Advice please - what happens if I report?

[HanSolo]

Hello. I'm looking for some advice about a neighbour's outbuilding.
The neighbour has built an outbuilding (which is their right of course) but have also connected a soil pipe from the outbuilding all the way down the garden to then join the sewerage system on a shared passageway. The trench that carries the soil pipe and water supply and electricity are about 10-20 deep underground. Some of this is on my land (the shared passageway bit) but most of it is on their own.

Is this worth reporting to the council enforcement people?
If I did, what would do likely do?
Will they get planning permission anyway?
Final question - I think they connected the soil pipe into the surface water system - what should I do/if anything about that?
Cheers
Han

 

[bernardgreen]

I think they connected the soil pipe into the surface water system - what should I do/if anything about that?

Make your concerns known to your local water company. They should then investigate what has happened as the junction point will be on a shared sewer. The water company is responsible for the maintenance of shared sewers.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Final question - I think they connected the soil pipe into the surface water system - what should I do/if anything about that?

In areas where there are separate drainage systems for soil waste and surface water, someone can be fined for using the wrong one for the wrong purpose, it is quite a serious offence. Contact your water company and let them know, ask them to treat your contact as a confidential tip off, they will be able to say something like - they have noticed the contamination and traced it back to him. The will be sent a letter, giving them a limited amount of time to rectify it, if they fail or refuse, then they can be taken to court.

 

[jeds]

Friend of mine told me a while back that Wessex Water knocked on his neighbours door as they were investigating foul water getting into a local stream. The neighbour had altered his kitchen a few years before and the builders put the sink waste into the surface water system. They gave him an official notice - 30 days to put it right or Wessex would do it and he would be charged.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Friend of mine told me a while back that Wessex Water knocked on his neighbours door as they were investigating foul water getting into a local stream. The neighbour had altered his kitchen a few years before and the builders put the sink waste into the surface water system. They gave him an official notice - 30 days to put it right or Wessex would do it and he would be charged.

Yep, it is treated as a very serious matter and rightly so.

 

[mattylad]

I was going to ask why - then I googled it.

Connecting your home to the right drains

Drains are underground pipes that take water away from houses and buildings. Most homes have separate drains for rainwater and wastewater. The owner is responsible for checking their property has the right drain connections. If your property has the wrong drain connections, you could be causing...

www.nidirect.gov.uk

 

[^woody^]

None of those are planning issues, and if you complain to the wrong person at the council nothing gets done - well sometimes if you complain to the right person nothing gets done, but that's another thing.

Building control or environmental protection are the departments that deal with drainage, and your water authority.

It's also a private trespass matter if they have worked on you land without permission and laid services across it without a wayleave.