Furore as council attempts to reclaim 34 back yards

David Campbell

Updated 28 Apr 2026, 11:01am

First published 28 Apr 2026, 10:48am

The council is trying to reclaim the yards of 34 homes. Picture: Google

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A war has erupted between a local council and homeowners after the council tried to take possession of their back yards, claiming it had been public land all along.

Locals have been given the option to buy their yards back from the council, rent them, or have authorities seize the land and erect fencing through the middle of their outdoor spaces.

The unfolding drama has stirred immense community debate in the quiet street of the UK’s Doncaster Grove, Long Eaton, Derbyshire, where 34 homes are facing the prospect of losing half their yards.

Erewash Borough Council claims every single one of the 34 homes have extensive back yard space trespassing on public property which backs onto a nature reserve.

The council bought the land in 1995 from neighbouring Broxtowe Borough Council, with residents at the time offered a rental fee for continued use of the land.

It appears, however, those rental agreements and any knowledge of the council ownership were passed onto future residents who bought properties in the street.

Many homeowners have spent substantial amounts of money to upgrade yards they fear could now be bulldozed.

Homeowners in this street were shocked when the local council told them they didn’t own their back yards. Picture: Google

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They say they were blindsided when council staff showed up their doors to notify them of the trespassing and give them options to rectify things.

David Woodhouse bought his home in the street in 2009 and told The Sun the council was just being “spiteful”.

“We didn’t know about this when we bought the house and I believed it was my land,” Mr Woodhouse said.

“The deeds are tiny and not to scale but because you pay solicitors to do searches and land searches, nothing came up on our end. Now they want me to pay £140 (AUD $263) sqm initially. My land is about 100 sqm, so about £14,000 (AUD $26,000).

“It’s the council’s fault and the solicitors but as it’s flood land they couldn’t even do anything with it.

“There’s a disused sewer that runs through this land. You can’t build on it, it’s flood land. By taking it off of us, it’s just spiteful.”

Local councillor Jodie Brown is helping residents fight their concerns. Picture: Facebook

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Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said the council had even suggested savvy neighbours could snap up neighbouring patches to extend their yards further.

“I didn’t realise I didn’t own this garden until the council came knocking on the door saying they want to look at my garden,” she said.

“I’ve lived here since 2019. It wasn’t picked up on the solicitors’ searches. When you look around a house you assume you’re buying all of it.

“The way they’ve treated us, it’s like we’re criminals. There was a suggestion we could buy pieces of land from our neighbours, which would create anarchy.”

Local councillor Jodie Brown backed residents’ concerns.

“I’m trying to get some justification on the price and why they even want the land back,” she said.

“It has no use or purpose for them. It seems like a chance to gain some cash back.

“They’ve just treated these residents disgustingly, they haven’t communicated nearly as well as they should.”

An Erewash Borough Council spokesman said the council had a responsibility to manage public assets correctly and flexible options had been offered to residents to resolve the issue.