Land at Rookery View, Little Thurrock, Grays, Essex, RM17 6AT

Thurrock Council Assets Department have received a copy of the attached letter, dated 2nd July 2020, , regarding the boundary of his property with that of the adjoining Thurrock Council owned land, and the additional features that has made to it.

As is normal in this country, title plans only show the general boundaries of the property, do not give any measurements, and need to be interpreted in real life in the context of the topography and physical features.

, Building Surveyor for Thurrock Council, visited site on Tuesday 14th July 2020, upon the instructions of , Corporate Property Manager, to take a view from Council Land Owner perspective.

The inspection was non-intrusive visual and on foot, limited to what can be seen from the Council owned side of the boundaries only.

The land owned by the Council is that at the front and side, being footpath/highway and allotments. The topography of the land banks down from Rookery View road level, down to the lower footpath and allotments that run alongside No.

There are a number of large overgrown trees and vegetation on the Council land to the front of the property, which makes inspection of some aspects of the boundary features very difficult.

has installed some rather unconventional boundary treatment along the line of the footpath, at the bottom of the bank, in the form of a retaining type wall made from what look like sand bags (but which we were informed are cement filled) stacked between six and nine courses high (see Photo 6). Further down the footpath boundary with No. there are a mixture of timber posts with horizontal timber boards between, and areas of unmade ground with old loose bricks, rubble, and concrete posts laid on top (see Photos 7, 8, 9, & 10). There is also a channel separating two parts with a hole at the bottom, leading under the rear garden, which looks like either a drainage channel or animal burrow (see Photo 9).

These features along the footpath boundary are vulnerable to being picked apart or vandalised as are openly accessible, and outside of the line of natural surveillance view from the nearby dwellings. They also potentially represent a Public Liability insurance risk.

The evidence for this is not abundantly clear and any recommendation for removal of these features would be accompanied by one for replacement with a more traditional and recognised retaining wall construction or sloped bank.

Thurrock Council 1 of 8 15th July 2020 Land at Rookery View, Little Thurrock, Grays, Essex, RM17 6AT

The following eight options are the more standard types of retaining structures that we would expect to see;

Fig.1 – conventional retaining structure types

On the question of encroachment or creep of the boundary of No. across into Council owned land, the letter from states that this is unclear and difficult to assess, which we would agree with, however, the normal assumption is for line of boundaries to exist at the top of banks, rather than at the bottom.

Comparisons between the title plan and aerial photo image do not help resolve any further, as the large trees obscure the view of the ground (see Fig.2 & Fig.3).

On the balance of probability, it does seem likely that in parts, the new boundary features have been built on the Council side of ownership, especially likely where they start and dog leg around the corner in front of the house (see Photos 4 & 5) and further along towards the end of the rear garden (Photo 10). It is possible that the boundary had already been encroached, prior to these new features, but that is difficult to now prove. It is also fair to say that No. is possibly not the only property bordering the footpath, that has extended their boundary at some point in the past without the necessary permissions.

However, in conclusion, the consequential loss or diminution in value to Thurrock Council as a result of these encroachments would appear to be negligible.

Thurrock Council 2 of 8 15th July 2020 Land at Rookery View, Little Thurrock, Grays, Essex, RM17 6AT

Fig.2 - Google Earth aerial photo

Fig.3 – extract from H.M Land Registry Title Plan

Thurrock Council 3 of 8 15th July 2020 Land at Rookery View, Little Thurrock, Grays, Essex, RM17 6AT

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Thurrock Council 4 of 8 15th July 2020 Land at Rookery View, Little Thurrock, Grays, Essex, RM17 6AT

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Thurrock Council 5 of 8 15th July 2020 Land at Rookery View, Little Thurrock, Grays, Essex, RM17 6AT

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Thurrock Council 6 of 8 15th July 2020 Land at Rookery View, Little Thurrock, Grays, Essex, RM17 6AT

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Thurrock Council 7 of 8 15th July 2020 Land at Rookery View, Little Thurrock, Grays, Essex, RM17 6AT

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Thurrock Council 8 of 8 15th July 2020