[graham-j]

Hi, not sure if this is the correct place to post this.

I wish to connect my land to mains water.The nearest point I can see mains water is a house 140m along a byway.
Who would I have to contact to seek permission to dig a trench along the byway or mole to fit a water pipe to my land. There is a land owner one side and a house the other, or is it the council thanks.

Regards Graham

[harmony]

I would be in touch with all three. The land is possibly owned by the properties on either side and anyway they will be affected and you will need permission from the council to dig up the right of way. You may need to close the route and doing that takes time.

[harmony]

Do you own the right of way? Authorities generally insist work done in highways is by an approved contractor.

[landroverroy]

 I would get in touch with your local water authority for a quote and when someone comes out to assess it and dream up a price for connection, then you can ask him how they would go about the actual laying of the pipe.
 You need to contact them anyway, as they will have to do the actual connection.
 Or you could just do what a local (and very arrogant) grazier did near us. He was renting some land with no water on for his cows. So he found the nearest  Yorkshire Water manhole, (about 100 meters away) connected the pipe himself and laid it in a trench he dug along the grass verge, and piped it into a trough. When YW got in touch about an unauthorised connection he gave them a load of abuse for suggesting that he should leave his cattle without water. He got away with it, they've fitted a meter, and he pays a yearly bill.   

[bj_cardiff]

You'll need to find out who owns the land that the pipes will pass over and try and see how much cash they'd like to allow you to lay pipes. It'll be a nightmare as you probably have to employ a solicitor to spell out who owns the pipes, who's responsible if they leak etc.

I'd speak to your local water authority and ask their advice..

[harmony]

I would get in touch with your local water authority for a quote and when someone comes out to assess it and dream up a price for connection, then you can ask him how they would go about the actual laying of the pipe.
 You need to contact them anyway, as they will have to do the actual connection.
 Or you could just do what a local (and very arrogant) grazier did near us. He was renting some land with no water on for his cows. So he found the nearest  Yorkshire Water manhole, (about 100 meters away) connected the pipe himself and laid it in a trench he dug along the grass verge, and piped it into a trough. When YW got in touch about an unauthorised connection he gave them a load of abuse for suggesting that he should leave his cattle without water. He got away with it, they've fitted a meter, and he pays a yearly bill.

I am not arguing as to whether it is possible for just anyone to tap into a water mains or not but there is no reason why you can't dig the trench all the way back to the connection point yourself, lay the pipe and then just pay for the connection. However, you will need to be insured and the fact you are opening up a highway means you need to apply for permission to do that and prove you are qualified to do the work. If you were digging across private land with no right of way to the public you could take the risk and do it yourself.

[landroverroy]

I am not arguing as to whether it is possible for just anyone to tap into a water mains or not but there is no reason why you can't dig the trench all the way back to the connection point yourself, lay the pipe and then just pay for the connection. However, you will need to be insured and the fact you are opening up a highway means you need to apply for permission to do that and prove you are qualified to do the work. If you were digging across private land with no right of way to the public you could take the risk and do it yourself.

There are in fact several very good reasons as to why it is inadvisable to just "dig a trench all the way back to the connection pipe yourself." You have obviously never inadvertently dug through a phone line or electricity supply buried in the grass verge and received a bill for £1,000 for the pleasure. That is why I suggested getting in touch with the water authority, as they have to be contacted anyway, and can advise you of the route they would take, and who to contact if they're happy to let you lay the pipe yourself.


You haven't actually made clear, Graham, whether this byway is public or private. Is there a grass verge either side, which has potential for unofficial diy digging, or is it bordered directly on either side by private land?

[harmony]

I am not arguing as to whether it is possible for just anyone to tap into a water mains or not but there is no reason why you can't dig the trench all the way back to the connection point yourself, lay the pipe and then just pay for the connection. However, you will need to be insured and the fact you are opening up a highway means you need to apply for permission to do that and prove you are qualified to do the work. If you were digging across private land with no right of way to the public you could take the risk and do it yourself.

There are in fact several very good reasons as to why it is inadvisable to just "dig a trench all the way back to the connection pipe yourself." You have obviously never inadvertently dug through a phone line or electricity supply buried in the grass verge and received a bill for £1,000 for the pleasure. That is why I suggested getting in touch with the water authority, as they have to be contacted anyway, and can advise you of the route they would take, and who to contact if they're happy to let you lay the pipe yourself.


You haven't actually made clear, Graham, whether this byway is public or private. Is there a grass verge either side, which has potential for unofficial diy digging, or is it bordered directly on either side by private land?

No, fortunately I haven't had that pleasure my OH works in the utility industry so I hope he would check first.


Grass verges are still the highway and very often that is where you will find service cables.

[landroverroy]

Think that's more or less what I was saying.

[Buttermilk]

We had to get a road opening license from the council in order to lay our waterpipe to the mains.  If the council have not adopted the byway then this is not needed.

[graham-j]

Hi thanks for the replies,the Byway is across private land ,with no grass verges either side.  The land on the left is owned by a neighbour for about 50 m then by me after that. The land to the right is owned by another neighbour who claims the lane is his. He owns thousands of acres and once owned all the land both sides.

[bj_cardiff]

My understanding is that a byway runs across private land unless that lands has been been sold/purchased. So if your neighbour claims that he owns it he probably does and would in effect be part of one of the adjoing fields

[harmony]

My understanding is that a byway runs across private land unless that lands has been been sold/purchased. So if your neighbour claims that he owns it he probably does and would in effect be part of one of the adjoing fields

A Byway is a right of way open to all traffic including horse drawn vehicles. Most rights of way are across private land but have public rights. Sometimes it is clear from the land registry who owns them and sometimes it is not. In cases where it is not then the general rule is that the landowners adjacent to the route own that section adjacent to their land/property to the middle of the path.


If a route is classified and shown on the Definitive Map then it will be maintained as a right of way by the local authority and you will need licences to dig. If it is not then it isn't a definitive route but possibly there are permitted rights across it which are obviously then subject to withdrawal at anytime by the person/s who have granted that permission.

[graham-j]

Thanks for that ,this is exactly as I thought and yes it is on the ordinate survey map as a byway.
I am indeed going get in touch with my local water authority for a quote and  as you say LandroverRoy
 "when someone comes out to assess it and dream up a price for connection, then you can ask him how they would go about the actual laying of the pipe"
But this is going to cost me £342 just for the privilege of them coming out which i think is a rip off. So I want to get all my facts straight before I start.I think I will end up laying the pipe myself and paying for the connection.

[bj_cardiff]

Have you spoken to your neighbours about laying the pipe over their land? You have no automatic right to do this and will need to pay them for an easement and employ a solicitor to amend the deeds.

A friend of mine brought a property and it turned out that the water pipe ran down a private lane, but there had never been any written permission given for laying a water pipe there. The solicitor should of spotted it when she brought the place but didn't. The owner of the lane said they were cutting the pipe unless she paid up. She paid thousands to her solicitor to fight it  and ended up paying the laneowner a few thousand, their legal expenses and her own..