Dropped kerb

Honest John Back Room » Legal matters
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Sat 30 Sep 2017 13:39
Dropped kerb - Satvir singh
Hi,

One of my neighbours has paid a fee to have the kerb in front of his house dropped. Many of the surrounding houses have been using the dropped kerb to get their vehicles onto the foot paths in front their houses/drives.

In my case I use the dropped kerb and then park my vehicle on my drive, not obstructing the any footpath, any drive or the dropped kerb. I’m considerate enough to know that I shouldn’t park in front of the dropped kerb because that will obstruct him from getting his vehicles of his drive.

Yesterday he waited for me to arrive home, sure enough I used the dropped kerb and parked my vehicle on my drive, obstructing/blocking nobody, he came over and said something along the lines of “I haven’t spent £2500 for everybody to use my drive” and that if wanted to park my vehicle on my drive I should spend £2500 and drop my kerb.

My question is does he have the right to tell people they can’t use the dropped kerb? Does he own the dropped kerb and the footpath leading from/to it? His wording was very particular in the way he said “I haven’t spent £2500 for everybody to use MY DRIVE”. Is the dropped kerb and footpath “his drive”? Is it his land, his property?

I didn’t make a scene with him and just agreed not to fall out, but I have the inkling that he doesn’t own the kerb or the footpath and that I’m doing nothing wrong/illegal by using the kerb as I am to park my vehicle on my drive. But I would like something in writing from the council to confirm this. So if I continue using the dropped kerb (not blocking or obstructing any bodies drive and the footpath) I can hand him something concrete saying I’m doing nothing wrong. (have emailed the council but thought id ask here too)

Sat
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Sat 30 Sep 2017 15:15
Dropped kerb - bathtub tom

I don't know if the offence of 'mounting the footpath' is still on the statute books, but I'm sure it's illegal to drive along the footpath.

Without a dropped kerb, there's nothing to prevent the council or utilities erecting something in front of your driveway - street light, road sign, telegraph pole etc.

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Sat 30 Sep 2017 15:59
Dropped kerb - focussed

This reminds me of the odd situation we experienced when we bought our second house in 1973. It was a new detached house with an attatched single garage on a new unfinished estate. Having moved in we noticed that the dropped kerb to get access to the garage wasn't in line with the garage, it was in line with the front door!

So off to the site foreman and he arranged to have one side of the dropped kerb moved, we then paved the bit in line with the front door so we got a double-width dropped kerb and a double-width driveway for the cost of some paving slabs!

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Sat 30 Sep 2017 16:08
Dropped kerb - FP

Your neighbour does not own the kerb or the footpath, but the existence of the dropped kerb allows him to cross the footpath immediately outside his house to get his car on to his property.

Clearly, you are using it for another purpose, though I doubt there is any legislation that covers it, apart from what BT says about driving on the footpath.

Morally, I would say you're not in a good place and I would avoid winding up your neighbour over the issue. I feel you should bump your car over the kerb outside your own house.

It's even better to have a dropped kerb installed, which stops people blocking you in or preventing you from getting your car off the street.

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Sat 30 Sep 2017 18:06
Dropped kerb - concrete

Drop kerbs are very expensive for what they are. The problem is that local authorities insist you use an 'approved' contractor. This gets them off the hook for any future problems, but ensures the price from the 'approved contractors' cartel is much inflated. From the level of workmanship aroung here from 'approved' contractors I would not use any of them. They are very shoddy and no doubt if shoddy on the surface the foundation, which is the most important part will be of comparable lack of quality no doubt. Regarding your neighbour, it may be a nice idea to ask him over for tea or a beer and explain how much easier it is to cross his drop kerb to park your car. He may see reason, after all it's no skin off his nose really. If he insists you don't do this then you can ignore him and continue to use the kerb but you will fall out. There is precious little he can do legally. failing that it is putting in your own drop kerb. Good neighbour are a godsend, even awkward ones need to be handled nicely in order to maintain the peace, so tread lightly. Good luck.

Cheers Concrete

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Sat 30 Sep 2017 19:06
Dropped kerb - Palcouk

I have a dropped kerb and so does my neighbour, occassionally a van/delivery blocks my dropped kerb, I then use my neighbours dropped kerb, I dont have to drive along the footpath to do so.

It sounds like you have a somewhat 'dificult' neighbour, its unlikely you are comitting any offence, and there is nothing your neighbour can do about it, other than become more verbal.

PS The dropped kerb and pathway is not his property but the Council/Highways property

Edited by Palcouk on 30/09/2017 at 19:07

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Sat 30 Sep 2017 21:32
Dropped kerb - daveyjp
So you use a dropped kerb further along the row of houses and then drive along the pavement to access your drive? My advice is pay for your own dropped kerb access. They are provided to access the property it was provided for. If I had paid and this was happening I’d be reporting it to the Council/Police.

If any utility ducts collapse, or god forbid gas pipework gets fractured due to the weight of the vehicle passimg over you may not live to regret your actions.

A reason Councils have contractors is that dropping a kerb may also require services to be buried deeper.

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Sat 30 Sep 2017 22:56
Dropped kerb - Middleman

No, he does not own the dropped kerb or the bit of the footway that gives him access to his property. However, they have been provided solely for that purpose. What you are doing (driving on the footway) is actually against the law (Highways Act 1835). As soon as you drive off the part of the footway aadjacent to the dropped kerb you are committing an offence.

If your neighbour cuts up rough about this you wil find that the local council may ask the police to take action against you for the offence. If for no other reason they will be anxious to minimise damage to the footway (which is not designed to support vehicles). For the same reason you should not bump up the kerb to drive across the footway to access your property. The only way to do so legally is to have your own dropped kerb installed.

Edited by Middleman on 30/09/2017 at 22:58

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Sat 30 Sep 2017 23:48
Dropped kerb - bathtub tom

Just remembered that where my daughter lives, when the council put in a dropped kerb they also install vertical posts either side to prevent what the OP's about.

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Sun 1 Oct 2017 08:59
Dropped kerb - oldroverboy.

So, just a thought, If it benefits you, why not give him a present of say £500 or so and say you appreciate what he has done and would that help? Especially if you don't have the readys available to pay £2500 for your own section.

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Sun 1 Oct 2017 13:58
Dropped kerb - Middleman

Because he would still be committing an offence every time he drives on the footway. Paying £500 to be able to regularly commit a traffic offence is not a good idea.

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Sun 1 Oct 2017 14:02
Dropped kerb - Simon

£2500??? Around here in the Midlands the local 'travelling gentlemen' charge around £700 to stick you a drop kerb in, in front of your house.

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Sun 1 Oct 2017 14:33
Dropped kerb - Bromptonaut

£2500??? Around here in the Midlands the local 'travelling gentlemen' charge around £700 to stick you a drop kerb in, in front of your house.

But without permission from council you have problem referenced above where an offnce is committed every time you cross the footway. IIRC one of the London Boroughs had a clampdown on unoficial dropped kerbs and reverted them to riased form.

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Sun 1 Oct 2017 16:20
Dropped kerb - RT

£2500??? Around here in the Midlands the local 'travelling gentlemen' charge around £700 to stick you a drop kerb in, in front of your house.

Illegally in most, if not all, places - the Highway Authority has to approve the work and is generally done by them.

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Sun 1 Oct 2017 21:32
Dropped kerb - Simon
You have to apply to the council for permission, but you can have whoever you want to do the work.
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Sun 1 Oct 2017 21:45
Dropped kerb - RobJP
You have to apply to the council for permission, but you can have whoever you want to do the work.

No.

You can have any company licenced under NRSWA to do the work.

If you decided to get another company to do the work, and they did not do the job to the satisfaction of the council, then the council are entirely entitled to get the work done by themselves or another company, and to bill you (and take you to court for enforcement) for the costs of getting such work done.

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Sun 1 Oct 2017 23:04
Dropped kerb - Middleman

This is all very intersting but a trifle academic because, as far as I can see, the OP has no intention of having his own dropped kerb constructed. Instead he seems intent on using his neighbor's then illegally driving along the footway until he reaches his own property.

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Mon 2 Oct 2017 00:02
Dropped kerb - galileo

This is all very intersting but a trifle academic because, as far as I can see, the OP has no intention of having his own dropped kerb constructed. Instead he seems intent on using his neighbor's then illegally driving along the footway until he reaches his own property.

How about a couple of triangular-section pieces of wood to lay against his kerb to ease wheels up and over?

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Mon 2 Oct 2017 15:11
Dropped kerb - Middleman

I don't seem to be quite getting there, somehow:

How about a couple of triangular-section pieces of wood to lay against his kerb to ease wheels up and over?

Because he would then be driving over the footway which, in the absence of a properly constructed dropped kerb, is illegal.

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Mon 2 Oct 2017 16:27
Dropped kerb - FP

I think a lot of the discussion so far has unhelpfully focused on legal aspects; I don't say the advice is wrong, but in practice neither police nor local authorities devote any time to such matters - unless, for example, serious damage was caused to the footway.

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Mon 2 Oct 2017 17:42
Dropped kerb - Middleman

I think a lot of the discussion so far has unhelpfully focused on legal aspects;

The question was posed under "Legal Matters" but in any case I'm not so sure there are many non-legal aspects. The original question was whether the OP's neighbour had the right to deny him use of his dropped kerb. Of course he does not. But with that established there were attempts to find ways to facilitate the OP's continuing use of the footway for driving his car to gain access to his own property. The OP seemed (at least at the outset) to believe this is perfectly acceptable.

"...but in practice neither police nor local authorities devote any time to such matters - unless, for example, serious damage was caused to the footway."

The LA where I live most certainly do. They are often installing bollards (as described in one answer) which prevent drivers straying from the dropped kerb) anad take action against people who damage the footways. Whilst my advice took that into consideration I don't think a forum like this should be advising drivers on how to break the law - however trivial an offence (and I believe that driving on the footway is in no way trivial) it may seem.

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Mon 2 Oct 2017 18:14
Dropped kerb - concrete
You have to apply to the council for permission, but you can have whoever you want to do the work.

Not around here you can't. As Rob pointed an approved contractor is required, but most councils have their own list of approved contractors. This is presumably because they have the required insurance cover should anything go wrong. This is for the councils benefit not yours. If they do a shoddy job you are on your own with the small claims procedure, as my unfortunate nieghbour found out.

The most important part of the dropped kerb is the sub-kerb which supports it. If this is constructed properly then the whole job should go well. The next part is the finish. Good level kerbs and a nice flat tarmac or slab pavement with a gradient. Not all achieve this.

The legal aspect is an absolute. The law clearly prescribes the road and pavement and their use. However in reallity of course these laws are rarely if ever enforced, especially on residential roads.

Like I said, just smooze your nieghbour or install your own.

Cheers Concrete

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