Campaigners Fight To End 'Ransom Strip' Rip Off

Lib Dem campaigner Peter Carroll has launched a campaign to end the scandal of exploitation taking place in areas of Romney Marsh.

Many hundreds of Marsh residents live on unadopted roads. Many of these roads are in a dire state of disrepair. Worse still, some residents are finding that local developers have bought the grass verges alongside the roads and are insisting that people pay to get access to their property. In effect, the verges are being used to hold Marsh residents to ransom.

Peter Carroll said, "Local people have told me that living with the problems of living with un-adopted roads is bad enough. To be held to ransom is outrageous. I am being told of situations where people selling their homes have been approached by the developer owning the verge outside their house insisting that they tell the new purchaser that they will have to pay £2,000 for the right to gain access to the property!"

Research indicates that this practice may be legal. Peter Carroll is asking all affected residents to sign up to a petition. The petition will call for Kent County Council to use powers of Compulsory purchase to buy these verges and grant people freedom of access.

The petition is part of a wider campaign to tackle the problem of unadopted roads on Romney Marsh. The campaign has two main aims:

1.To end the 'Ransom Strip' situation immediately by the use of Compulsory Purchase orders.

2. To get KCC to devise a way of taking control of unadopted roads on the Marsh.

Peter Carroll said, "In the past, KCC has said that it can only adopt roads that are in good condition. I believe that the Marsh is a special case. I will be asking KCC to consider introducing a special category of road which may not be up to the normal specification, but be significantly better than the lunar landscapes that people are having to cope with now." Please contact your local Lib Dems if you would like to know more about our campaign.