I wonder if any of you can help me out with this one ... For those of you who haven't been to Chez Richardson my house is at the top of a hill and has a split level garden. The builders were kind enough to erect really classy two bar fences between all of the properties and foresighted enough to realise that most people would think they were shite and rip them out, so they didn't bother cementing them in or anything. Now that people have been living in the houses on my estate for a year and a half they have got rid of the original fences and, by unspoken agreement, have gone for 6" fences separating off all of the gardens. Except for our next door neighbours who, quite frankly, look like the fucking Clampet family. They've done nothing at all to their bottom garden, which is still piles of earth left by the builders, weeds, random grass and the original fence gently swaying in the breeze. Over the summer, when we had real builders in, doing our decking we asked the neighbours if they would like to go halfers with us putting up a 6" fence between our properties (we've shared the cost with the people on the other side of us and the garden we back on to save any arguments about who owns the fence and who has to pay for it). At the time they said that they were going to get the fence done and said that if we got our builders to do the top garden section then they'd get some builders in this summer to do the bottom section. We'd pay for the top bit and they'd pay for the bottom bit. We agreed to this and got said fence erected. Now the summer is nearly over and they still have the original fence and no sign of anybody popping round to do an estimate. I don't mind that their bottom garden is state, I'm not really a garden person, but recently they have started to complain that Belle (my dog) has been crapping in their garden. The first time they mentioned it I apologised and said I'd try to keep her out, but she's not a great respecter of fences she can get through so she's been back in their garden and they have taken to shouting at us and throwing stones at Belle. We've, politely, suggested that if they would just put up a fence, as they agreed to, then the problem would be resolved and their response was, "Never mind about fences - just keep your dog out of our garden!" I suppose I could just get a fence put up and pay for it, but that would cost 200-300 quid and, to be honest, I have absolutely no problem with Belle shitting on their property. So, what are my options? Obviously a visit from ukrm would be a good idea, but short of threats and violence what can I do? Anyone got any great ideas? -- AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas) Kawasaki ZX-6R J1 BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL) BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, TEAR#3 (and KotL), DS#5, Keeper of the TFSTR# The speccy Geordie twat.
Move back to civilization you norvern pikey. -- cane [at] ukrm.org ¦ fireblade, r30 botafo t#50 f#03 YTC #15 bbb #6 apostle [kotl] New? http://www.ukrm.net/faq/ukrmscbt.html Rideout? http://www.horrible.demon.co.uk/botafof/ "Brace yourselves ladies, I'm coming in dry"
Then we could *all* shit in their garden. -- cane [at] ukrm.org ¦ fireblade, r30 botafo t#50 f#03 YTC #15 bbb #6 apostle [kotl] New? http://www.ukrm.net/faq/ukrmscbt.html Rideout? http://www.horrible.demon.co.uk/botafof/ "Brace yourselves ladies, I'm coming in dry"
Is that estate as in "Landed gentry, benevolent patriarchy over the local serfs, etc" or ESTATE as in "run-down housing development full of identical Barrett's Boxes inhabited by poor people"?
I would check your deeds. I most cases the fence on one side is owned by one party and the fence on the other by the next. i.e. when standing lookign at the front of my house, all the fences on the left (and the back fence of the back garden) are my responsibility. The ones on the right are the next doors responsibility Of course this means I have the longest fence run IF this is the case and the fence in question turns out to be yours, then there is nothing they can do to stop you putting up a fence of your choice within the local regs. This of course does not help with any cost issue. IF it's theres then your only other option is to put up a fence oon your own land inside your boundary which does not encroach or fasten to their fence. This is the reason for being responsible for one side. get some cheap mesh style fence and fasten to the existing to stop Belle wandering through. Remember thought to put some 6-12 inches in the ground if Belle digs, otherwise she may dig under it. Or some fast growing leylandi or some other similar trees, hedge stuff. However that then means you have to trim it. Is space a problem in your garage? Then get a shed and put it down in the corner right up agains the fence? Obviously arguing with a neighbour is not a good idea. I would go with the cheap mesh and then if they complain again say that you've done everythign you can to stop Belle wandering, if they complete the fence as per the agreement then that will solve the problem. Other than that I dont know. If I was them I would be putting the fence up as there are more benefits than just stopping Belle.
having been the owner of a couple of recently built properties, the more recent trend seems to be to opt for shared responsibility for *all* common boundaries. If however, it's shared, then the problem remains. One approach would be, if they're not proposing to alter the fence send them a bill for the half that's already been improved with the justification that they share responsibility - and at the same time, offer to split the costs of improving the fencing to the remainder of the garden. Cheers
A fantastic idea, although out of respect for my neighbours I'd have to ask you not to shit in their garden. Unless there was a queue for the toilets. Or you were caught short. Or you were drunk. Or you thought it would be funny. Or you really wanted to. But _absolutely_ no shitting in their garden at 3am while singing, at the top of your voice, "I'm shitting in your garden, la-la-la-la-la". Unless you thought _that_ would be funny. -- AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas) Kawasaki ZX-6R J1 BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL) BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, TEAR#3 (and KotL), DS#5, Keeper of the TFSTR# The speccy Geordie twat.
Indeed I do and very nice it is to. You should see it on a fine summer evening, when the sky is a illuminated a lovely pink colour by the gently burning XR3i's and the only sounds you can hear are those of some bloke happily giving his missus a good punching, the soothing wail of sirens, the melodious chorus of the North East England formation under-age drinking team and the gentle whisper, "Wanna score some smack?" Smashing it is. -- AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas) Kawasaki ZX-6R J1 BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL) BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, TEAR#3 (and KotL), DS#5, Keeper of the TFSTR# The speccy Geordie twat.
heh, one of my work colleagues has just moved to near you (first house on the main dragway in I think). I did warn him about you and Eddie but he still seemed to want to be there
It's amazing, but even with Eddie and I the estate has managed to be incredibly popular and prices have gone through the roof. I can now officially be one of those people who bores you at parties by telling you how much their house has increased in value. Also we seem to have a large number of bikers, especially in my little bit of the estate. The three houses to back of ours are all owned by bikers (one of whom has 2 Matchless 500s), there's a biker in one of the houses across the road from me and a scooter boy in the other one and my previous neighbour was a biker before he sold his house to the genetic experiments that now live there. -- AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas) Kawasaki ZX-6R J1 BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL) BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, TEAR#3 (and KotL), DS#5, Keeper of the TFSTR# The speccy Geordie twat.
The BCB's answer is the first one I've seen in this thread that rings bells. To that I'd add that I think it will help if you have some empathy with your neighbours. You might equally well have posted about how you had these awful neighbours whose dog kept running straight into your garden and crapping at will. Your neighbours response was to put the blame onto you for not putting a fence up. You do intend to do this, but money is tight and more day to day priorities have to take preference to a "nice to have" like a fence. At the risk of reaching /interstellar/ levels of patronisation I'll also throw my boots in after my hat and say that there are always two sides to every argument and your neighbours probably think you're being unreasonable. Full scale tactical neighbourly war, or a bit of compromise and making the necessary allowances - the choice is yours. Yours, Patrick Ronald Ising-Bastard III
