[vixstix]

Hi,
I wonder if anyone could recommend a lawyer with expertise concerning Rights of Way? I own a small part wooded/part pasture field near Wrexham. The forest above the hill from my land has recently come up for sale, with a previously unknown to me claim of a Right of Way for any purpose right across my field. The vendor evidently has details of this right in their deed of ownership. There is no trace on the ground of this right ever being exercised but I am concerned that new owners may wish to.
thank you.

[stufe35]

Hi,  I use the website gardenlaw  .  It might be worth posting your query on there in the first instance. \\\it is free and there are some knowledgeable people who will help you better understand your position before paying for a solicitor.

[DavidandCollette]

Firstly check with the public rights of way officer at your local council to see if does exist on what it called the definitive map. They should be able to give you some advice

[mart6]

Hi,  I use the website gardenlaw  .  It might be worth posting your query on there in the first instance. \\\it is free and there are some knowledgeable people who will help you better understand your position before paying for a solicitor.

Agree a couple of great guys on there, one did my enforcement appeal for me ran rings around the council

[clydesdaleclopper]

Firstly check with the public rights of way officer at your local council to see if does exist on what it called the definitive map. They should be able to give you some advice

From what the OP says this is likely to be an easement rather than a public right of way.


You should check what your land register entry says. You should have been given a copy of this when you purchased your house. If it does not appear on the register then they would have to go through quite a few hurdles to claim the right.

[vixstix]

Thanks everybody for your help. The situation is complicated (as always) but I'll try to sum it up. I bought a field over 5 years ago, a field I knew well, it's situated between a road and a forest with a fence boundary. The owner of the forest has now advertised his land for sale with a 20' right of way for any purpose running right across my field. Evidently this is in the deeds of ownership. The land is unregistered so no sign of his claim showed up when I bought my field. In living memory there has been no access to the forest across my land other than a public footpath which is well marked, maintained and used. There is access higher up the hill via a trackway.A continuous fence, bank, scrub and trees form the boundary between my land and the forest. Livestock has been kept on my field for over 30 years, fenced in, i.e. no gate on the boundary. The vendor is marketing his forest for the commercial timber value so clearly the access for the purpose of logging is of benefit to him, and horror to me. We have nurtured a lowland meadow, with rare butterfly orchids and mixed deciduous woodland, I really don't want a road putting through it.

[SallyintNorth]

I'm no expert but I would think if the so-called 'right of way' has not been used for 30-odd years then he's no chance of making it stick.

Surely the onus would be on him to prove that he has this right across your field? 

[stufe35]

if this right of way is in his deeds as mentioned, that is his proof.  You cannot lose a  granted private right of way by lack of use.

[clydesdaleclopper]

You need to contact the solicitor who did your conveyancing when you purchased the field. This easement should have been flagged up by them at that point (even if the title to the forest is unregistered) if the easement was expressly granted (which you suggest when you say that it is in their deeds). If there is an express grant your only solution may be an action for negligence against your solicitor.

[cloddopper]

It could also be an advantage to have the right of access ... such as asking them to pay  for a surface to it so that they don't destroy the  special place where the orchids grow or create a dangerous trap such as heavy deep ruts. that your stock may to fall into & break their legs etc .

Or
Perhaps seek legal agreement that someone legally using the access will reinstate it if any surface damage of any kind is occasioned due to them using th access as it is your only stock grazing land

Even  hairier  could it be a site of special scientific interest .. ?

Though it can also have some big down sides as well . Got any newts living  in small water courses  across the track area .... can you get some ? 

 One thing that has crossed my mind a few seconds ago .. can you still register an interest in someones land be it registered or not ?

 I was looking to buy some land that has a registered interest set on it .. turned out I'd have had to have more money than Google to defeat the folk who registered the interest for thy were ;large London based group of solicitors & barristers who  had annual paid fishing rights to a small well stocked pond that was slap bang in the middle of the plot .

 Another plot I looked at had the interest thing against it as well and that was because some people in the old English Nature set up had been there and recorded everything without the owners knowledge .. they were happy to spend £ zillions stopping any changes to the area .

[JTFarms]

If the new owner has more than one way to access his land the courts may make him chose one or the other or hey make tat choice for him that the way it is carried out here in Alabama

[stufe35]

Here in England, if he has a granted ROW a court will not take it off him no matter how many other ways there are to access his land.  The deed gives him the right to access it along that route.

Whether he can construct a paved road could be the subject of planning permission and all kinds of environmental studies/ flood risk studies/ mitigation. But planning law is completely separate to the existence of a ROW.

As mentioned above Public rights of way and definitive maps are nothing to do with this situation.

Vixtix...as I mentioned earlier you will do much better on Gardenlaw with this query...I haven't seen it appear yet !

cheers

stu.

[vixstix]

Hi Stufe35,
I'm just waiting on registration with Gardenlaw, hopefully I'll be on there later today. In the meantime I'm waiting to see the vendors deed of ownership which refers to his ROW. I'm beginning to feel my handful of straws slipping away here to be honest.

[harmony]

There is a difference between a right of way, which is a legal highway and should be on the definitive map and would be for public use. Anyone can claim a right of way either by unobstructed use or historical evidence. It is a long process and you would have to right to object.
A right of access, which your neighbour says he has, would be for private use. I suspect you will need a lawyer at some point. Do you still have contact with the vendor of your land? If they knew about the easement and said nothing they aren't going to know but if they also knew nothing about it they could be useful. My friend has a right to move stock and vehicles over unregistered land.

[stufe35]

Vixstix,

Was your land and the wood now being sold ever in common ownership ?

Is the aledged route across the middle or at one side of your field ?