Naughty neighbour...

[char3479]

Morning all,

I need some ideas/ advice please.
I keep my ponies in a rented field. Along one side I share a boundary with some houses.
One of the residents feels it's acceptable to dump his garden waste over the fence into my field.
He kindly dumped his grass cuttings a while ago. I spent quite some time clearing up the mess. I never see him and so I put a polite letter through his door explaining that I am very careful about what my ponies eat, and in fact grass cuttings can kill them because they harbour botulism, and to please not do it in future.
I know he got the letter because the wife of the chap apologised and said she'd told him not to do it, but he thought the ponies might like to eat the grass cuttings.
Recently, he dug up his back lawn to put paving slabs down and dumped the grass and soil over the fence. He flattened it out, presumably so I wouldn't spot it, which I did, the next day.
I am incensed that he thinks it's acceptable to do such a thing. I penned a very cross but polite letter although haven't delivered it yet as I've been trying to catch him in person.
I did begin shovelling it back over yesterday, but there's quite a lot of it and I didn't get very far.

Opinions (dare I ask!) or advice please...
Thanks

 

[pansymouse]

You could report him to the Council for fly tipping.

 

[guido16]

Do as you are by throwing it back over. If your feeling incensed, throw some horse poo over at the same time.

Childish I know.

 

[Pasture Mix]

I'd throw it at his house.. But that's just me
I think you're perfectly entitled to get rather upset at this point. You've already asked him not to do it & given him a reason why. Now he's done it again & tried to disguise the fact that he's done it, so clearly he is aware that he shouldn't & that you're not going to be happy about it?
I'm not saying cause WW3, but he needs to know that you're not going to put up with it.. He could have put any number of insecticides, fertilisers, etc. on that turf before he dug it up that could be harmful to your ponies, but he doesn't care because dumping it in your field makes his life easy.
He's obviously an objectionable man & you may have to get a bit more forceful to get your voice heard.
The wife may be a better option to try first. If she made him apologise before, she might stand a better chance of getting him to listen if you talk to her about how upsetting & worrying it is for you.
Otherwise, you could maybe report him for antisocial behaviour or something along those lines..?
Good luck

 

[char3479]

Do as you are by throwing it back over. If your feeling incensed, throw some horse poo over at the same time.

Childish I know.

Brilliant though - if it comes to it I think I might

 

[Sussexbythesea]

You could report him to the Council for fly tipping.

This - although you might want to point it out to him that it is illegal first and that you will have no choice but to report it in future. Take pictures of any of the tipping as well.

 

[siennamum]

I would tell him that it all needs to be cleared by Monday (?) otherwise you will be reporting him to the council for fly tipping. mention that the Council take fly tipping very seriously and that the fine is £2k (r whatever it is). I wouldn't throw any back, or in fact touch it, leave it to him and demand he removes his waste from your property.

 

[FfionWinnie]

Point out that disturbed ground is thought to be a factor in grass sickness which is mostly a death sentence for horses and you will sue him if anything else comes over the fence.

 

[Sandstone1]

I would fence it off with electric tape. take photos of it and then put a polite but forceful letter mentioning that you have already complained abut this before. Include copies of the photos. Tell them that you want it cleared and if its not you will report to the council. I had the same sort of thing happen years ago and lost a pony to colic possibly due to eating grass cuttings so you need to ge it stopped asap. Good luck

 

[Polos Mum]

TBH I would also electric off an area around the back of his garden so the horses can't get at whatever he throws over. Yes he's in the wrong and all of the above are good ideas but suing him for he colic surgery would be long complicated and expensive - not to mention stressful.

Perhaps poo pick the field into that space and see how he likes that!

 

[Fransurrey]

I used to have this problem every year. Only using the field in early spring or autumn meant that every year I had to clean up after 3 houses. Every year I would knock on their doors and politely remind them that garden waste was lethal to horses, the field was not a football pitch or drinking ground, or a bonfire site.

The last year I was there I lost it. I threw an incinerator bin, complete with contents, back across the middle lawn. Couldn't do anything about the bonfire ashes at the end house, but their mug got a flying lesson. The first house had dumped lots of broken greenhouse glass over the fence, so I carefully put it all back over in an obvious pile. Didn't get anything else put over that year and it's not my problem, this year! I still see the residents sometimes when I go past and we do say hello, so there's no animosity. Sometimes you just have to blow a gasket. As this is your neighbour's second offence, I would simply put a letter through as a last warning and say that the council are aware but have been told not to act on it unless a further report is made.

 

[magicgirl]

Why not go and knock on hid door and try and have a nice conversation with him and his wife. Point out the dangers of what he is doing and ASK him to stop. I would be very annoyed in your position but you usually get better results being pleasant rather than argumentative. Jo Public are usually very ignorant about livestock but not as uncaring as many horsey people think. If a polite approach doesn't get the right result then a strongly worded letter is needed.

 

[Horlicks]

I like this

TBH I would also electric off an area around the back of his garden so the horses can't get at whatever he throws over. Yes he's in the wrong and all of the above are good ideas but suing him for he colic surgery would be long complicated and expensive - not to mention stressful.

Perhaps poo pick the field into that space and see how he likes that!

 

[Superhot]

Try talking to him first, offer him some well rotted manure for his garden perhaps? If being pleasant doesn't work, then report him for fly tipping.

 

[Pinkvboots]

What a cheek I would be throwing the soil back and tell him if it happens again I will be tipping all the horse poo from the field into his garden.

 

[Rose Folly]

As Guido! I did it with my ex-neighbours. They employed a (very lazy) gardener. There is a high privet hedge forming the border at one point between my field and their garden. Because privet is poisonous I have a safety fence to keep my horses from getting near it. Two winters running the gardener was put to trimming the hedge, and each time he dumped all the privet cuttings onto my land.

The first time I explained very nicely, and they appeared to understand, and said they would speak to the gardener. He did it again the next autumn. I waited until I saw they had gone out, and shovelled the whole lot back at another point, onto their patio. I was celebrating victory when I heard he had been sacked. He'd then dumped the whole lot into the stream that borders both our gardens - but it was their bit he'd flooded. Neighbours!

 

[cheeryplatypus]

If its a second offence I'd point out that not only is he fly tipping and can be reported (and that you have pictures). But also that hiring a skip is cheaper than colic surgery and that your insurance company may well choose to sue him if that require vet care as a result of his tipping.

 

[montanna]

To be honest I think you would be best off having another quiet word with him/the wife before anything else. Believe me it is not nice to be at loggerheads with a neighbour, and they could ultimately cause you more problems in the future if you go at it full guns blazing - especially where animals are involved

 

[sunleychops]

I would be launching it all over his garden, and anything else i could find to throw aswell. Failing that go and dump it in a pile on his doorstep.

 

[hollyandivy123]

ok.................down our way we have traditional games, like toss the hay bale over a pole of increasing height, for fun you could pop up a high jump pole and play toss the grass sod, raising the pole to increase the game obviously the high jump pop will placed directly in front of his fence and the landing just happens to be the patio, or just mention in a letter as said before that if it is not removed by date X then you are going to inform your council

 

[3OldPonies]

I had a similar situation to this. On one occasion I just dumped the stuff back in the middle of lane outside the garden it came from, to make it a nuisance for the householder as it was their gardener that did the dumping. Then I had nice (not) neighbour dumping garden stuff where I park my car, and setting fire to it! Tried to be nice and pointed out that I could do without burnt ash all over my car and the danger of parking where a fire had just been extinguished (I almost parked on the bonfire one dark night) - all to no avail. Then a BT guy turned up trying to find out who had been setting fires next to one of their telegraph posts, this got right up my nose because he tried to blame me. Told the neighbour about this and he thought I was just being dramatic, in the meantime other neighbours had also decided to start dumping their garden rubbish as well in the same place. tbh - in the end I got fed up of moving it back across to their side of the road so they could look out on in from their main windows. fortunately the parish clerk came by and was suitably appalled - she they wrote to all the householders reminding them that fly tipping and setting fires in public place are illegal and punishable by fines and possibly prison. Since then nothing has been dumped and nothing has been set fire to either.

In your case OP, I would have a word with them again, mentioning the words 'fly tipping' and 'fine' - it's about £5K btw and if you get nowhere after that, tell the person you rent from and get them to send a letter. If there is still no difference shop them to the local authority - it's no less than they deserve.

 

[magicgirl]

What a cheek I would be throwing the soil back and tell him if it happens again I will be tipping all the horse poo from the field into his garden.

Which would make you as inconsiderate as the other person

 

[D66]

Solicitor's letter asking him to remove the waste or you will employ a contractor to do it and send him the bill. Then do it! You could threaten to take him to the small claims court to get the money back.

 

[bonny]

Amazed at some of the responses on here....this is how neighbour disputes start and then esculate and it's really not worth it.....maybe they see your field as full of grass and can't see any harm in adding theirs. Not right but also not the end of the world and talking to them would be far better than alot of suggestions here.

 

[FionaM12]

I would be launching it all over his garden, and anything else i could find to throw aswell. Failing that go and dump it in a pile on his doorstep.

Please don't do this unless you want an ongoing vendetta which could impact on your horses.

I honestly would resist the urge to dump anything back on his garden/doorstep/etc or use any tit for tat tactics like that. The chances are this would just escalate into a neighbourhood feud and you will look as bad as him, no-one cares who started these things. :rolleyes3:

Find out your rights, get advice from the council then go round and speak to the man and his wife with all the facts at hand. He might have taken on board the idea that cuttings are dangerous, but think turf's okay and not realise it's still an issue. The average gardener has no idea about livestock and horses.

Meanwhile, keep a diary of events, and take photographs (dated) then if civilised communication doesn't work, report him and present your evidence.

 

[Goldenstar]

I would simply check twice a day and chuck anything he puts in back over not in a neat heap just chuck in back over any old how hopefully they will give up quickly .
I would also tell the landowner so they have heard your side of the story first just in case.

 

[FionaM12]

Haha Bonny great minds think alike! simultaneous posting!

 

[star26]

As you are renting the field, i'd ring the land owner asap to tell them what is happening and see if he/she wants to take control of the situation. I know if I was renting land to someone and this was happening, I'd certainly want to be told so I could nip it in the bud. Fly tipping on land, despite who is using it, is just not acceptable!

 

[char3479]

Thanks all - I knew I could rely on H&H Forum members to give an array of responses! Some very creative and amusing suggestions. Some of your stories make mine sound quite tame. I'm in the process of installing some more heavy duty fencing than the stuff currently there so will be less worried about the ponies. I think I'll go with the letter option. He needs to be told in no uncertain terms.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

To be honest I think you would be best off having another quiet word with him/the wife before anything else. Believe me it is not nice to be at loggerheads with a neighbour, and they could ultimately cause you more problems in the future if you go at it full guns blazing - especially where animals are involved

Mmm, yes, think this is what I'd do too TBH.

It sounds a bit like he's a bit hen-pecked so might just listen to wifey. You could ask her if they'd mebbe like some horse manure for their garden/veggies and then go on to explain to her just how serious it is if horses get hold of grass cuttings and how awful it would be for everyone.

Then if THAT doesn't work, get tough.

Why are some people soooo stooopid?