Council Tax Daylight Robbery

[pdq1]

It was reported this week that one local council are charging homeowners to drive into their property and charging £90 a year for the priviledge. The theory was most homes are separated from the road by a narrow ransom strip either owned by the council or highways authority. This could affect most homes in the country if done nationwide.

The purpose is to collect more from the council tax which has been frozen for a couple of years by the government.

Are we seeing the resurrection of Dick Turpin under the guise of Town hall bureaucrats?

[Baldric]

Is there a link to the report?

[sir.prize]

Our council tax has not been frozen - in their wisdom Labour have increased it again this year just like last year.

[Kathyan]

And I bet they blame the increase on the tory cuts!

[frugalfred]

I have no legal knowledge, but I believe that if someone has been crossing such a strip without permission and without hindrance, then there is an established right to do so after 12 years.

[pdq1]

Here is the link from yesterdays newspaper:


///There seems to be almost no limit to the ingenuity with which councils think up new ways to charge us. Residents of the Leicestershire village of Ibstock, for instance, were incensed when the council decided to charge them £90 a year for parking, because access to them crossed a tiny strip of council-owned land///

[sir.prize]

Our local Labour council REFUSED £1.4m Government grant 'free' money and has increased Council Tax by 1.9%. This means they have "dodged democracy" by announcing rises just short of the 2 per cent required to trigger a referendum. Robbing gits!

[frugalfred]

And now I read that councils are asking for powers to fine drivers for certain moving traffic offences.

[mccfluff]

my council tax has been frozen for the last three years

[ABerrant]

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Householders-told-pay-pound-90-gardens-Ibstock/story-18015274-detail/story.html#axzz2KWNB65YH

Somewhat reminiscent of this...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2221612/Walk-home-Youll-need-16-council-permit-Householders-forced-pay-charge-gain-access-car-park.html

[BRIGHT SPARK]

Can anyone remember rumblings within the Labour Gov't around 2006 before the banking crisis...they indicated that each property will be visited to assess its individual value for council tax purposes. Will the thoughts resurface again ?

[ABerrant]

Wales had a revaluation in 2005 where over a third of households saw a banding increase. The intended 2007 revaluation in England was postponed.

Government announced in September 2010 there will be no revaluation of council tax bands in England during this Parliament.

[BRIGHT SPARK]

So we're ok for a couple of years AB

[DangerUXD]

no

[ludwig]

Councils are the same as national government or private companies. They will all look for any way they can to get your money off you. The only way they differ from criminals is that they keep within the law to do it.
In this case they're charging people to access their land.

When we were house hunting there was a place where you had to drive from the road across a pavement to get onto your drive. Being either on the road or your own drive was fine, but you had to pay the council an annual charge to drive across the pavement. This is the same kind of thing.

[emmie]

our local authority has closed any number of local libraries, and cut many services, yet still seems to be planning to build a multi million pound new home for themselves. Other proposals are and i quote from local paper, up to 750 families, who are social housing tenants may be moved out of London all together, the council is looking at areas such as Birmingham and Leicester to house them, this is to do with the housing benefit changes coming in to force April.

[dave50]

I never ever believe local councils when they say they are short of money. They are just wasteful and incompetent. What they do is cut spending on the most emotive departments such as care homes or libraries so they can then blame the government's 'evil cuts'. They never seem to struggle to find money for climate change or diversity departments.

[jake-the-peg]

Must be very upsetting that this is a Tory and not a Labour council!

[Old_Geezer]

I have no knowledge of the "narrow strip" things mentioned, but it's been clear for a long time now that councils just look to spot things they can get away for charging separately for and doing so, without reducing the council tax in proportion. (When they're not figuring out which service you've paid for that they can stop providing or reduce and get away with.) All governments seem to just want to rip off the citizen, much like all commercial concerns. The citizen is an easy target.

[FredPuli43]

It is cobblers in law. If the land has been crossed for decades then a right, either as a public right of way or a private one, an easement, has been established. It was probably established anyway when the houses were built, if the land and the council land had the same owner and this access was necessary to the enjoyment of the houses, because it would be inferred that the right of way, being necessary, was granted even if the conveyances omitted to say so. No landowner can charge for enjoyment of an established right. He can only do so when the right is granted.

And the Highways Authority might care to explain how land owned by them and used as a highway isn't a highway! We look forward to their claiming ransom strips in every case where a house has a gate giving on to a pavement which has to be crossed to reach the carriageway.

[emmie]

our council is Labour controlled, and a more incompetent, bunch of greedy, time serving wasters you wouldn't wish to meet.