Denial of Access to the boats - legal position and compensation ?

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Binnacle

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We have some winter moorings where access is via a private foreshore, for which we have paid the agreed access and maintainance fees till March 2019.

The landlord was requested to make repairs to the access route (steps) in mid-September 2018.

Without consultation, the landlord has placed his own lock on the gate, has taken away our lock, and not repaired the steps (a one day job). For over 6 weeks we have not been able to get onto our boats for sailing or checking the safety of the boats or their moorings, despite numerous emails and letters to which he has not replied, apart from saying he no longer wishes to talk to us and the access agreement is at an end becasue of safety issues.

We are exploring legal options such as an injunction, but can one claim compensation for denial of access ? Our principle concern is to make sure the boats are Ok and that moorings also.

Any advice please ?
 
Binnacle said:
We have some winter moorings where access is via a private foreshore, for which we have paid the agreed access and maintainance fees till March 2019.

The landlord was requested to make repairs to the access route (steps) in mid-September 2018.

Without consultation, the landlord has placed his own lock on the gate, has taken away our lock, and not repaired the steps (a one day job). For over 6 weeks we have not been able to get onto our boats for sailing or checking the safety of the boats or their moorings, despite numerous emails and letters to which he has not replied, apart from saying he no longer wishes to talk to us and the access agreement is at an end becasue of safety issues.

We are exploring legal options such as an injunction, but can one claim compensation for denial of access ? Our principle concern is to make sure the boats are Ok and that moorings also.

Any advice please ?
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A nasty dispute indeed, might ask whereabouts roughly is this, the River /Sea etc, as it might mean that there are other options available to you ?
 
A small informal group of users, on a wide brackish river. I'd rather not say where. No other moorings available.
 
Binnacle said:
A small informal group of users, on a wide brackish river. I'd rather not say where. No other moorings available.
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Ahoy there; well not a Cornwall River with the Dutchy involved then, or Foreshore Rights of the Crown either ? Might I ask is there any other way of access to the river, then boat on down to your boats ? just to check them out ?
 
Is this not a simple breech of contract on his part? The removal of the original lock may well be considered criminal damage or theft unless oil was his originally.
 
Sounds like a nasty little dispute. You may have trouble even with taking legal action other than to get some of your money back.

I am not lawyer but I suspect that if he says he thinks the access isn't safe and can't reasonably be fixed he may be able to get away with terminating the contract immediately claiming force majeure and refunding the outstanding balance.

It might be different if he were to give you any other reason especially in writing.
 
I think I would prepare to move my boat elsewhere, empty the bolt croppers, and get the hell out if there.

Only lawyers win when there is this type of legal action.
 
Time for my once a year posting to this forum.
superheat6k said:
You have a right of access, that you have paid for. Get a pair of bolt croppers and remove his lock.
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Do not follow this advice. At the moment you are in a civil squabble, use bolt cutters and that is criminal damage on your part. That gets you in more trouble than you solve.
 
I think we'd need to know a lot more about the "agreement".

For one, is it an actual written document aiming to cover all forseeable situations, or just an informal agreement of "pay me a tenner a month and you can use the beach"?

Is there anything about it which says or implies that he has to repair the steps? It sounds like this request is what precipitated the situation, perhaps he didn't consider that he had any obligation to do so and took offence (rightly or wrongly) at your demand.

What does the document, if it exists, say about terminating the agreement? He clearly considers it terminated, without seeing the contract we can't know whether he's entitled to do so, and if so whether he at least has to return some portion of the payments.

Pete
 
I am sure I remember a very similar sounding case a year or two ago, only it was a slipway to which the landowner would not allow access. River in SW England, I think.
 
Skeffles said:
Time for my once a year posting to this forum.


Do not follow this advice. At the moment you are in a civil squabble, use bolt cutters and that is criminal damage on your part. That gets you in more trouble than you solve.
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Yes you might have to pay for a new lock. What chance do you think he/she will have in getting any police to follow the up?
 
Seven Spades said:
Yes you might have to pay for a new lock. What chance do you think he/she will have in getting any police to follow the up?
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Better than the tabloids would have you believe. It is an easy one for the cops to trace and follow up on, virtually no time needed spent on it and still a result for the books. Police love having middle class people as suspects, because middle class people are far more likely to run their mouths in indignation.
 
Might be that you letter requesting action to make repairs mentioned that the steps were not safe, so if he is pissed off, just perhaps he took you at your word ? There must be another way of accessing the boats if they are afloat or on any foreshore by using a boat or dinghy ? Unless it's a rocky or cliff lined foreshore, making access difficult then launch a dinghy elsewhere along the river ?
 
There is an agreement on paper. It has been on a yearly renewable basis for >10 years, and is a simple doc saying we can access our dinghies on their foreshore for £x a year, and they will undertake the maintainance of the steps. The landowner knows this and has our money ring-fenced for that purpose. The agreement does not contain any details about terminating the agreement or other conditions, just access for £x a year

A PM suggests that the Agreement, having been in place and renewed by default for so long without a problem, is now a 'de facto" lease under the Landlord and Tenant Act. ??? Does that make a difference ? Does it affect what we, and he, can do , about having access ?

Three months to repair a small building-type problem (we have a range of qualified building skills and have offered to do the repairs properly for free) feels to us like unreasonable behaviour causing a niuisance through denying us access. We really don't want compensation as a prime objective, just really to be able to get to the boats.

There is no other physical way we can reach the dinghies except by the steps to the foreshore.
 
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I don’t know how this works law wise. There is two sides to every dispute.

Just a thought. While the land owner may or may not be annoyed.
You have officially informed the land owner the steps and acces over his land is unsafe.
This probably creates a problem for him. He now is aware of a safety concern about the access. Surly if he allowed you or anyone else to continue to use the access. The land owner would risk being liable if you slipped and fell.

Simple solution for him shut of the access due to safety concerns. Far more simple than dealing with possible risks for what could possibly be considered a commercial business.

Or resolve safety concerns which may be more costly than the revenue. So the risk of being a nice guy letting people continue to use the access is seen by him as unacceptable.

A different case a different situation in a different jurisdiction. Chap I know, used to allow local people to cross his land using a dirt track for his tractor to access to a local beach.
Until. Someone fell and sued him.
Now there is a locked gate with a sign private no trespassing.
 
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