A council has threatened a councillor with legal action after he cleared away vegetation that had been blocking a footway in the town.
Keith Kondakor, a Green councillor on Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council, shared a letter on Twitter that he had received via email from the council’s director for Democracy, Planning & Public Protection, Philip Richardson.
Kondakor shared the letter in response to a post on the social network from cycling blogger and campaigner Danny Williams, who had retweeted a picture of an off-road cycle path in Poole that had been rendered impassable due to overgrown bushes and ferns.
“Wow. That’s a cycle path under that undergrowth,” wrote Williams. “Nationally, we have loads of bits of cycle infrastructure. Nationally, our local authorities and transport agencies don’t maintain it. They only maintain for cars.”
Wow. That’s a cycle path under that undergrowth. Nationally, we have loads of bits of cycle infrastructure. Nationally, our local authorities and transport agencies don’t maintain it. They only maintain for cars https://t.co/QCA1ZqeApr
— citymobility (@citycyclists) August 8, 2021
Kondakor wrote on Twitter: “And in Nuneaton I get a threatening email from @NBBCouncil when I do some trimming to vegetation obstructing the pavement. I am the borough councillor and it had been reported by my wife in May and several others in June.”
Wow. Cut back some vegetation on a path because @NBBCouncil hadn’t been maintaining it = council threatens you with police / criminal activity. This is deranged https://t.co/Nu2ijmKOMs
— citymobility (@citycyclists) August 8, 2021
In the letter he received from the Conservative-controlled council, acknowledged that he had informed the council of his “cutting back vegetation which is overhanging the public highway.” The location concerned was Weddington Road, which has a footways on both sides, as well as a shared use path.
The letter said, “This is an activity that is normally undertaken on behalf of the Council by its grounds maintenance contractor and is not something that elected members are required or expected to do.
“If you continue with undertaking works activities after receipt of this e-mail, I shall have no choice but to consider seeking an interim injunction to restrain you from continuing to do so. Furthermore, this activity could amount to criminal damage, which is a criminal offence. In such circumstances, I will not hesitate to have the matter referred to the police for investigation.
“I appreciate that the footway was partially obstructed by the vegetation, but it is a matter for the Council to resolve, not by an elected member to take matters into their own hands.”
The letter also highlighted that by “taking on activities that are clearly outside of your remit as a Councillor,” Mr Kondakar would not benefit from the indemnity he would usually enjoy for activities carried out in his role at the council.
The council told him that “No indemnity can be given where the activity constitutes a criminal offence; or where there is deliberate wrongdoing,” and that should any claim arise from his actions, “you will be personally liable for any loss or damage caused by you” – including potentially being joined as a defendant in any proceedings brought against the council.
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38 thoughts on “Council threatens legal action against councillor who cut down vegetation blocking path”
Wow! Hydraulic press to
Wow! Hydraulic press to crack a nut. A quiet word at a council meeting would have been perfectly adequate, along with congratulations and thanks for being public-spirited, not threats of prosecution. Nothing, I’m sure, to do with the fact that he isn’t a tory, and I’m totally sure that any tory doing the same would have received the same message.
Anyway, if South Glos council would like to prosecute me, I used to do the same three years ago when I lived there. Riding my Bakfiets on the paths in Bradley Stoke became impossible because of the overgrowing vegetation, so I bought a battery powered hedge trimmer which made quick work of the obstructing plants.
Most councils have had to cut back (not much pun intended) on activities like this that it happens once a year if you’re lucky.
eburtthebike wrote:
I’m sure the fact that it’s a Tory council v Green councillor is totally coincidental…..
possibly it is, as anyone has
possibly it is, as anyone has had to deal with the thorny (sic) issue of trimming bushes overhanging your garden from a neighbours property, it can be a legal minefield and technically can be considered criminal damage if you just cut stuff down without landowners permission, however helpful you are being, just as if youd gone to the park and dug up the councils prize winning rose beds instead.
so I can understand why they felt the need for the letter, rather than some friendlier quiet advice because they need to head off any possibility of legal recourse, or comebacks as a result and disassociate themselves as it being official council taken action
the danger is also, and this has happened, if people have reported the overhanging vegetation to the council, and the council send out a team to do the work after the well meaning individual has done their bit of pruning, the council team dont query by how much further it has to be cut back and will simply cut back whatever is left, including to the point of totally removing whats left.
Awavey wrote:
As I understand it, and I’m no legal authority, but if your neighbour’s plants overhang your garden you are perfectly within your rights to trim them, as long as you offer the neighbour the stuff you’ve cut off. Otherwise the owners of fast growing plants would own the earth by now.
hmmm…
hmmm…
absolutely, but there is a
absolutely, but there is a legally accepted way of doing it, you cant just lop bits off your neighbours shrubbery you take a dislike to, and it will be treated as criminal damage if you dont follow the proper course of action.
and its similar with any overgrowing bush in a cycle lane, the council are legally charged with maintaining it, so if you intervene, even if you are only trying to be helpful, the council are totally within their rights to warn you to desist, as it is technically considered criminal damage.
What is the proper course of
What is the proper course of action, as you can just lop bits off that are on your property
http://www.problemneighbours.co.uk/rights-trees-and-overhanging-branches.html
Well its pretty much as the
Well its pretty much as the advice on that website says, the bits you cut off belong to your neighbour still,so you have to offer to return them, you cant just cut them off & chuck them back over the fence, you cant go on their property to get better access without their permission, and though it doesnt say it there that clearly you cant damage it beyond your boundary.
All of those are things people regularly still do and end up being taken to court by their neighbours for trespass or criminal damage.
In such circumstances then
In such circumstances then should the cyclists report it to the council and advise them that if they fail to take remedial action within a reasonable timescale (2 weeks) that they will be commencing litigation against the council for deriliction of their duties? I beleive section 41 of the Highways Act is the relevant statute.
Or better still…. go and have an accident on the path and sue the council for damages after they don’t do anything about it
Ironically yes absolutely,
Ironically yes absolutely, report it then make a formal complaint if nothing is done, I doubt theyd have acted within 2 weeks though and theyd probably have said they couldn’t do anything in bird nesting season anyway, all you can really hope for is a guarantee of it’s on the to do list.
But yes when dealing with officialdom technically following rules, find a rule they are technically breaking.
Awavey wrote:
I too understand that they may need to follow due process. However, a letter threatening legal action is pure spite and vindictiveness, and certainly would not have happened had the “offender” been a tory councillor*
As others have mentioned a quiet word, in or out of the chamber, would have sufficed. This action is more about bullying than anything else.
*who am I kidding, a tory councillor acting for the greater good…
Captain Badger wrote:
Thee dint half make I laff.
I don’t understand the
I don’t understand the problem. Did he chop down some protected orchids? Or was it just that it showed the council in a bad light?
Bin. Go! In one!
Bin. Go! In one!
It’s more likely a matter of
It’s more likely a matter of they not having the public liability insurance needed to do works in or near a highway. Just the council covering ther backs incase they’d left debris on the path which caused an accident
Nuneaton Council has
Nuneaton Council has obviously lost the plot if they think such a pulic-spirited action is a criminal activity. The police will laugh at them for sure, they’ve got more important issues to deal with than a bit of hedge trimming.
The title of the letter-writer is a bit ‘far-right’ too – the Director of Democracy, Planning and Public Protection. Which other local authority has such a position?
They all have daft names
They all have daft names these days.
Democracy means they look after the elections and governance and council/committee support
Planning is well, planning !
Public Protection – pest control, H&S, licencing, food safety standards maybe building control (or that might come under planning).
I can only assume there is a tree preservation order as claiming criminal damage is bollocks.
Mr Kondakor gets my vote, or
Mr Kondakor gets my vote, or at least he would if I lived in Nuneaton. His “crime” is not so much that he actually went and got his hands dirty to sort out a problem but that he has exposed a useless council of elected representatives who cannot get the job done.
Mungecrundle wrote:
That’s a good point; I wonder how much the barristers letter cost the council?
Well that conservative
Well that conservative council have well and truely kicked David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ ideology into the (overgrown) bushes.
I suspect if this had ever gone to court, it would have been laughed out by the magistrate and this barrister been fined for wasting court time.
Shit! I’m a criminal too! I
Shit! I’m a criminal too! I do exactly the same, I carry some secateurs in my bar bag to deal with greenery overhanging the cycle paths on my commute, particularly the thorny brambles at eye height. I get praise from other cyclists who pass as I’m doing it though so it’s not all bad.
In fact I also have some secateurs in my rucksack for clearing overgrown footpaths when we are out walking. Double criminal!
Secateurs and a trekking pole
Secateurs and a trekking pole here for beating down nettles. They’ve got me bang to rights.
Chapeau!
Chapeau!
biker phil wrote:
Please provide me with your full name and address, and dates and times that you rebelliously attacked this innocent undergrowth so that I can report you to the police.
I do this sort of thing too.
I do this sort of thing too. If a branch whips me in the face because it’s too long/too low, then (if I am not in a hurry to get somewhere) will often cut it off so it doesn’t hit someone else.
I was under the impression that it was a socially responsible thing to do.
Clearly the Conservatives of Nuneaton would disagree…
brooksby wrote:
I’m guessing they want to discourage this because while helpful, this actually could put them in legal jeapardy if they did nothing to discourage it and someone got hurt.
Jenova20 wrote:
It would put them in legal jeopardy too if they were sued for failing in their duty to keep the carriageways clear for use.
Having torn a rucksack that
Having torn a rucksack that snagged on a low hanging branch stump someone had cut off (so rest of the branch didnt hang down onto the path) i can understand why they dont want people cutting back blockages. In my case it looked just like thin branches but hid the thick sharp edged cut of a larger branch hidden in the leaves. Left a graze on my shoulder and wouldve pulled me off my bike had the bag not torn.
Obviously i put it down to entirely my fault for just brushing through and not going around, but if you do try to ‘improve’ the situation, cut right back, not just enough for you to squeeze past. It could cause an unanticipated incident.
How do you know who cut the
How do you know who cut the stump ?
hirsute wrote:
Uncertain but the council are looking for diminutive person with short arms that they can address a legal compliance letter to….
(I generally try to cut it
(I generally try to cut it back as if I was doing it to shrubbery in my own garden; I don’t ever just take the very ends off)
I think the point of all of this is, that if there was greenery growing out into a road and forcing motorists to divert or to go out-and-around (maybe on the other side of the road, who could say?) then we all know that the council teams or the Highways Agency or someone would be out there with loppers and saws and fluorescent vested chain gangs in about thity seconds flat.
But, you know, it’s only cyclists.
Could also cause an accident
Could also cause an unanticipated accident if it were not cut back. I suspect the only difference is this bizarre idea that if at all possible someone must be held liable for others’ misadventures, even if they had reduced the overall probability of an accident.
Had a similar thing happen in
Had a similar thing happen in Newcastle AUS a few years ago. A legally blind resident complained about an overgrown path making access unsafe for him, and the council’s failure to address the issue led one councillor to go and trim it himself. He got in hot water over that too. It’s bizarre that they’re concerned with liability when someone addresses the problem but not the potential liability for council failing to address it.
This is odd. This literally
This is odd. This literally saves the council money.
Sue the council.
Sue the council.
Dear council,
Dear council,
Do your bloody job then!
NBBC wrote:
Given that it took a month just to respond to an email, I suspect the vegetation would have died back of its own accord before the council got around to responding to the issue being reported.
Given that it took a month
Given that it took a month just to respond to an email
A month!? You were lucky!! We used to dream of receiving a reply from Lancashire Constabulary to an email query within a month!!! Now they just don’t reply at all, but the silver lining is there’s a lot to meticulously report to the PCC.