I am posting this on behalf of some friends who are having a bit of an issue. Any advice anyone has that I could pass on would be welcome.
About 3 years ago a developer built some houses behind theirs. An access road was put in which meant that their septic tank that they shared with a neighbour was removed and their waste redirected in to the new houses waste system. The developer asked permission to do this and it was given verbally. Everything was re-plumbed and has been fine. He has however recently sent them a back dated bill for £300 a year for the use of this new service. There is no contract or terms in place and when agreeing to allow the road (and therefore remove their tank) a fee was never mentioned. In fact they believed they were being helpful in agreeing to have their tank moved for the purposes of the work. They have nothing at all in writing.
The neighbours(who were also redirected) have paid the money 'to avoid an argument', however, my friends have refused arguing a fee was never mentioned, they have nothing in writing, and if they knew it was going to cost them they would have insisted they kept their tank.
The developer sent a letter saying if the fee wasn't paid within a week he would cut off the pipe. Even though they were loathed to do it a letter was sent in reply saying that they would pay for the service from the date that they recieved terms outlining what they were getting.
He responded to this by arriving on site, lifting a manhole cover and going down and smashing the pipe with a hammer. He then stuffed a brick in the end, all in full view of my friends. Is this not simply malicious vandalism? They are now very upset, scared and worried that amongst other things they cannot now use any toilets/sinks/showers without it coming back up the pipe. The police have said there is nothing they can do, as the pipe is on the developers land. They are urgently attempting to see a solicitor.
Surely he cannot leave people without a functioning waste pipe and it should be reinstated immediately and any other issues resolved in court if necessary? This is a route my friends have been willing to go down, but he said he was not willing to go to court and now things have sadly turned quite nasty.
Does anyone have any idea where my friends stand? Many thanks in advance.
Although it appears to be a private waste pipe I would call the local water company.
They will know the ins and outs of the rights re drainage and the developer's obligations.
The developer's actions are allowing waste polluted water to escape onto surrounding land which the local water company may be interested in - they were when a pipe on a site I was working on collapsed resulting in raw sewage getting into a river.
I hope the pipe is a long way from their house and runs downhill. Would the pipe have to be properly blocked and sealed for the waste to back uo to their house? If not I would keep on dumping down the loos (sorry) and let the waste flow onto the developers land and let the water board & council know. If he has now properly sealed it, maybe they could break it a little bit more to let the poos outand blame him. After all why would they want to break their own sewage pipe.
Unfortunately I've been unable to speak to them for the last week. A letter threatening leagal action if the pipe is not reinstated has been sent, but I haven't heard from them since. When I do, I'll update.
It would also be worth contacting you local environmental health office. They would have the wherewithal to take action. Provision of sanitation is a big issue especially if vulnerable people are involved. Other ports of call are the building control and planning departments. Presumable consent was required for the removal of your old sceptic tank with the condition that alternative sewage disposal was provided. I dare say that all these council departments would take a dim view of this developers actions. If you could get them on board you probably would not need to run up your own legal bill.
