Highways causing damp in walls

[Stephen]

I heard the other day that there may have been a Court case involving Highways whereby Highways lost and have to lower the level against a building. I believe it may have been in Cambridge. Anyone know anything? I have had a quick search of case law and could not find anything, but if this is true it could be very helpful to those suffering from Highways increasing road and pavement surfaces against their buildings.

 

[Penners]

Could this be the case?

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_ely/displayarticle.asp?id=257613

Article dated 19th Feb 2008 says the case is continuing. I couldn't find any report of its conclusion, but a call to the paper might help you.

 

[Stephen]

Penners

As always the font of all knowledge.

Thanks - I will see if I can find the result.

Stephen

 

[Mrs.R]

Hi, hope this helps!
The house is in the next village to me and i pass it regularly.
This report was taken from the cambs times newpaper on Feb 29th, resucued the paper from the recycling bin this morning as i remembered reading about it, a positive result although am sure it does not make up for all the stress and damage caused.




House couple’s £210,000 award
22 February 2008
WEB EDITORIAL - webdesk@herts24.co.uk


Bill and Lynda Scott celebrating victory in their home battle.
A LONG-SUFFERING couple who said their home was turned into a damp-infested "money pit" by the negligence of a council, this week settled their damages claim for £210,000.

William and Lynda Scott have for years had to live with neighbours describing their home in Wimblington as "the house in the hole", or "the house that's sinking" after the level of an estate road running alongside their property was raised in the 1990s.

That led to former RAF officer Mr Scott's family home being blighted by damp and flooding. Their garage is unusable and the couple say that, despite all their efforts to remedy the situation, the problems persist.

The Scotts, of Doddington Road, sued Cambridgeshire County Council which "adopted" the adjacent Parkfield Lane as a public highway in 1998. The council admitted both negligence and "nuisance" but had disputed the amount of the couple's payout.

But, on the afternoon of the second day of the High Court hearing in London, the county council agreed to pay the Scotts' agreed damages to settle their claim.

As part of the settlement, the council also promised to rebuild a retaining wall in front of the Scotts' property which has been partly to blame for their problems, and to create a new spur from a nearby main drain to take water away from their home.

The court heard the Scotts' nightmare dates back to the 1990s when houses and bungalows were built behind their home.

The formerly unmetaled Parkfield Lane was made up into a proper road to provide access to the development. The road was "adopted" by the county council in 1998 as "a highway maintainable at public expense".

The works had involved raising the level of the road and the consequences for Mr and Mrs Scott's property were catastrophic, rendering their home unmortgagable and unsaleable in its current condition, the couple's lawyers argued.

Mr and Mrs Scott told the court they had been forced to bring up their children in uncomfortable, unhealthy and sometimes hazardous conditions.

Approving the settlement agreement, Judge Leighton Williams QC said: "I'm very pleased that you have been able to come to terms.

"It is so much more satisfactory for parties that matters are agreed on amicably, particularly with a long running saga."

The council also agreed to pay the action's legal costs.

 

[Pford75]

We had a less extreme case, where the resurfacing of a road outside our property resulted in the collection of pools of water after rain, which were then splashed against a flint wall.

We contacted highways who were disinterested....but following a call to our local MP....the matter was quickly resolved. A lot quicker and cheaper than going to court....but glad to see that they got the right result