Request for information about the A26 at the Lay, South of Beddingham, Sussex
Dear Highways England Company Limited,
I am researching the ownership of the land between the A26 and the Lay. This is a small triangle of land centred on grid reference around grid reference 544529 106897. The land is boundaried by the old course of the A26 and its current course. I believe that the recording of rights of way over this land may need amending.
Up to 1963 the road between Beddingham and Newhaven in Sussex at this point made a sharp turn. Map show that the route involving this turn had been in place for centuries. The road had been a county road since at least 1930 and probably long before then and so was almost certainly owned by the county. But by 1983 maps show that the road had assumed its current course, probably as part of a scheme to improve the road. However I have not found any documents at the East Sussex Archive which refer to this widening.
There are rights of way that end at what would have been the junction with the old alignment but which do not extend to the new alignment.
I have, however, found that the road here became a trunk road in 1981. I assume that any ownership vested in the County would have passed to Highways England's predecessors at that time.
Can I therefore ask you
1) Does the Company own the land on which the A26 currently runs at this point? If not who does? If so, from whom did the Company's predecessors aquire the land? (The land is not registered at the Land Registry)
2) Does the Company own the land over which the A26 formerly ran before it was realigned. If not does it know who does (The land is not registered at the Land Registry)
3) Does the Company have any information which suggests that the rights to use the old formation here have been stopped up? If so can I have that information, or a reference to the relevant legislation or order?
Yours faithfully,
Chris Smith for the Open Spaces Society
This is an automated response:
Thank you for your email to Highways England.
If you’re reporting a real time issue which requires immediate attention
please call the Customer Contact Centre on 0300 123 5000.
A map of the roads for which we are responsible can be found here
[1]https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk....
If the road you’re interested in isn’t on this map it will fall under the
jurisdiction of the local authority. You can find details of local
authorities using the search facility on the gov.uk website at:
[2]https://www.gov.uk/find-your-local-council
If your email does relate to an issue on Highways England's network it
will be passed to the relevant team within Highways England and they will
respond to you within a maximum of 15 working days.
For more information on how we use your data please check our privacy
notice at: [3]https://www.highwaysengland.co.uk/privacy
If you’ve made a request under the Freedom of Information Act we will
respond to you within a maximum of 20 working days. Your request will be
dealt with in line with government guidelines:
[4]https://www.gov.uk/make-a-freedom-of-inf...
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Kind regards
Highways England Customer Contact Centre
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Highways England Company Limited | General enquiries: 0300 123 5000
|National Traffic Operations Centre, 3 Ridgeway, Quinton Business Park,
Birmingham B32 1AF |
[5]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati... |
[6][Highways England request email]
Registered in England and Wales no 9346363 | Registered Office: Bridge
House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, Surrey GU1 4LZ
Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you really
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References
Visible links
1. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk...
2. https://www.gov.uk/find-your-local-council
3. https://www.highwaysengland.co.uk/privacy
4. https://www.gov.uk/make-a-freedom-of-inf...
5. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
6. mailto:[Highways England request email]
Dear Highways England Company Limited,
You have not replied to my request . Why is this? What is happening
Yours faithfully,
Chris Smith
This is an automated response:
Thank you for your email to Highways England.
If you’re reporting a real time issue which requires immediate attention
please call the Customer Contact Centre on 0300 123 5000.
A map of the roads for which we are responsible can be found here
[1]https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk....
If the road you’re interested in isn’t on this map it will fall under the
jurisdiction of the local authority. You can find details of local
authorities using the search facility on the gov.uk website at:
[2]https://www.gov.uk/find-your-local-council
If your email does relate to an issue on Highways England's network it
will be passed to the relevant team within Highways England and they will
respond to you within a maximum of 15 working days.
For more information on how we use your data please check our privacy
notice at: [3]https://www.highwaysengland.co.uk/privacy
If you’ve made a request under the Freedom of Information Act we will
respond to you within a maximum of 20 working days. Your request will be
dealt with in line with government guidelines:
[4]https://www.gov.uk/make-a-freedom-of-inf...
Please be advised that emails may be monitored for training and quality
assurance purposes.
Kind regards
Highways England Customer Contact Centre
This email may contain information which is confidential and is intended
only for use of the recipient/s named above. If you are not an intended
recipient, you are hereby notified that any copying, distribution,
disclosure, reliance upon or other use of the contents of this email is
strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please
notify the sender and destroy it.
Highways England Company Limited | General enquiries: 0300 123 5000
|National Traffic Operations Centre, 3 Ridgeway, Quinton Business Park,
Birmingham B32 1AF |
[5]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati... |
[6][Highways England request email]
Registered in England and Wales no 9346363 | Registered Office: Bridge
House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, Surrey GU1 4LZ
Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you really
need to.
References
Visible links
1. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk...
2. https://www.gov.uk/find-your-local-council
3. https://www.highwaysengland.co.uk/privacy
4. https://www.gov.uk/make-a-freedom-of-inf...
5. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
6. mailto:[Highways England request email]
Dear Mr Smith
Thank you for your enquiry of 27 November 2019 concerning land ownership
at The Lay on the A26. The information you have requested is information
we make available to the public on a regular basis. I apologise for the
delay in replying to you.
Your request has been handled under normal business practices and not in
accordance with the Freedom of Information Act/Environmental Information
Regulations.
A copy of the information, a trunking order that came into operation on
the 1^st April 1981, is attached
Most documents supplied by Highways England will be Crown Copyright. Most
Crown Copyright information can be re-used under the [1]Open Government
Licence. For information about OGL and about re-using Crown Copyright
information please see [2]The National Archives website.
I will answer your questions based on the evidence that I have available
to me:
1. The Company does own land that the current alignment of the A26
follows at the location of your query.
2. The Company cannot currently answer your question about the
ownership of the old alignment of the A26. The A26 was realigned as part
of a local highway authority scheme before it was trunked. We do not have
copies of any of the orders the local highway authority would have made to
realign the A26. We will open a case and liaise with the local authority
to determine the ownership of the old alignment of the road. I cannot
give a timescale for how long this will take.
3. I have searched our historic records for copies of Compulsory
Purchase Orders, Side Roads Orders and De-trunking Orders relating to this
road and have not been able to locate any. I have provided a copy of the
Trunking Order that we do we have on our records.
By virtue of Section 265 of the Highways Act 1980, the trunking order
vests the existing highway described in the orders schedule to Highway
England Ltd. The land is showing as unregistered however this is because
we have not asked Land Registry to register the land to us yet. We have a
country wide project to register all operational trunk road to us and the
A26 will be captured by the project in due course.
The case number for the case investigating your query is PE18721 (2).
Could you provide me with your direct contact details so we do not have to
liaise via a third party.
If you feel the information supplied is not sufficient or has not been
answered within the 15-day period, you may wish to complain. The
complaints procedure is available via our website at:
[3]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
If you require a print copy, please phone the Information Line on 0300 123
5000; or e-mail [4][Highways England request email].
You should contact me if you wish to complain.
If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me, quoting
reference number PE18721.
Yours sincerely
Property Enquiries Team
Highways England | Ash House | Falcon Road, Sowton Ind. Estate | Exeter |
EX2 7LB
[5][email address]
This email may contain information which is confidential and is intended
only for use of the recipient/s named above. If you are not an intended
recipient, you are hereby notified that any copying, distribution,
disclosure, reliance upon or other use of the contents of this email is
strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please
notify the sender and destroy it.
Highways England Company Limited | General enquiries: 0300 123 5000
|National Traffic Operations Centre, 3 Ridgeway, Quinton Business Park,
Birmingham B32 1AF |
[6]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati... |
[7][Highways England request email]
Registered in England and Wales no 9346363 | Registered Office: Bridge
House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, Surrey GU1 4LZ
Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you really
need to.
References
Visible links
1. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/o...
2. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/infor....
3. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
4. mailto:[Highways England request email]
5. mailto:[email address]
6. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
7. mailto:[Highways England request email]
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