for access, almost certainly no. That seems fair enough to me, and not 'head girl' at all. Should those of us with experience of this matter just lie to and mislead the OP?

Why not reserve your insults for those entitled types who think that laws don't apply to them (there is more than enough of that in society at the moment), or those who mislead people by openly stating something is okay to do when they haven't a clue what the law is?

Why not reserve your insults for ... those who mislead people by openly stating something is okay to do when they haven't a clue what the law is?
That would be most of the replies on MN to be fair.

I don't see this issue as "entitled" at all.

It's nice to have some perks to backing onto a public area. The survey on my house flagged this as a potential issue, so I'll be damned if I don't reap the benefits. I can only imagine anyone who would report such things are just annoyed they can't do similar, as it really doesn't affect them or anybody else otherwise.

With regards to the bushes being cut back, my council wouldn't give 2 hoots. They massacre the ones behind our houses once a year with some massive machine, leaving them looking terrible and covering my garden with debris. They almost took my son's eye out once with a piece of it.

I am in no way saying it's fine and totally legal, but certainly in my area most houses backing onto parks have gates and it's not an issue here.