Highway status and road adoption

Road or Highway adoption

Adopted roads are roads that the Council is responsible for. They're maintained and repaired by us using public funds.

If a road is not adopted, it's classed as a "private road", which is not maintained at public expense and is the responsibility of the developer or landowner. We are under no obligation to clean or carry out repairs on a private road, even if it is a public right of way.

New roads which are constructed to meet our guidelines are normally adopted as part of a legal agreement between us and the developer. This is done under Section 38 of the Highways Act 1980. Some new roads are not adopted, if the developer chooses not to apply for a Section 38 agreement. These new roads will remain as private streets.

Public notices of recent Highway Adoption orders

We can only adopt an existing road if the road is brought up to our road standards by the current owners and if there is a proven need for the road to be used by the wider public (ie: the road is used to get to somewhere that is not a residential property on that street). Newly adopted roads usually need to be paved and have kerbs, footways, surface water sewers, gullies and lighting. Having a road adopted is a long process that can cost a lot of money depending on the work which needs to be done to bring the road up to standards.

For further information about road adoption, please contact us.

Stopping up

Stopping up is the legal term for closing a public street and making it a private one. Orders are usually made to allow development to take place or because the public highway is no longer necessary.

Public highway can include roads, streets, footpaths, public car parks, grass verges and footways. Not all roads, streets or footpaths are public highways.

The term 'stopping up' means that once such an order is made, the highway land ceases to be a highway, road or footpath, which means that the highway rights are extinguished in law.

If an order is successfully made on the public highway, then the land is free of any Highway Authority control. We are then under no obligation to clean or carry out repairs.

Public notices of recent Stopping up orders