Cricket Club next door to my Farm have taken down my hedge and trees...

[redrose281]

I own a Farm in a rural area. One side of my land, borders the Village Cricket Club.

I have lived here for 25 years, my land which borders the Cricket Club on one side had a hedge and dyke which also belonged to me and there are 4 Silver birch trees which I planted just after I bought the Farm, the Cricket Club filled in the dyke which is on their side of the fence some years ago, even though it belongs to me.

In the Summer, because of the severe drought, the silver birch trees threw up some tiny saplings on both sides of the fence , (obviously looking for water), the Cricket Club said they wanted to cut my trees down as they would `ruin the Cricket pitch`, the saplings were sufficiently far enough away to not cause any damage to the Cricket pitch, however, to pacify the Cricket Club, my partner pulled up the shoots, (which were less than one centimetre in diameter)...the Cricket Club were told quite emphatically that I would NOT allow my trees to be cut down, this disappointed several of the Cricket Club Committee as they had already offered to cut down the trees and `get rid` of the logs...the Committee Members concerned all coincidentally have log burners!!

On Wednesday evening, we went up to our back 4 acre field and were horrified to find that two of my silver birch trees had been cut down, sawn up, and the logs removed, additionally, they had pulled out sections of my hedge and brambles and fastened pallets immediately up to the existing fence, meaning they had stolen a considerable amount of my land!!

This whole episode has really upset me as I have tried to keep my Farm as natural as possible, I leave hedges, brambles, trees relatively untouched, (apart from yearly tidying up and maintenance), as it not only provides shelter for my ponies, but also for the wildlife which lives there, now it is all gone and in their place, is a eyesore of a fence made of pallets...it has also of course encroached on my privacy and made it so basically anyone can come over on to my land, which is a worry when I have mares and foals in that field in the Summer, and also a stallion.

Obviously I know that they cannot just wilfully destroy my property and cut down my trees and pull out my hedges and the brambles, nor can they steal my land, but what can I actually do to stop them continuing along the rest of the border, and how do I get them to reinstate the trees/hedges and brambles that they have cut down and pulled out please?

Thank you for any help and advice anyone can give me.

[des8]

The first action is to contact the club and attempt to come to a resolution with them.

If that has already been tried and failed, or if your approach is rebuffed, you could apply to the courts for an injunction preventing further incursions onto your land and at the same time sue for damages to enable you have the ditch/dyke redug, the hedges replanted and the trees replaced.

[redrose281]

Thank you very much for your reply DES8.

I sent the Cricket Club a letter detailling my position. Informing them that they have cut down two of my trees and pulled up brambles and hedging that belong to me, without my permission and that they have erected a pallet 'fence' on my land. I have told them to remove the fence or I will get it removed and charge them for its removal.

On returning home today, we found that the Cricket Club have totally ignored my letter and continued to erect the pallet 'fence', and to add insult to injury, they have stabilised the pallets by nailing pieces of wood to MY trees using 6 inch nails! I am absolutely flabbergasted that they have totally disregarded my letter and am at a loss as to what to do next to try and stop them, as by the time anything went through the courts, the whole of my hedge will have been removed and probably more of my trees .

[pt2537]

Thank you very much for your reply DES8.

I sent the Cricket Club a letter detailling my position. Informing them that they have cut down two of my trees and pulled up brambles and hedging that belong to me, without my permission and that they have erected a pallet 'fence' on my land. I have told them to remove the fence or I will get it removed and charge them for its removal.

On returning home today, we found that the Cricket Club have totally ignored my letter and continued to erect the pallet 'fence', and to add insult to injury, they have stabilised the pallets by nailing pieces of wood to MY trees using 6 inch nails! I am absolutely flabbergasted that they have totally disregarded my letter and am at a loss as to what to do next to try and stop them, as by the time anything went through the courts, the whole of my hedge will have been removed and probably more of my trees .

It may be possible to get an injunction to stop the removal while any legal proceedings are on going. Im afraid that land disputes like this arent my area of expertise but having spoken to my colleague Mark he said that boundry disputes are notoriously tricky things to deal with, and if they go wrong they can be very costly, so bear that in mind if you are going to take this to court, as the Cricket Club will no doubt be represented by solicitors and if it goes wrong then you may have to pay their costs.

[Amethyst]

There may be a concern about the boundary - you mention you own the dyke the cricket club filled in yet it is on their side of a fence ? Who put up the fence and how long ago ? Are the trees and brambles your side of this fence ? The trees they cut - did they cut them back to the fence line or come into your land and remove them ? ( I am a little confused about the fence - as most of what you've said indicates there is no fence )

Anyway you could apply for an urgent injunction without notice ( ex parte ) to put a halt on them doing any further damage while you sort out the boundary issue and likely a damages claim ( or reinstatement etc ) - you want form n244 and N16a I believe - I believe the cost would be £255 unless eligible for fee remission.

Youll need evidence - so before and after pictures, land registry documents showing it is your land, copies of any communications youve had with cricket club showing you did not give them any permission to do this work.

Im sure des8 will look back in anyway xxx ( oops and crossed posts with Paul there too )

[pt2537]

There may be a concern about the boundary - you mention you own the dyke the cricket club filled in yet it is on their side of a fence ? Who put up the fence and how long ago ? Are the trees and brambles your side of this fence ? The trees they cut - did they cut them back to the fence line or come into your land and remove them ? ( I am a little confused about the fence - as most of what you've said indicates there is no fence )

Anyway you could apply for an urgent injunction without notice ( ex parte ) to put a halt on them doing any further damage while you sort out the boundary issue and likely a damages claim ( or reinstatement etc ) - you want form n244 and N16a I believe - I believe the cost would be £255 unless eligible for fee remission.

Youll need evidence - so before and after pictures, land registry documents showing it is your land, copies of any communications youve had with cricket club showing you did not give them any permission to do this work.

Im sure des8 will look back in anyway xxx ( oops and crossed posts with Paul there too )

Tricky one this isnt it

[des8]

Certainly go for the urgent injunction whilst the boundary is sorted out.

As you have lived there for 25 years presumably the land is registered, but you may need to have the boundaries determined.

It is normal practice for drainage ditches to be dug on the boundary line and the owner to erect a fence on his own side of said ditch (dyke), so this corresponds with your description

[pt2537]

Certainly go for the urgent injunction whilst the boundary is sorted out.

As you have lived there for 25 years presumably the land is registered, but you may need to have the boundaries determined.

It is normal practice for drainage ditches to be dug on the boundary line and the owner to erect a fence on his own side of said ditch (dyke), so this corresponds with your description

Trouble is youll need surveyors reports to establish boundaries, then you may end up with the Club getting their own expert who comes up with a different view, its never straight forward this type of dispute

[Amethyst]

It is normal practice for drainage ditches to be dug on the boundary line and the owner to erect a fence on his own side of said ditch (dyke), so this corresponds with your description

I did not know that, thanks Des, kind of like a moat ....

[des8]

You might find it helpful (or perhaps confusing!) to read Land Registry practice guide on boundaries:
https://www.gov.uk/government/public...ned-boundaries

First port of call is to look at your title and plans on Land Registry (https://www.gov.uk/get-information-a...h-the-register).
If that is sufficiently clear (the boundary lines are only indicative) you may not need to determine the boundaries but could proceed to injunction and action for damages if you can't obtain an amicable agreement from the club.

[redrose281]

Hi Everyone,

Firstly, may I apologise for being so long in replying, but I have a really poorly elderly Mum, which has meant me spending most of my time at her house, which has next to no internet reception.

Thank you to all of you for your help and advice on this matter, if I could explain a little more, it may help your understanding of the situation...it`s going to be quite long though I`m afraid .

I bought the Farm 26 years ago now, it used to have a lot more land with it, (somewhere in the region of 60 acres), over the years, the old lady who lived here has sold parcels of land to enable her to `live` comfortably, basically. One of the parcels of land was sold to the Cricket Club. I bought the Farm with 10 acres.

I have attached a very rough drawing of my land and the border, which although I don`t profess to be any good at drawing, I hope it explains it a little better.

The boundary of two of my fields runs along land belonging to the Cricket Club and also another Farmer. The other Farmer, agrees wholeheartedly that the hedge and ditch on the other side of my fence bordering his field, belong to me, as such, he never touches the hedge but the previous owner of my Farm allowed the Farmer to fill in the ditch, ( for the safety of young calves in that field ), providing that he piped it properly for drainage and never tried to gain ownership of it.

The Cricket Club agree wholeheartedly that I own the hedge and ditch behind my fence to my orchard and we dig the ditch out every year or two when it needs it to keep the land for our property, and also the Cricket Club, from flooding.

However, they are adamant that I do not own the hedge and ditch on the section marked as `Disputed` on my very poor diagram. As such, they have pulled out most of my hedge and cut down two of my trees and state they are going to cut down the remaining two big silver birch trees at the end of the Cricket season, I have told them of course , that is NOT going to happen!

I have requested my Title Deeds from my Solicitors which I hope will bring some more clarity to the situation, but in the meantime, I live under constant threat of them pulling out the remainder of my hedge and cutting down my other trees,...in fact three weeks ago, my Partner planted a small horse chestnut sapling alongside where two of my trees have been cut down, and we were very upset to find out that the Cricket Club have pulled the sapling out and snapped it!

To explain to Amethyst regarding the border, the general rule of the countryside is fence, hedge and then ditch, all belong to the same person, the meaning behind this being that you would not go onto someone else`s property to dig your dyke or plant your hedge/trees, and that the hedge and trees would be planted in the soil taken from the ditch. All of the other borders on my fields are the same, including the ones of mine which do not border anyone else`s land. In my case though, I have to admit that I didn`t know this at the time, but put my fence in front of the new hedge and tree saplings so my ponies wouldn`t eat them!

However, to sum up, basically the Cricket Club are trying to say that I own two thirds of the ditch and hedge, but not the piece in the middle on which they want to cut the rest of my beautiful trees down to feed their log burners over the Winter :/

It has all turned rather nasty now with three of the men making threats to my Partner today, it is all so very upsetting. Please can anyone advise further as to what we could do now?
Many thanks for taking the time to read this novel, :/

[des8]

You should be able to obtain a copy of your title and plan from land registry (https://www.gov.uk/search-property-i...-land-registry)
Apply for a court order forbidding the removal of the trees and your hedging.
If they wish to oppose your application they will need to make their case in court

[redrose281]

DES8 thank you for your help once again.

[redrose281]

Hi Everyone,
I thought this matter was resolved with my neighbours, but now find that it isn`t as they are now saying again that they are going to cut my trees down.

I have just bought and downloaded a Title Deed and Plan for my house from the Land Registry website, but as the land concerned is under a separate title deed, it isn`t showing me what I need.

When I`m looking on the Land Registry page, it is only giving me the option to put in a house name and postcode, but the parcel of land doesn`t have a name, just a title deed number. How can I find the parcel of land on the HM Land Registry page that I am wanting to buy the title deed and map for please?

[des8]

Land registry has the facility to trace property via map:
https://eservices.landregistry.gov.u...EnquiryInit.do

Or use form OC2 https://www.gov.uk/government/public...gistration-oc2