Planning permission - how??? Neighbour from hell

[minder]

I would agree with fazer and live and let live! This old lady has probably been in her place many years before the surrounding flats/houses whatever became privately bought and owned.

Southwark Council have not maintained their living properties for the past 20 odd years, let alone gardens, so this elderly lady is probably thinking she is being helpful. She probably doesn't even know there is a scheme (?) to help with her garden. Is it free or would she have had to pay?

[the-e-dealer]

I think the abuse might have arisen from the tone setting title of the post Neighbour From Hell. Maybe it was meant to be humorous?

[Ladygooner]

Just a thought - have you tried talking to the Lady and having a discussion with her about this?

[Mabel2001]

Yep, she slammed the door in our faces. She also lied outright to our landlady and also the workmen, telling them she had permission to carry out the paving.

[katerpiller]

I'd say maybe the easiest thing to do is build or purchase some raised beds or planters. Saves ripping up any slabs and will also look great. The added is you can take them with you when you leave! You can even make the concrete box into a planter too,just knock together a frame to fit on top of it and line it with a bag. If you spend a bit of time on it, it will look beautiful.

[Huguenot]

That's an excellent idea!

We had 3 huge stainless steel planters made for us when we were in Crawthew Grove.

[Amelie]

I think you should write again to Annie Sheppard explaining that although you understand the Council has taken a view given your neighbour's age what should have happened is that someone from the Council should have come and inspected the work, spoken to you in person and to your neighbour, and then made a decision. This would have been both the professional, statutorily required and polite thing to do.

As it is your neighbour has breached the planning laws, her tenancy agreement and your right to quiet enjoyment as well as devalued your landlady's property.

You need to make clear to Annie S that if the Council does not come and remove the illegally installed paving from their land within seven days you will instruct a solicitor to issue proceedings for breach of statutory duty, and you will also notify the Local Government Ombudsman of a complaint of maladministration by the Council.

[fazer71]

Amelie

That should keep a few people busy for a few months.

Especially the solicitor instructed to issue proceedings. It'll probably end up going that way as there's not a lot wrong with what?s been done just visually not very appealing to "some...."

Nothing like getting it all official though and just think of all the fun time and money that?ll go into it wonderful if only some would come my way.

Might work ....

[katerpiller]

GTime and Money better invested in planters

[computedshorty]

Have you thought of bying a few Pots that could be put on those moveable castorwheeled stands?

They would not make a permanant obstruction, they could at least be moved about, removal and disposal of the slabs would cost far more.

There might even be a sympathetic member here who might bring some soil to you and fill the pots.

Your aged neighbour may not be a neighbour for very much longer, it might be reasuring for her to try to be amiable towards her. I know that many aged people are suffering a great deal of pain but do not like to show it, so they keep away from others, and they worry if they cant get about.

[Mabel2001]

Just returned from holiday to find that this elderly council neighbour has now brutally razed the back hedge that separates our properties, chopping it down to give us a fabulous view of her backyard. She did not notify us, and neither did the council if they in fact did the work. We had been successfully trimming the hedge from our side and on top, and it in no way needed this treatment.

Once again, she has behaved as if we do not live at the property, and has acted with complete disregard for anything that might affect us.

Advice, please...

[Huguenot]

If she won't cooperate then your only resort is the law - was the hedge hers to cut down?

If so, then you'll simply have to put up your own fence.

If not then you can sue her for reparations.

[Borderlands]

Just seen all the postings on your situation and this latest takes the biscuit - given the history this sounds entirely spiteful and unwarranted. Did you have any photos of the hedge before she destroyed it?

If the hedge is/was growing on your side of the boundary then I think technically she/her contractors has committed trespass and the razing could also possibly an offence. Email your councillors straightaway to find out what they would recommend to stop what is in effect harassment from your neighbour...you could write to Southwark's legal department.

May be what's needed is another clear delineation marked on the ground, and she should agree to leave alone: what she is doing is becoming weird and unhealthy.

I've heard, of course, of neighbours cutting down vegetation intruding into their gardens: and the cuttings belong to the garden the plants grew from so this should be given back to the "owner". Sometimes the desire to prune is understandable. But we had a dreadful experience years back, when we had been away and came home to find half the width of our hedgehad been cut down without permission and entirely secretly, and we asked the neighbour if he knew anything about it? He was very cagey and then said he had arranged it and we pointed out he had never once complained about it to us. And then at the rear of the house we found he must have climbed into our garden to cut down whatever he didn't like. When we asked him about this too, he glibly claimed it was his mother (!) and he had told she probably shouldn't have....we suggested if this happened again we would consider a legal remedy. The whole thing was a horrible experience - and we simply replanted wherever he/his mother had damaged our garden. And not long after he departed the property.

By the way this time of year is a fantastic time for replanting hedges. Just pop along to Marsden Road Wildlife Garden and see what they have.

[Mabel2001]

Thanks Borderlands and Hugenot for your replies.

She is a council tenant and the hedge separates our properties. If the council cut the hedge down on her behest, surely they would have to notify us? If she had it cut down privately, she surely would have had to notify the council?

It's really drastic - the hedge has been razed in half. Will try to post some photos.

[The Minkey]

I would be extremely upset if I were to come home to find the hedge seperating my garden from nextdoor's had been ripped up without consulting me, particularly if nothing had been put up to restore a boundary of some kind. Her behaviour may be due to her age - a lot of people go for more low-maintenance options as they get older and realise they can no longer manage to cut hedges etc or afford to pay for them to be done - then again perhaps she's always been an obnoxious kind of person. I don't know what your best course of action is. Certainly inform your landlord and see if they will pursue the issue with her, after all it may well affect the future rentability of their property given the garden is no longer private. Feel for you.

[fazer71]

Mabel2001

Is it your hedge?

FYI If it's a hedge it doesn't need permission to be trimmed or cut down.

Only trees which have more than a certain dimension at 2m need permission.

[Mabel2001]

It's a hedge made of a mixture of shrubs and trees that are over 3 meters tall that it is growing on our property (on our side of a low trellis fence), that separates our properties. Now we are exposed and can look straight into her backyard and the backyard next to hers.

She is a council tenant, we are private tenants.

We had been trimming it from our side, and on top as well but there would have been some overhang on her side.

She's been friends with our neighbours on the other side for years, who we told we are going away, so I imagine she planned cutting it down for when we weren't there so we couldn't object.

[fazer71]

As it is your hedge then it would be considered criminal damage.

See here for similar experience and options.

http://www.gardenlaw.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=13765

Just noted you're a tenant, might be a job for your landlord.

[Mabel2001]

Just talked to our neighbours on the other side, who say that not only has the council tenant illegally paved over the front of the house, she also paved over the back garden without getting permission before we came... So that's 3 incidences of her doing whatever she pleases to the property.

[fazer71]

Sounds like you need to pay for some legal advice or move.

[EJTH]

If you can, I would move. Awful decision to reach but your peace of mind and enjoyment of your property must come first. If she is doing these things to reduce maintenance she may be feeling her age and worried that she herself might be moved on if she can no longer look after the property. I wonder what inside her place looks like.

In my experience,many elderly folk get very defensive and proud about their spaces and don't like admitting they need help or cannot cope. She may just be terrified that someone will investigate more fully and that she ends up in a retirement/care home.

Are you aware of any family or friends who visit her you could maybe have a chat to?

[Westnorwoodboy]

Dreadful, it is every persons nightmare to live next to a troublesome neighbour of any age. As stated above, the best thing to do for your own sanity is to move to a new location which I know does not sound fair.

[Mabel2001]

Thanks everyone for your sympathy and replies. We have considered moving but are a young couple who simply can't take the time right now with our jobs. We've contacted the council (no reply yet), and our landlords, who will also take it up with the council.

It's a real shame what she's done to the house: as the next person lucky enough to live there as a council tenant will have no garden whatsoever. The hedge/trees are within our control though, as they are on our landlord's property and we will try to bring it home to her that she must consult us on anything that affects our property. As before, we have always been pleasant to her and are great friends with other neighbours on our street: she had every opportunity to let us know if the upkeep of the hedge was concerning her on her side (in thr past, we had weeded her front garden many times before she concreted it over).

It's especially disappointing as she is virtually a shut-in who rarely leaves the house (our neighbours shop for her), so she doesn't use her garden. It's like she hates nature!

[Pierre]

Yes, I know I'm stirring, but:

She's essentially given you a big new blank canvas in your front garden. Concrete and slabs make a great surface for spraycan art, and it's a perfect opportunity to experiment... ;)