Legal Questions and Answers by
Jonathan Stones of John Barkers
Question :-
Our home is situated on a private road, for which the residents have the responsibility of upkeep and repair. Unfortunately we also live close to a large senior school and our hedged road provides privacy for schoolchildren who come to smoke and eat their lunches.
It is primarily a problem of litter, discarded food wrappers, drink cans and cigarette packets, left in the middle of the road where they sit. The hedgerow and grass service strip are matted with hundreds of cigarette ends. Combine this with some who have an obsession with spitting, and they are making the area thoroughly unpleasant at times.
As the summer approaches the situation often escalates and on occasion
groups of thirty plus have been recorded, as well as older youths who come in cars and on bikes to meet them during the lunch hour. It can make access to your own home not only difficult but intimidating.
Complaints to the school are sympathetically heard but they say they have no jurisdiction at these times. The police have responded but within a few days the situation returns. Direct requests to the children to move on and not leave their litter are largely ignored.
Have you any suggestions as to how this problem may be resolved and any
action we may be able to take, as this has been going on for several years?
Answer :-
If the road is actually owned by the residents . . . and there is no public right of way . . . there is no reason why you should not collectively decide to block it off. Usually such a course of action is taken to deal with the problem of parked vehicles and posts and chains are used.
In your case, whilst that would deal with the older youths arriving in cars to meet the others, it would not present much of an obstacle to the pedestrian traffic, so you would be looking at investing in a more substantial barrier such as fencing and a gate.
That raises the issues of cost and inconvenience to the residents, who would have to pay for the barrier - and themselves have to get out of the car and open it
each time they wished to enter or leave the street. So it comes down to how bad you think the problem is.
A less expensive course of action might be to make as much fuss as you can about the problem . . . and go on creating a fuss.
I note that approaches to the school have so far been met with sympathetic inaction. Move on from the Headmaster or staff and get in touch with the Chairman of the school’s governors. I cannot see him or her being thrilled about reports of the school’s pupils behaving in this way.
You could also look at enlisting the help of your local councillors to bring pressure to bear on the school via the education department.
Litter and underage smoking are clearly not going to figure high on the police list of priorities but if there were more serious offences occurring, then they certainly would respond to your information.
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