"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...


"Janet" wrote rg...

, Paul. says...

Hi, I wonder if any one can offer guidance on a problem that I have with
a neighbour. A number of years ago we bought our house of a lady who
moved into the cottage next door. What we hadn't appreciated was that
she would (in our opinion) struggle to watch someone else do things
differently in her former property. We have a shared boundary and in the
past few years have experienced any number of issues with her apparent
disregard for that boundary.
On one part of the boundary fence we have a very well established
ceanothus which does not extend over fence into her garden but has grown
to about 18ins above the height of the fence. It also extends about 3 or
4 feet back into our garden. A couple of days ago I discovered that our
neighbour had used a power tool with a long handled extension to lean
over into our garden and cut away the shrub so that no part of it is
above the line of the fence. When I challenged her about it she said it
had been annoying her, when I pointed out that she had no right to do
that and would she please stop interfering with us and our garden she
simply said " what are you going to do about it" and "get a life".
Bearing in mind that this lady has a laurel hedge on the same boundary
fence that is at least 3 feet above the fence line and we have
absolutely no issue with it, we are struggling to understand why she
feels the need to do these things, but more importantly we just want her
to stop. It is only a hedge, and we don't want to " lose the plot" but
this is just one of a series of incidents and is beginning to get us
down. We have no interest in " tit for tat" activities but we do need to
do something to make this stop.
Any thoughts would be much appreciated.
Paul

If she moved/downsized because she's elderly/impoverished/widowed it
would be worth considering if age-related dementia/mental deterioration is
in play? Longer-term neighbours may be able to shed some light on that.

........................................

That was my first thought too, deterioration takes place so slowly
sometimes and in so many different ways it's only when it becomes obvious,
perhaps years later, that you realise how long ago it actually started.
Ask other neighbours if they have noticed any changes in her and try to
get them on your side.
Of course she may be just a cantankerous old bitch in which case you may
need to resort to legal advise. The local Citizens Advise Bureau may be
able to help.
What ever you do do not react to her or any legal recourse will be lost.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK



""The local Citizens Advise Bureau may be able to help."

and do what?

This person is trespassing, all be it in the air, on the OP's land and
damaging their property, just as two of my neighbours were 'damaging' my
property. In my case, had all 28 neighbours been ""IN MY EYES" doing
something wrong, then "I" would have been at fault, but with only two, I
flung the book at them.

The OP needs to do the same.

NO messing, no phaffing around.

Mike

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Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive
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