Dogs, Gates on Right of way

[grunger106]

I live in a terraced house which has only one entrance which is reached via a path which crosses the gardens of the neighbouring houses, all but one of them has fences either side of the ROW, with gates to both halves of the garden
The neighbour in the house that does not have fences has recently got a dog.
They are proposing to install a gate across the ROW and allow their dog to roam freely in their garden, which would mean in that situation I would have to open their gate, prevent their dog from escaping, traverse the path via their land, and then both open and close my own gate, again stopping the dog entering my land.
They say they'll always be in the garden, and will only do this occasionally however I'm not sure I believe that or wish to leave it to chance - starts off once a month, then once a week and then daily.


We generally get on pretty well, and it's a nice dog - I really don't want to fall out with them
However, I'm not happy about this proposal, it's my feeling they should erect fences either side of the path, they chose a house with a ROW through it, and they chose to get a dog, I don't see why I should be the one making allowances
Am I being unreasonable?
Where do I stand legally?

[des8]

Glad to hear you get along with your neighbour, and it will be silly to fall out over a gate.

The legal test in the case of alleged obstructions is: "can the right of way be substantially and practically exercised as conveniently as before?" The answer in most cases is that a single unlocked gate will not normally be held to be a substantial interference.

Now generally the person exercising the RoW has no obligation to shut the gate after using it, BUT if it is designed to keep livestock contained....
If the dog was to escape and to cause a loss to your neighbour because you left the gate open you could be liable in damages to your neighbour.

I can understand your concerns about the dog escaping, so I think you should have a chat with them and point out your concerns.
If & when it does become problematic because of the dog, then is the time to point out the RoW is being obstructed,

[grunger106]

Thanks for the reply
And you're correct, I really don't want to fall out over this - I don't like conflict and generally go along with things for a quiet life.

However, to be clear, at the moment I can walk from the road to my house along the ROW with bags of shopping in both hands all the way to my front door, there are no gates at all (we have one, but we've left it open ever since living here - we are at the far end of the ROW)

If they do what they want that will become, walk to gate one, put down shopping open gate, shoo dog away, close gate pick up shopping, get to gate 2 (into my land) shoo dog away, put down shopping, open gate, close gate, pick up shopping get to house.
It's the dog jumping up at me, and having to take care it doesn't disappear out toward the road or into my garden at each end of the trip that's my issue I think.
No question that makes my life significantly more difficult (and also anyone else who wants to get to our house, postman etc)
Are dogs allowed to roam unrestricted over a ROW?

[des8]

I appreciate your concerns, but think you should first see if it is going to be as difficult as you assume.
Let your neighbour know of your concerns, but gently warn them they might need to make other arrangements.

If the necessity to open and close gates, combined with the difficulty of keeping the dog confined and preventing it jumping up, does present a substantial interference with the RoW you could obtain a court injunction enforcing your right.
However that would entail you convincing the court that the combination of difficulties produced a substantial interference, and would probably mark the ceasing of the exchange of Christmas cards