Ownership of Mill Lane, Marston, Lincolnshire NG32 2HS - Find a freedom of information request

Ownership of Mill Lane, Marston, Lincolnshire NG32 2HS

1. Please can you clarify the details of the ownership of Mill Lane, Marston, Lincolnshire NG32 2HS from the junction on Barkston Road all the way down to the bottom where it turns right and to a 'dead end'.

2. Clarification that Mill Lane, Marston, Lincolnshire NG32 2HS is repaired and maintained Lincolnshire County Council Highways.

3. Clarification that the area to the right of the carriageway at the bottom of the lane and in front of the west facing elevation of my garage (the right hand side of the garage as you view it from the front) is a turning area of a set size / measurement sufficient for vehicles to turn, of which no vehicle user or land owners should park their vehicles on for any period, save for emergency vehicles etc.

4. Clarification of the date, and a copy of any documentation informing when Lincolnshire County Council Highways took possession / ownership of Mill Lane Marston NG32 2HS.

5. Clarification as to the circumstances which led to Lincolnshire County Council Highways taking possession / ownership / maintenance of Mill Lane, Marston NG32 2HS. For example, did this happen as a result of the contact made by Kirsten Jones back in 1989 when she asked for the carriageway to be repaired.

6. Provide details of who the previous owner/s of this section of Mill Lane, Marston NG32 2HS were prior to Lincolnshire County Council Highways taking possession / ownership. I suspect this is likely to be Kirsten Jones.

7. Clarification as to whether or not, any residents of Mill Lane, Marston NG32 2HS were notified back in 1989 of the fact that Lincolnshire County Council Highways had taken possession / ownership / maintenance of Mill Lane, Marston including  the previous owners of Watermill Cottage, Mill Lane, Marston NG32 2HS.

8. If residents were not personally notified that Lincolnshire County Council Highways were the new owners of Mill Lane, Marston NG32 2HS, was there any public notice or broadcast made of this fact such as an article placed in a national or local newspaper informing of this change. If so, what was this and can I have a copy of this please.

9. For ease of understanding, can you provide a plan / map showing the exact extent of where the carriageway starts and ends and how wide the carriageway should be, including any parts of the grassed verge area either side of the carriageway along Mill Lane specifically outside Watermill Cottage and down towards The Old Watermill.

10. Please clarify if there is a legislation that states that the carriageway extends either side of the visible tarmac area and if so, what does the distance extend to for Mill Lane NG32 2HS.

11. Please clarify if large rocks are permitted to be positioned on the grassed verge part of the carriageway Mill Lane, NG32 2HS.

12. I ask about the width of the carriageway as the carriageway appears to be gradually getting narrower since 1998 as the grass encroaches onto the carriageway and as a result commercial vehicles of delivery companies often cause some damage to the grass verges which our neighbours often complain about which could ultimately result in delivery companies / drivers refusing to attend due to the ever reducing width of the carriageway as well as complaints to the companies from our neighbours about their driving. An example of this would be on 31st July 2023 when our neighbour complained that one of the Highway lorries had damaged their grass whilst carrying out road repairs. Several days later Highways repaired the minor damage with top soil and lawn seed. I suspect that it easier to do this than get into an argument about who had caused the damage which I understand as well as accept, but arguably if the grassed verge had not encroached onto the driven carriageway in the first place then there would have been no damage to the grass by the lorry!

13.  Mill Lane is a carriageway owned and maintained by Lincolnshire County Council Highways, can you please liaise with and notify the Land Registry so that corrections can be made to outdated information which may resolve some confusion regarding ownership.

I can confirm that the information requested is held by Lincolnshire County Council. I have detailed below the information that is being released to you.

1. Ownership information is not held by Lincolnshire County Council, contact will need to be made with HM Land Registry https://landregistry.uk/titledocuments?msclkid=6f585448138515cbf9da320b22570877

2. Yes it is as per the attached liability for maintenance plan showing the extent of the public highway, coloured blue

3. Standards have changed over the years and the sizes are therefore likely to be different to what we would ask for now as part of a new development for example. We will not carry out works though to change historic layouts to meet modern day specifications, these layouts are what they are and we don’t have the funding available to do this type of work. Where there are no parking restrictions then anyone may park in these areas as long as they are not causing an obstruction. Obstructions should be reported to the Police.

4. LCC do not own the freehold of the road, it is only the surface that vests with it as highway authority. From the Council’s old highways records it was adopted as public highway in 1935, see attached handover plan from 1929. we are unable to advise why there is a difference between the 1929 handover liability plan and the current liability record. All we can say is that for reasons unknown the liability plan was amended in 1998 to what is shown as public highway now.

5. LCC only has the 1929 handover plan, the circumstances of its adoption in 1935 may be recorded in the highway minutes of Kesteven County Council (KCC), the predecessor highway authority, held by Lincolnshire Archives and available to the public.

6. Information not held by LCC, again this may be in the KCC records held at Lincolnshire Archives. lincolnshire.archives@lincolnshire.gov.uk

7. No changes were made to LCC’s highway records in 1989.

8. No changes were made to LCC’s highway records in 1989.

9. See attached liability for maintenance plan.

10. No legislation that LCC is aware of.

11. Any objects placed on the public highway are classed as an obstruction and would be subject to the enforcement provisions contained in The Highways Act 1980.

12. The public highway consists of the metalled surface of the Lane together with the grass verges where applicable. These areas are one and the same in terms of highway liability, so can be a combination of both to give an ‘adopted’ width. The liability width coloured in blue on the attached plan is what would have been taken from the historic records, and the adoption records, which as stated can be seen in the Archives by anyone wishing to see what the original width and layout was recorded as being.

13. LCC does not own the freehold to the Lane and therefore does not have any registered land ownership at the Land Registry

Should you require the attachments mentioned above please contact customerinformationservice@lincolnshire.gov.uk with the below reference number and these can be provided.