Highways Encroachment Reports - Find a freedom of information request

1. How many Highways encroachment are reported in Lincolnshire annually?

2. When reported how soon is action taken?

3. If action is taken how soon on average is follow up action and is that in accordance with Lincolnshire Council Policy?

4. How many Highways encroachment required legal action on behalf of the Council 2019-20?

Please provide a one year report for 2019 up to May 2020. If Lincolnshire is split into areas, the area I require the information for is Sleaford and surrounding areas.

1. 119 were reported from May 2019 to May 2020 in Sleaford and the surrounding areas.

2. Once officers receive a complaint or report of an enforcement nature they will attend site as soon as they are able. Depending on the location, the workloads of the officer and the description of the offence, it is likely that they will have been to site within five working days.

The site is assessed and, if required, a letter will be sent to the occupant requesting that they carry out works to rectify the issue as follows:

Section 154 of The Highways Act 1980 – Overhanging trees and vegetation.

The usual timescale is 14 days to cut back and remove the offending vegetation but officers have the discretion to either shorten or extent this timescale depending on the severity. If works are not completed within this 14 day timeframe then, as a resident has 21 days to formally appeal against the original letter, Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) would send a second letter giving a further seven days, thus covering the 21 days appeal period.

Appreciate that logic would suggest they all get 21 days but history has shown that most
people react and sort out the problem with 14. If works are still not done after 21 days then we will involve Legal Services. LCC does have the right to cut back private vegetation where it could cause a danger to the public and this could be done almost immediately upon seeing the issue. LCC can also do works and recover costs for those works it carries out if the resident does not do as requested following all letters and Legal involvement.
Section 148 of The Highways Act 1980 – Penalty for depositing things on the highway, which can also be used in conjunction with Section 149 Removal of things and Section 137 Wilful Obstruction.

Usual practice is to give 14 days but this does depend on the obstruction and where it is and the danger it poses. For example, rocks placed to protect a grassed area outside a property would usually be 14 days, but a trailer attached to a tree that is also partly blocking a footway (which we have had) would be given seven days. LCC can remove property that is obstructing the highway but has to give formal warning to the owner or culprit if possible
before doing so. Applications have to be made to the courts as well to do this in some instances. Legal Services would be involved at an earlier stage if it was thought necessary. Usually though we would involve them if our own letters were not getting us anywhere. As a side note, we would not get involved with a private matter, even if the actions of a third party also affect something within a private area. We only deal with things that are affecting
the highway.

We should also add about COVID-19 and how this has affected our response times and probably also residents response times and also how we have taken this into account under the circumstances and taken a more considered approach where officers have judged we can. We are getting back to some normality now though so starting again to look at things as before. If another wave comes along though then we are likely to take a more considered approach again.

Business Support record all letters and timescales and will remind officers when a check is due as the date for compliance up. As above, when officers can, they will attend site again and follow the process. Photographs are taken of these sites, particularly the obstructions, in case further action such as removal is required.

3. Again this should be available within the policy regarding timescales. However, when we send the letters the timescales for action are 7, 14, 21 or 28 days (the officer decides the period) and the officer would follow up after this period.

4. 16 since January 2019 to date.