‘It’s been like a highway to hell’
COUPLE SPEAK OUT ON FIVE-YEAR WRANGLE WITH COUNCIL OVER HIGHWAYS ISSUE THAT’S LEFT THEM NO LEGAL ACCESS TO HOME
A COUPLE feel “marooned” in their own home because they have no legal access to it from two roads.
Gerald and Kathryn Wilson have been embroiled in a highways wrangle with Anglesey County Council for more than five years.
Prior to buying the home, they checked with the council whether one road was a public highway maintainable by the local authority.
On being told by the authority it was, they pressed ahead and bought the farmhouse, Ty Fron Goch, in Brynsiencyn in 2018.
However, in March 2021 the council told them the road – Lon Chwarelau – had been incorrectly registered, it was not an adopted road after all, and they had no right to use it.
The couple had already put up a permanent barrier to another access, to comply with a planning condition.
So they were left with neither access road and even mulled over the idea of getting a helipad in desperation. The problems left them desperate to leave their property, which was once worth more than £500,000.
However, three estate agents couldn’t sell as it has no access, so it has no value. The Wilsons, originally from Lancashire, are fighting the council on the issue.
They have been helped by neighbour Peter Rogers, a former Welsh Conservative Assembly Member for the North Wales Region (1999-2003) and local councillor.
But the Wilsons and Mr Rogers say they have been “gagged” by being banned by the council from contacting it after approaching them about the access issues.
Mr Rogers had farmed in the area for over 50 years and was very familiar with Lon Chwarelau.
He is “very concerned” by the authority closing this highway, claiming it did so without following correct procedure with a Stopping up Order under the 1980 Highways Act.
Mr Wilson, 77, who lives with his wife Kathryn, 74, said: “What we want to happen is what should have happened in the first place.
“When we bought this property the road adjoining it (Lon Chwarelau) was listed as a (public) highway.
“We were later told it was listed as a private road and must have been listed as a highway by mistake and we would have to prove it was a highway. So other than land searches, writing letters and doing research into when Gwynedd originally had it when it was listed as a highway, what more can anybody do?”
On his ordeal, Mr Wilson said: “It’s no exaggeration to say it’s been five years of hell. It’s a terrible situation to be in. It’s like a highway to hell. We couldn’t sell the house and at one time we simply wanted to just get away.
“We thought of abandoning it and moving in with our son or somebody like that, just to get away from it.
“The annoying thing is they [Isle of Anglesey County Council] are using our (Council Tax payers’) money to maintain this road and we can’t use it.”
“[A helicopter] would be our only legal way of getting in!” says the retired motor vehicle lecturer in engineering. But he admits he couldn’t afford a helicopter.
Mr Wilson speaking to the Daily Post, said: “Anglesey County Council will have to now accept they have to adhere to the Constitution and understand they can’t just ride ‘rough shod’ over their ratepayers.
“The council are using ratepayers’ money to maintain what they claim to be a private road that the ratepayers are not allowed to use.”
Mark Isherwood MS, a Welsh Conservative for the North Wales region, said: “Mr and Mrs Wilson purchased the property in good faith, having obtained a letter from the council’s senior engineer for highways confirming the road was adopted at the time of purchase and their solicitor having confirmed in land searches that this was the case.
“They should not have been placed in this position because of matters entirely beyond their control. The council should have engaged with them from the outset and worked with them so that they were not disadvantaged by any subsequent actions the council chose to take.”
On the plummeting value of their house, Mr Isherwood said: “It’s a shocking state of affairs.”
The Wilsons have previously had to close off access to another lane to the north of the area as a condition of their house purchase.
Rhun ap Iorwerth MS said: “We know that the road the Wilsons wish to use to access their property was formally listed as a
‘It’s no exaggeration to say it’s been five years of hell. It’s a terrible situation to be in’
Gerald Wilson
highway that was adopted and maintained by the council and it’s still not entirely clear to me how that status could simply be annulled, as seems to have happened. But, given the stalemate, I think that a Court of Law is the best place to resolve that central question.
“However, what we need above all is a resolution.
“I understand that the council have made an offer to try and grant the Wilsons access via an alternative route and I welcome any steps that are taken to try and find a solution that satisfies all parties.”
An Isle of Anglesey County Council spokesperson told our sister paper the Daily Post: “The matter is the subject of a legal claim against the County Council and, as such, it would not be appropriate for us to make any further comment.”