Who owns or is responsible for the land outside your wall?

pgj2015

You know when you see a bit of land outside a wall or fence of a house, who owns that? the house owner or the co council? You sometimes see people put pots or large stones on it to prevent cars parking there. If someone hits these stones and damages their car, who is responsible for fixing your car? or if you tripped over one and got hurt, who is at fault?

ohnonotgmail

If a driver hit an inanimate object are they not responsible?

Large bottle small glass

R671

https://maps.app.goo.gl/cbDX6fzX6RseJnmS9

I've a similar query, above there's a well defined road side fence constructed by the Local authority.

If a tree grew just on the road side of that who's responsible in the event of a loss arising from the tree falling?

Does the landowner own to middle of road, with the council having a right of way over the land?

This is the position taken by various councils in relation to the current massive problem of diseased ash trees dying in roadside ditches.

Flinty997

Default council position will be is not them.

NUTLEY BOY

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119833680#Comment_119833680

Not if the object was an obscure hazard created in the highway and was not visible to a reasonable driver exercising due care.

I saw it happen a few months ago. A neighbour with a slightly misplaced proprietary perspective on the grass verge outside his house put a rockery stone on it to deter parking. The grass got long and the stone became virtually invisible. The builder calling to give him an estimate drove over and struck it - fortunately no damage done.

NUTLEY BOY

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119833715#Comment_119833715

This sounds like the ad medium filum viae argument. I suspect that argument is extinguished for practical purposes when the local authority takes the "highway" outside the boundary in charge.

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119833680#Comment_119833680

If someone trips on an uneven footpath or falls in a business are they not responsible?

The home owner has a duty of care and placing large objects at the side of the road, usually going against their planning permission, isn't being responsible for road users.

Large bottle small glass

Roads act 1993 definition of a road would seem to include the fence. Surely something growing between two fences is a matter for the Local authority

road” includes—

(a) any street, lane, footpath, square, court, alley or passage,

(b) any bridge, viaduct, underpass, subway, tunnel, overpass, overbridge, flyover, carriageway (whether single or multiple), pavement or footway,

(c) any weighbridge or other facility for the weighing or inspection of vehicles, toll plaza or other facility for the collection of tolls, service area, emergency telephone, first aid post, culvert, arch, gulley, railing, fence, wall, barrier, guardrail, margin, kerb, lay-by, hard shoulder, island, pedestrian refuge, median, central reserve, channelliser, roundabout, gantry, pole, ramp, bollard, pipe, wire, cable, sign, signal or lighting forming part of the road, and

(d) any other structure or thing forming part of the road and—

(i) necessary for the safety, convenience or amenity of road users or for the construction, maintenance, operation or management of the road or for the protection of the environment, or

(ii) prescribed by the Minister

pgj2015

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119837069#Comment_119837069

I wonder has there been any cases where someone got hurt or damaged their property on these boulders?

Peregrinus

First think you need to check is who owns the land. It may be you; you may own the land all the way up to the centre-line of the road. On the other hand, you may not. Only way to find out is to check your title.

Let's assume you do own the land up to the centre line. Some or all of the land beyond your boundary fence is a public road, subject to a public right of way. If, as is likely but not certain the local authority has taken it in charge, they are responsible for maintaining the strip of land they have taken in charge. Note that this is not necessarily the whole of the land outside your fence. There may be a strip of land between the roadway taken in charge and the fence; if so, this is your land, not in charge of the local authority, and you are responsible for maintaining it.

If you want to stop people parking on it, the obvious thing to do is move your fence forward to reincorporate it into your fenced land, but note that you will need planning permission to do that, and you will need to construct a fence that doesn't e.g. obscure lines of sight for road users.

Now let's assume you don't own the land outside your fence. Almost certainly, the local authority does. You have no right to control what goes on there but, if the land is being used in a way that causes you a problem, you can make representations to the local authority and try to get them to do something about it.