NEIGHBOURS FROM HELL - DO YOU HAVE SOME?

Thought Id start a thread on problematic neighbours (sorry if its been done already).

Here's my situation:

We used to be friendly with our neighbour on our left hand side. It all started when I moved a caravan on to our block, which was to be located next to our, council approved, transportable cabin. The cabin is located at the rear of our 1150sqm block and the plan was to build a larger house in front of the cabin and use the cabin as a granny flat/studio.
The caravan being a temporary place for friends to sleep in, (and store some items in as well) as our cabin is quite small for the 3 of us (Missus, myself and our 10yr old boy).

When reversing the caravan next to the cabin, my NFH started yelling at me that I cant park it there and that Ive got the entire block to use then why don't I park it further in front.
My initial reaction was that I don't need to justify what I intend and my response was "I will park MY caravan wherever I want to on MY block". Which I feel is fair enough, especially when I'm paying the mortgage and rates etc... but because I stood up for myself, against her, this started the hatred between us!! The funny thing is that she really believes that she is in the right here and she had every right to tell me what to do!!?

The most ironic part is that this pot smoking, 50yr old hag has about 5 caravans parked on her block which she lives in.
She has an unfinished structure (bricks for garage and footings) which has been the situation for her for around 10 or so years now. It isn't liveable and somehow she gets away with calling it a construction site. Nothing is being constructed except a couple of dozen doobies every day!!
Her dwellings are not council approved and by law, she shouldn't really be there or be allowed to get away with it.

So now, around 1.5 years after we moved in to the cabin, she still remains in her trailer park (we call it "8 mile"), blares music every day (mainly eminem), the smell of weed wofts over to our house all the time, the fowl language and arguments with other dreggy people visiting or over the phone are heard almost daily.
She has an old bus and about 6 car wrecks parked in her front yard and a dog that never shuts up. She was born in NZ but flies an aboriginal flag and also a gay pride rainbow flag!!

Ive spoken to the local council many times but they say they can only issue her with notices to comply and they cant actually force her out?? I'm at my wits end and what really sucks is that I have to spend hundreds of thousands of $$ to build my dwellings to council standard, and this total waist of space next door gets away with doing what she is doing, and devalues my property in the meantime.

That's my vent on my NFH. Any one else got a story to tell??

Oh dear!!! Does not sound great at all
Sounds like something for A Current Affair to investigate for you!

No way I would be going ahead with the build. I'd cut my losses & get the hell out while I still could.
But seriously, didn't the wrecked-car landscaping, caravans, smell of choof & a continuous parade of nefarious visitors set off any alarm bells before you bought????

As soon as I read the word 'caravan ' on line three, I just had to roll my eyes and say "oh here we go".

I agree with Home Perfectionist. Time to call in the news!

When we first purchased the block back in '06 it wasn't this bad. She used to be freindly and we didnt notice the choof untill we moved into the cabin.
We love the area we are building in, its beautiful and we have a lot of good friends very close by.

We don't want her to win this battle and drive us out. It should be the other way around as she is the one who is breaking the law and disrespecting all of us who live around her.

I will keep pursuing this with council but they really are useless in this sort of situation.

There's so many reasons for her not being there. Apart from what I mentioned before. She has no proper toilet system. Basically she does all her business in a hole in the ground, adds lime etc... The grey water is dispersed into the ground and around her garden. It isnt treated beforehand. This all seeps onto my block as I am down hill from her. She has no drainage so every time we have a decent rain, the water is collected on her block and dispersed to mine. (Ive put measures in place to send the water away from my block). She doesn't have a proper meter box, just a builders pole with exposed electrical wires and extension leads everywhere. The dividing fence (built by her) is a patch job of wire, star pickets, old shed doors, pallets, bamboo poles and shade cloth (so ugly). We planted a row of shrubs to hide this a while ago now which has grown to hide most of this.

I served her with a boundary notice last week. Of course no response. Im going to get the boundary surveyed which I will also need to determine the side setback for our build and then I will serve her with a fencing notice.
I know she wont play ball with this so I will have to pursue it with the local court so as to get half the fencing costs out of her.

Good times!!

I feel for you. I couldn't do it. If your neighbour is the mum from 8 mile, I'd hate to see who "Rabbit" might be (or the loser boyfriend). Good luck - I don't think its gonna be pretty.

lol.. funny thing is she has like 4 kids and there all in UNI and doing well for themselves.
I guess they dont want to end up like her..

I know this might seem a little strange, but have you thought about having a yarn with your neighbour and seeing if you can work through the underlying angst? Ultimately it seems a little strange for a woman in her 50's to be living in a ramshackle building site pulling cones all day, which would lead one to conclude that things probably haven't worked out for her (in life).

So with this in mind, maybe it's worthwhile being the 'bigger person' and offering your neighbour an olive branch. She obviously had a reason for not wanting you to park your van where you did, however this doesn't mean you shouldn't be entitled to park it where you wish. But I think it's important to acknowledge her concerns.

I guess what I'm getting at is, rather than blogging about how crazy the woman next door is, you should put your efforts into making the relationship across the boundary fence a little less hostile. Take her over a box of wine and tell her you'd like to start fresh!

JCW87 - I have tried several times to talk to her but she tells me to go to hell every time.
I have also spoken to friends of hers and asked them to let her know that we are willing and need to sort this out but nothing comes of it.
Also, one night, a couple of months ago, we were having a BBQ and as usual, anytime we have company she blares the music. So a couple of my missus friends went over there with a bottle of wine and asked her to come join us and she told them that she doesn't drink and to get the "F" off her land.

My rear neighbour is a Scottish plumber and a top bloke. She went away for a few days around 2 weeks ago and her dog wouldnt stop barking all night, every night. It drove us all mad.
He then went and approached about the dog a few days after she returned and she told him to go to hell too.

You can see what we are dealing with here. She has to go.

Thanks for sharing your story. I must admit, it's not bad for a laugh and you've painted the picture very well.

I guess in response to your problem, my first thoughts are as follows;

- You mentioned that you're property is 1150sqm and i'm assuming that her property is exactly the same? (together a combined total of 2300sqm)

- You also mentioned that your property (and majority of hers) are virtually vacant aside from a few caravans, a granny flat and a half finished dwelling?

If you love the area although hate the neighbour, is it an option for you to either attempt purchasing the land from her or potentially teaming up with a JV and getting them to approach her about purchasing the land?

It sounds to me like you have a fair amount of potential to develop both sites (without knowing what locality or council you belong to) and turning a bad situation into a fantastic result? You've certainly described her like the type of person that might jump at some $$

Food for thought

Thanks for the input Michael. I'm not really in the position to purchase the land financially as I'm about to start building our main dwelling on our own block. (Just handed over the plan prep deposit last week.)

From what I do know of her, she wouldn't sell. We live in a small area and from what I have been told by people that have been around here for a while, she pretty much "gold dug" the land she is on from a dying man. She contested his will against his own family and won.
Before this, she was living in a bus in a local camping ground.

Some would feel sorry for her but I don't. Its all self induced and if she wanted a better life then she would pack up the bong, get off her lazy butt and make it happen.
In the meantime, she should go and pay rent like the rest of us had to, or still are, at one stage in our lives.

I agree, Sirocco. The fact that she does 'her business in the ground' that seaps into a nearby area is absolutely disgusting. And the council won't do anything, despite the obvious disregard of council conditions, requirements, health and safety, etc? I'd be sending letters/going to council meetings, etc to make them understand the situation. Unfortunately that would mean a lot of effort to make yourself heard, and when you're about to build, your mind should be on that instead! Not the crazy 8Mile lady next door!

And yep, I have no sympathy for those who are in a self-induced situation. I am all for helping the fellow man, but when the man is the b1tch next door who refuses to abide to the same laws and conditions the rest of us do, it's not something I would put my hand up to do.

I work at a tax office and it makes me angry when clients whinge about their 'terrible' situations where they didn't do a tax return or pay tax for 5-10 years and now have a huge bill to pay. I have no sympathy and when they complain, I feel like saying "You did this to yourself. I pay my taxes, so why are you so much better than me that you don't think you had to as well?"

ARGH. End rant. Hope it gets better soon Sirocco, and I'd be stamping my feet down at the shire. Nothing she is doing sounds legal. Loud music, unlicensed dwellings, the pot, no toilet, etc...

What an awful situation to be in - I would be writing to the local paper and shaming the council in my letter. Its a disgrace that she is allowed to continue living like that and even worse that her situation is directly affecting you.

I wonder how your local counciller would like living next door to that??

auds - I have thought about 'going public' with it, will see how it pans out over the next few months.
NFH has actually been away for around 5 days now and she has taken her dog too. Its been so quiet and peace-full. Hope she never comes back

that would be good! Have you got any other neighbours nearby who feel the same way and can maybe back you up?

Pretty much everyone that is around here but only a few of us are prepared to do anything. The others dont want to get involved.

she came home this afternoon too

We owned a house for 5 years in a beautiful area in nsw.

Our next door neighbour lived on a large property on his own, with his 2 dogs.

the lady next door to him continually called the rangers on his dogs and they kept giving him warnings and fines until he sodl up and moved on.

then she started on us, complaining to the council about our dogs. me and my wife work so the dogs are in the backyard at home while we are at work.

she then started sending letters to everyone in the street asking them to call up and complain.

the ranger called me and told me about the complaint and said the dogs barked when he approached my house and stopped.

even tho he said that we kept getting fines and letters. we got so sick and tired of it we sold our HOME and left.

Moral of the story is.... if you are unhappy with your neighbours, it is going to make you very unhappy. do u want to live an unhappy life?

I didnt.

I am about to buy a 300 acre property, so I dont have to bother worrying about NFH anymore.

Good luck

Call the cops on her about the drug habit and tell them you think she is dealing. Call the RSPCA on the barking dog, tell them you dont believe its being looked after, they will come and investigate. Give the health department a call re the lack of sewerage and the fact it seeps into your yard and while your at it call in the council on her wrecking yard. You might also want to add in the Salvation Army as they may come and help her out as well.

If all else fails, find some unsavoury people to go and knock on her door for a polite discussion about her habits

I feel sorry for you i really do. We currently live in a town house and whilst the strata is great, they are very nosey which gets me offside. We have a 14 month old Labrador who loves to have a swim in her kiddies pool, one of those half shell things. I was storing it on our pergola out the back until i received a letter from strata saying it had to be removed as there was a risk of someone being injured and sueing strata.... as if i would sue the strata fund for damages caused by MY pool blowing off MY pergola.... people just cant keep their nose out of other peoples business anymore

My situation is nowhere near as bad as yours hence the reason i feel sorry for you

I understand where you are coming from but I do not want to give up on what we want to achieve here.
Id rather fight fire with fire and try and drive HER out actually. I have more of a right to be here than she does because at the end of the day, I am living in council approved conditions, Im not breaking any laws nor am I trying to pi$$ anyone off around by being deliberately loud and arrogant.

300acres would be nice though





lol. the problem is the unsavoury people are probably her associates