Group Captain Smudger

I am having a house built and am being plagued by an interfering neighbour. This woman, middle-aged, persists in being a considerable nuisance - taking photographs of tradesman making deliveries and constantly complaining to the council about petty things (mud on the road, that kind of thing). Although I have full planning permission she has managed to delay the build considerably thereby adding to my costs.

I'll give you an example of her warped mentality. She had several large trees lopped and permission was given to put the cuttings onto my plot thereby saving her money but with the proviso that when the plot was cleared she would contribute to the cost of skip hire. She reneged on her promise and told me that as the cuttings were on my land they belonged to me and I should bear the full cost of clearance. She also told me when planning permission was granted that she had won a battle but lost the war. Obviously she's changed her mind about this as well.

So, without resorting to physical violence, does anyone have any suitable ideas of how I can "get my own back"?

P.S. I've no proof that it's linked to the above but my motor has been "keyed" whilst in the vicinity of the plot.

siwrx

if the cuttings are from her plants dump them over her fence as theyre her property. Its actually legal for u to cut down any plants of hers that overhang your fence as long as u put the cuttings on her side of the fence.

DrEvil

I'd of given her the trees back..

MJW

Build a 5' 11" wall between the properties.

SCOOBY TOWERS

iTrader: (7)

Dig a small hole near the tree roots and pour in a pint of milk.
Fill in the hole and wait.
A few weeks later the tree should be dead , a helping hand should have it toppling into her garden nicely.
No more cuttings to worry about

Bal

Very easy to deal with bad neighbours.
1) Turn up in the scoob for several nights on the trot. Park outside her house and press the accelrator.
2) Phone up every take-away shop in the area and give her address for the deliveries.

If someone keyed my car I'd batter em. But I think my ball bearing gun would be brought out for use.


Bal

astraboy

Did someone say revenge?

Standing by if needed....
astraboy.

markwild

I'd speak to citizens advice, or your solicitor.

Mark

Scoobybits

tell her that since it seems such an unfriendly area you have talked about subletting the property via the council to asyulum seekers...that will make her think twice!!!! bet your mr dream neighbour after that?!??!?!?!?!?

Pavlo

Provided you can still have access, a 5ft 11" wall is probably a good idea.

My experience of such people is they just force themselves to hate you. No matter what you do for them, or however you try to reconcile with them they just want to prolong it. Neighbours next to the factory where the family business is moved in AFTER we did. But once in, they complained about everything they could, even though it was a industrial site. Had to go to court to use the 18" strip of our own land on the far side of the building to do essential repairs. They then erected a wall to prevent repairs being done in the future. And it goes on.

Rule no. 1: Known thy enemy.

Don't compromise at all unless you have to abide by some rules or other, if you compromise on one thing, they will just move onto the next thing they can find. Keep the occupied with something that you know about, so you can keep the situation in hand.
Make sure you comply with everything withing the planning permission etc, make sure you are squeaky clean.
Try and find out exactly what their complaints are, so you can make sure you are within the law etc.

You might be able to talk them round, make them realise that you're an okay bloke doing some honest work etc etc. But more often than not, they don't want to know, they just want to complain.

paul

LG John

<reaches into the depths of scoobynet for astraboy.....the master of the revenge dark side>

Let em have it astra

Shaolin

If she has a "nice" driveway, arrange for a lorry load of horse crap to be delivered..........

lpski1

LMAO @ astraboy.

John Catlin

Bonfires, providing wind in her direction.

Nice smelley kipper bones, garden waste, kitchen waste etc.

DO NOT LET IT HAVE FLAMES.

Must be a smoldering mass !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They will find they have very little legal redress.

Hope this helps.

All the best

John Catlin

scooby-new

start photoing and videoing her as she goes about her business........she won't like it. Maybe follow her around a bit photoing her..nothing heavy you understand and certainly not enough to be accused of stalking..just repay her in her own coin.

Mungo

siwrx is right - you are entitled to lop any overhang of a neighbours tree growth, but they still own it, so you can chuck it back over the fence at her (not literally, unless things have got that bad

banshi

Hate to say this Smudge but it look set to become a classic Neighbours at War scenario.

The comments regarding the tree are correct, but why make an issue over the skip? Another £50 is neither here or there in the context of the project cost.

My approach would be to invite the neighbours for a quiet drink. Tell them you can understand their dissapointment regarding the granting of planning permission. But nothing will change the fact that you will be living beside them for some time to come.

Explain that you are a reasonable person who has always got along well with/helped & assisted his neighbours and would like to see a similar situation develop in your new location.

Indicate you can be equally beligerent but suggest having got off on the wrong foot it would be sensible to now bury the hatched. As you feel the only other alternative will lead to personal animosity and strife preventing either of you enjoying your homes and leisure time.

If that fails, accept you're looking at years of recrimination and just make sure they don't get the better of you

Katana

Suicide bomb the *******. Murder suicide is always the answer..

SJ_Skyline

One word - Napalm

Scot123

Ok. Wait till you know they are going on holiday for a week or two.

Take one pound of mince, a large turd ( a real one, not a fake mucky dog poo) and a box of maggots from your local fishing shop. Mix the ingredients together and wrap in newspaper. Deliver gleefully through said neighbours letterbox.

Let nature take its course.

met

i thought it was just me!
i live in a small block of flats of only 4 flats,her front foor is directly opposite mine has twice written to the management company who in turn have written to me stating that my neighbours have been complaining that i leave my trainers on my door mat, i used the wrong wheelie bin, i dented my garage door, i leave helemts outside my front door,(yeah right like i'd leave £400 worth of arai outside) & i leave bottles outside too, (left a milk bottle to take down in the morning). i called the management co to tell em to f**k off, & they said please dont have a go at us we think she is a stupid bitch & we all call her miss piggy, fat ****.

the way the garages are aranged her bedroom is above my garage, where i regularly start my R1 with Yoshi system & let it warm up at about 6.30 every morning also when i back my WRX with full decat in the sound of it reverbarating of the back wall in the garage must really loosen her false teeth!
you cant do much with these sort of freaks other than try to stay calm. i am concerned that she'll scratch the car if i leave it out, so far so good though.

TAZMAN

distraction.....apply for something so outrages as an ammendment to the plans...somehting she can really get worked up about and will consume all her time worrying, plotting and scheming..meanwhile you don't give a toss and can focus on the things you need to....

other then that I think the Iraqi,Taliban and Syrian refuge shelter sign on the front lawn should help!!

Failing all that...freak them out..every time they walk down the drive walk down staring at them...every time they pull up...step outside and stare...but always smiling!!!

camk

My advice would be try and resolve it amicably, talking is the best way rather than via letters. There is nothing worse than coming home every day wondering what **** they have been up to or what letter is about to drop through your door. Revenge will fix it in your head for about a week, then you'll be walking on eggshells from then on, from experience I tried nice then nasty approach before and to be honest once you got nasty there is no turning back and your stuck with a bad neighbour.
I've a few problems here but just try to block it out as its not worth the hassle and stress of coming home every day and you see them or their motor and thats enough to wind you up. If you take the high ground and keep it then you'll suffer less stress than her.

Best of Luck
Cammy

astraboy

So I'm not needed then????
astraboy.

DanTheMan

Quite an appropriate quote from Gooser in the biker forum:

Yex

Go to your local citizens advise centre and see if they can be any help. As you have been granted planning permission, and you want to live in the area, you should have as many rights as the woman concerned. When planning permission for a house is granted the council accept that there will be some disturbance, noise, mess etc within the vicinity of the plot and that perhaps some of the locals may complain during the project. If you have spoken to any other neighbours and explained to them what is happenning, they should have been informed of the grant of planning permission, then the only issue is the woman next door. You do have a right to finish your house and if you and your contractors do not breach any building regulations you should not be subject to harrassment from a neighbour.

I would consider having a letter drawn up by a solicitor and delivered to her explaning the rights you have and see what happens. Many of this type of person have never received a legal letter before and it usually scares the crap out of them. They rely on making your life a misery for something to do, as soon as a legal option appears with you as the instigator it makes them rethink what the consequances are if they are in the wrong - something they usually haven't considered.

**** me I'm getting sensible in my old age....

Yex

StiShrek

Doesnt sound the type of person you can reason with.

So start the offensive yourself. JaseMac has the best idea and tell her you are going to sub-let it to DSS, single parent mums or asylum seekers.

Fek her.

[Edited by StiShrek - 1/23/2003 5:47:14 PM]

Luke

Do what ever it takes to get on with them.. Its the easy way.

ukhuskynox

Am currently get my house extended, woman next door has done nothing but complain, she even objected to the planning stuff.

I have been nice and smiley to her and ignored it all, then found out she was getting "my" builders to do jobs for her and was putting her rubbish in my skip, so we had a few words and asked what her problem was...it was all very polite and quiet and she is now ok with it...so just be cool smile and wave at her when you see her, trust me you will win in the end!!

And don't forget to by the builders some kind of portable radio, having Radio 1 blarring at her all day might calm her down

robby

Why not burn the branches right next to your / her boundry when she hangs her washing out, if she complains about the flames then pee on it in front of her creating lots of smoke :-))