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Submit plansI have an informal agreement with my local council to drive over approximately 1m of council owned land to access my driveway. For this privilege I pay £1 per year. This has been paid ever year for the last 12 years. The council now wants to revoke the informal agreement. Can they do this? There is no formal legal agreement in place but shouldn’t the fact that this fee has been paid for a number of years be sufficient to enable us to continue to use this land?
Unfortunately the fee is evidence that you’ve taken access over the land with the council’s permission. It’s only where you take access, unimpeded, but without a landowner’s permission, for a period of at least 20 years, that you actually acquire what’s known as a prescriptive right of access. A council should, though, balance whatever gain it might get from stopping your right of way against the disadvantages to you. Get all the details of why the council are taking this action. Talk to your local councillor. If removal of this right of way will disadvantage you significantly, then it is best to take advice on your options from your solicitor.
