Fence Bowing Out Into Alleyway

[Marcosalcito]

I live in a terraced house(uk) with a council owned/maintained alleyway that runs up the rear of the row of houses . although most residents use this as their private tip i do need it for access so i personally keep it clear of litter and sweep it down. My problem is one of the residents has a rear fence which is bowing out due to the garden dirt being high and pushing it out , the gate post is also out of line and encroaching on alleyway width.This may seem petty as it's only bowing out say30/40cms at the narrowest point but the alley is only 120cm wide so every inch counts and i need to get a lot of stuff through in barrows etc as there are steep steps to my front door.Also i purchased this property with rear access which is now getting steadily narrower. I have been on to the council about this relentlessly that i'm on first name terms with them yet i just get ignored or passed around. Is there a more legal approach i can take to sort this matter out and where do i stand legally, i'd rather not approach the private resident in person as tempers could escalate.

[Buenchico]

Welcome to The Answerbank.

I've been here for 17 years and, in that time, I've seen many, many questions about people getting absolutely nowhere with "the council". The most frequent suggestion (and one that often seems to work) is to remember that your local council isn't really made up of employees based at the council's offices. "The council" is actually comprised of local councillors and it's those people who seem to have the ability to get things moving.

For example, despite me writing a letter explaining a change in my circumstances, officials at Mid Suffolk District Council managed to get my Council Tax bill wrong, resulting in a demand to pay a full year's Council Tax in a single payment (with no option to pay in instalments). When I complained to my local councillor (rather than to the staff in the Council Tax office), she managed to get the entire year's bill written off for me, saving me over a thousand quid!

Other members of this site have reported similarly good outcomes when they've asked their local councillors to look into problems for them.

So I strongly suggest finding out who represents your ward and getting in touch with them. Such an approach will be far less likely to create any problems with your neighbours than any formal legal action might do. (Also, unlike legal action, it can't land you with any big bills!).

[THECORBYLOON]

If there's no joy still, there is a local council Ombudsman.

This is the link but for some reason, it's reluctant to open for me.

http://www.lgo.org.uk/