I have a car trailer for transporting the track car to and from the circuits - just the trailer, the car is parked in the garage.
I've just had a neighbour round complaining it's spoiling their view because we park it on our side garden.
The view from their front window is the side of our house anyway, and we have a strip of grass where I park the trailer when not in use.
He's claiming it's against the local by-laws (Gloucestershire) to park a trailer on what is our garden.
Does anyone know if this is true? I'm googling and not a lot is coming up...

Paint it Dayglo Pink




I could understand high sided trailers or large vans, but not a transport type trailer.


Best contact the local council tomorrow to get the true situation.

Put some plant pots on it, and call it a "garden feature"

On new builds for many years some developers used to include a clause about caravans and trailers not being allowed, these usually last no more than 10 years.

I do not know of any bye laws, even if such a restriction existed who would enforce it if you own the house.

Regards Mark

The number for the planning department of your council will be in the yellow pages - give them a call and they'll be able to tell you exactly what is and isn't in force. Strangly enoughly, local by-laws (which can be down to parish council level) can apply to very small, strange things. In my road we're not allowed to have the drop kerbbed entrance to our driveways any wider than originally built - 100 yards up the same road but different parish, no problem...

quote:

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Originally posted by mark chandler
On new builds for many years some developers used to include a clause about caravans and trailers not being allowed, these usually last no more than 10 years.

I do not know of any bye laws, even if such a restriction existed who would enforce it if you own the house.

Regards Mark

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quote:

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Now within a period of five years from the date hereto without the previous consent in writing of the Transferor to erect upon the property any buildings or to alter any dwelling and/or garage erected upon the Property at the date of this Transfer or allow to be or remain on any part of it any temporary building or structure or any hut shed caravan boat or any showboards or hoardings or any advertising station.

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You know what really pissed me off about it all..?
We've just got home from a weekend away collecting the chassis for the Exocet and was 1/2 way through unloading it when he wandered over.
Was on a massive high and that's disappeared now.

IIRC that convernant is only enforcable by the developer too. THey only put them in so that their developements stay looking nice for a few years afterwards so they can send prospective customers of their new homes round to look at the standard of their older developments. So the chances of them caring is slim to none.

I'm no lawyer, but reading that clause it seems to be aimed at tall things, not car trailers......tell him to get stuffed

Al.

quote:

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Originally posted by thefreak
You know what really pissed me off about it all..?
We've just got home from a weekend away collecting the chassis for the Exocet and was 1/2 way through unloading it when he wandered over.
Was on a massive high and that's disappeared now.

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Ok, here's an interesting counter argument.
He will have in his deeds stated 1 garage and 1 parking space (ours says 2 garages and 2 parking spaces).
Last year he moved his side garden fence back and tarmaced part of it to give him a second parking space. Now as the side of our house looks over the front of their property when we look out of out kitchen window, all we see is his car. Whereas before it was a garden and fence....?

Why not buy some black polythene, cover the trailer, and support the edges and fill it with water, its a pond!

I had some plastic ducks floating on my garage roof fo a while

hahaha

Playing devil's advocate: Is your trailer quite tidy or is it a mess?

Personally it wouldn't bother me but if for example I was thinking about or trying to sell my house then I might be viewing things differently.

Pity the guy handled his complaint so badly.

Davie

Sounds like he is a bit of an arse, however as a direct neighbour you need to try and not let it escalate I made my trailer no larger than the little car with under wheels so I could leave the car on it in the garage, makes it much easier to work on the car as well due to a more useful height.

Is there any chance you could alter the suspension and fit 10" H/D wheels and tyres underneath, I run 195 / 55 R10C tyres on mine, nice and small good for 750kg.

It does free up a lot of space.

Regards Mark

It's a black twin axle. It's all black, not rusty or tatty.
It has a nice yellow wheel clamp on it too.

Here's a pic of the house layout:


We're plot 4, they're plot 5.
The red square next to our house is where I park the trailer (which is lower than the railed fence around the front of the property)
the red square next to plot 5 is where he's tarmacced and now parks his car.

Put a 6ft fence up And tell him to mind his own business

quote:

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Originally posted by mark chandler
Sounds like he is a bit of an arse, however as a direct neighbour you need to try and not let it escalate I made my trailer no larger than the little car with under wheels so I could leave the car on it in the garage, makes it much easier to work on the car as well due to a more useful height.

Is there any chance you could alter the suspension and fit 10" H/D wheels and tyres underneath, I run 195 / 55 R10C tyres on mine, nice and small good for 750kg.

It does free up a lot of space.

Regards Mark

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quote:

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Originally posted by jacko
Put a 6ft fence up And tell him to mind his own business

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It's your corner of England - do with it as you wish - you pay for it !

I had a similar experience with one of my neighbours, she started the conversation off with '' I don't want to be nasty neighbour - but.......''
and off she goes telling me my off road Discovery wasn't very nice to look at - whilst it's parked on my drive !!
I told her beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it would be staying there - forever

I did actually move it eventually and replaced it with an off road prepped Defender which lives in the same spot

Hasyour neighbour told the council he's added an extra parking space? If not he's commiting tax fraud as they can alter your council tax based on gaining or losing parking spaces.

If it were me I'd check it was all above board, if it is then just ignor him.

To the one above, you should have said that you didn't like the look of what was in her drive, just to see the look on her face.

Interesting.... I'll make some covert enquiries Thank you for that little gem

If the developer gets involved then he shots himself!

Your house is twice as big, he is not even next door but opposite, put it down to penis envy and ignore or you could get some reed Screening, £10 for 4m x 1m and cable tie to your fence

Also hides your stuff from other eyes so maybe not a bad idea anyway.

Well, the trailer isn't mentioned in the deeds at all, so I would tell him to rev up and that you await his solicitors letter.

As per Mark C's comments I would try not to start a war with your neighbour, would it be possible to speak with the guy and ask specifically what the problem is and see if he has any constructive suggestions to resolve the situation.

If you get into a tit for tat complaint then it may possibly cause more problems in the future with regards to noise complaints and parking and the like, our preferred hobbies make us vulnerable to complaints.

In the event of things going sour which side will your immediate neighbours take?

Hope it doesn't sound like I'm having a go, I'd be hacked off if my neighbours stuck their nose in, just wouldn't like to see you make things worse before trying to make them better.

Cheers
Davie

I sincerely hope this is the start, extent and end of your trouble and communication with the neighbour.

The neighbour won't be your problem, yes, you can (as others have suggested) safely ignore the neighbour. It's what the neighbour does that will be your problem, particularly if the neighbour contacts the council.

Don't believe that because you own the house, or it's your bit of England, or any feelings you may have - regardless of how you perceive the fair world to be. My experience is that it's not fair.

If you're in breach of any regulation, your neighbour's complaint to the council will reap things that you won't believe. If you've got a council full of bored, under utilised Environmental Health officers, you really will have problems.

If your neighbour escalates (complaints over *noise* *pollution* *amenity*) things with council, you *must* start countering with *harrassment* *privacy*. If your neighbour starts overtly taking pictures, recordings, etc. (if they're a near-death pensioner with no life it's really overt).
Start building the kit car, you'll be running a business. If the complaints get to this stage, it means that the Environmental complaints have failed (noise, amenity...)

If the neighbour is particularly bad, you'll start getting your tyres slashed and headlights broken. You'll need video cameras, good qaulity images for a true ID. If there's not enough detail to get an ID image, you won't get any Police help.

YES, I've been in a very dark place. I hope to God that this isn't the start of a life-destroying period for you. If it is though, I have plenty of empathy, I've been there.

Many driveway alterations now fall under planning rules....

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/pavingfrontgarden/

Just to make sure I've got this right, it's a flat trailer that's in question, something like this:



That he's not liking the look of. But in order to see it he has to look through a 4 foot high fence, which I'm figuring pretty much obscures his view of said trailer...

So really he has nothing to complain over? Maybe we need a picture from his perspective...

Put mirror panels on the side of the trailer so all he can see is his house

quote:

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Originally posted by morcus
Hasyour neighbour told the council he's added an extra parking space? If not he's commiting tax fraud as they can alter your council tax based on gaining or losing parking spaces.

If it were me I'd check it was all above board, if it is then just ignor him.

To the one above, you should have said that you didn't like the look of what was in her drive, just to see the look on her face.

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I'm possitive, because my old neighbours had their front garden converted so they had a double drive and they were told they had too by the people sorting it for them. I also know people who've bought flats and sold their parking space and had their council tax band changed.

Anything that effects the value of the propperty has to be reported. I can't find anything online (Which is normal because I find Direct Gov completely illogical) but I'm certain of this and the council can change your tax band anytime they want, you then have to appeal it if you think it's wrong. There were talks not long ago by the last government of using arieal reconnasence to see what people had in there gardens to do just this.

Extending your parking area, does not qualify for any further council or any other tax

I had mine done last year, so i can park my caravan on my front lawn

if any of my neighbours complained, i would retaliate, with" i look at your pig ugly wife everey day, so we are even!"

fortuantley my neighbours are all fine, and the 4 houses in my immediate corner, all seem to look after each other

Steve

quote:

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Originally posted by morcus
I'm possitive, because my old neighbours had their front garden converted so they had a double drive and they were told they had too by the people sorting it for them. I also know people who've bought flats and sold their parking space and had their council tax band changed.

Anything that effects the value of the propperty has to be reported. I can't find anything online (Which is normal because I find Direct Gov completely illogical) but I'm certain of this and the council can change your tax band anytime they want, you then have to appeal it if you think it's wrong. There were talks not long ago by the last government of using arieal reconnasence to see what people had in there gardens to do just this.

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Anyone been to Longleat and seen the 'private'sections in the house, with all of Lord Bath's art. Some good stuff there?

I'd put some cheap ply on the side of the house, and get the local art students to decorate them, just for the neighbours benefit. Could be seen as a hoarding though. Easily removed, as are Lord Baths lewd and wacky paintings, on ply.

Maybe get a flower garden painted on the fence facing your neighbour.

Then there's my usual and best revenge, quick growing grass seed on his lawn, in the shape of whatever word you think fits best.

Cheers,
nev.

I'd suggest that neighbours generally need to get along and while their complaint may seem unfair at first sight, maybe they don't like seeing a car recovery service outside their house and it's upset them a bit that you've changed the neighbourhood from how it was when they bought their house (much like you might complain if someone started to park a double decker outside your front garden etc). You really have to be mature and careful in neighbour disputes as things can and do rapidly get out of hand and at the end of the day it's just a difference of opinion and at least they're telling you this face to face so you can take that opportunity to talk with them and be reasonable. IF you ignore them or start charging around throwing legalities at them you're just going to make an enemy, one more person stuck against you if anything else happens and one more person to kill your buzz when you see them in the street.

Have a chat, they might prefer you to put up a small fence to cover the trailer, they may even be willing to pay.

Judging buy your info with regard to the height of the trailer and the relative positions of the houses, they would only see your trailer if they were standing, nosing out of the window at your property. It would not spoil their view if they were seated. This would indicate a complete lack of neighbourlyness on their part. They are tossers who need to get a life and should be treated as such.
I would go and speak to him in a quite friendly manner and point this out to him and also advise him that there may be financial repecussions if he becomes a pain in the bum.

Not sure how standing or sitting makes any difference, either way it's visible and unpleasant to look at. I like cars, trailers and all sorts but I wouldn't want it to be my views about the house. Taking an aggressive stance does nothing but make the aggressor look like a tool.

quote:

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Originally posted by Confused but excited.
They are tossers who need to get a life and should be treated as such.
I would go and speak to him in a quite friendly manner and point this out to him and also advise him that there may be financial repecussions if he becomes a pain in the bum.

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I would say I'm the good neighbour of the 2 though.
I accept the parcels if I'm there and they're not (few and far between as she's a stay at home mum) I knock on their door at 11pm at night because they've left the interior light on and the doors unlocked of their car, but no answer so I secure it for them, and all I get is this crap.
So am I supposed to make it magically disappear? Give up my hobby? dig an underground car park just so when she looks out of her window instead of seeing a huge 3 storey brick wall of the side of our house she sees a huge brick wall and a 2ft high black trailer?

As you can see by the plan, their front window looks directly at the side of our house. They picked that plot from all that were there as they were the first people to move in, they knew what they were buying.

I've spoken to the council today and there are no laws or bylaws governing what you can store on your own property for the Gloucestershire area, only what may be on the deeds to the house - which are quoted above.

I think the plan of action is to leave it now (as the next 3 months are going to be dedicated in getting the Exocet ready to start the race season in April, so no more time for trackdays) and when he next brings it up when he's had a couple of cans of brave juice I politely say to him I've spoken to the council and they're happy with it, I've checked the deeds and there's nothing in there either, but as a compromise I am willing to purchase a large car cover for the trailer and fit this so it is more pleasing on the eye when they want to look at the side of our house.
As I said our original intentions were to extend the small 4ft decorative railings around the side but as our deeds say we can't do this for 5 years we wont - and thank him for bringing that to our attention, as it's saved me £1100

Sounds reasonable to me.

I can see 'potentially' why he may have a gripe, but equally what else or where else can you a park a trailer? I am no expert but surely you can put or store anything on your own land albeit a trailer or a statue that in some respects some people would greatly admire by its artistic qualities or loathed by others. And to back it all, if it is obscured anyway from view i.e. your fence, he must have x ray vision or something to be able to see it.....confused.....!!

Little GEM!

One thing you could try or at least look into....round where i live, if you wish to block pave or worst tarmac a piece of front garden for parking purposes, like your neighbour has, did he get planing permission to do so? Round me, you have to check whether the water run off will affect the drainage capacity to prevent flash flooding etc from the drains. Garden or green spaces buffer water run off times and manages water flow etc. Big slap on wrists if he was living in near me by council. By all accounts however, the council may just say that although he didnt seek permission, there is clearly a need to help reduce on street parking.....

Cant win. I would however be seen to be proactive and approach the council first and seek advice. At least if you are seen to be willing to take advice first the council may look favourably towards you if it ever got as far as a full blown dispute.

He has a garage full of junk, he has a 307 and his missus has a smart car. The only reason he dug the garden up was to save himself clearing the junk from his garage. Hell he could even push stuff to the back and fit the smart car in
Whereas we've got the double garage and we use it for car storage. Unfortunately it's not long enough to get the trailer in...

unfortunately as i have found out you will not change your neighbours mind what ever you say. i have a similar neighbour and eventually after a long time and through speaking with other neighbours, we have worked out that it is all fuelled by jealousy.

my neighbour hates the fact that a chap half his age has moved in to the nicer house next door, has high performance sports cars, nice tin tops, and still has cash left to spend doing up his house, building new workshops, sheds etc. if he can find a way to poo on my day he will every time.

we went over one of the other neighbours new years eve this year and at 3am when we got home he was sitting in the dark watching and waiting for us to come home. he bounded out of his house forced his way in my front door as the other half tried to close it, almost knocking her over, kicking off about the noise from over the road from the party that wasn't even at my house.

I had been drinking and wasn't in the mood for his poo especially as he had forced his way into my home. short of it he got lumped. police come and fortunately sided with us (cctv on the front door) as he forced his way into our house, scaring the poo out of us. they went and had a chat with him and everything has been quiet since.

im not saying go punch your neighbour in fact dont do that, it is a very bad idea. but sometimes you do have to stand up for yourself(one way or another)! my case went to the extreme which was far from ideal but he was a bully, usually when he made a fuss i folded just to keep the peace, which in our case only made things worse as he knew he could get away with it. Once i stood up to him the dynamic rapidly changed so far 16days and not a whisper, compared to the daily digs and comments in passing we used to get (curtains have also stopped twitching every time we go in or out).



so from my experience i would suggest to leave it alone unless they confront you again. If they do, explain that you have researched the matter and in your mind are doing nothing wrong. invite them to present you with written evidence that you are in the wrong then politely refuse to discuss the matter any further until they have presented said evidence. if they can back up the claim with evidence then you will need to come to a compromise, until then all conversations are a waste of good oxygen that could be used in your engine.

I still think my original point stands, how can he see a 2 foot high trailer over a 4 foot high fence?

The railings currently only extend across the front of our house, not down the side where the trailer is parked. The original plan was to continue it down the try and hide it a little and finish it off, but having been prompted to check the deeds because of this, by the looks of it we're not allowed. I think that would have made it look much less obvious and better to look out the window at, but I can't be going against what it says in the deeds no can I?

Exactly how much time does he spend looking out of the window at your trailer for it to become a problem for him ? If it was a pack of rabid Rottweilers like I had next door for a couple of years and he couldn't use his garden it would make sense but otherwise he has no reason to moan. Put a very brightly coloured tarpaulin over it and ask it that is better or if it was better before.

TBH if that's where his living room window faces on to and there is no screening then I can understand him not wanting to look out at your trailer / car shells.

Sorry I know it's not what you want to hear

Would it not be possible to park it further up towards what I presume are the garages?

[img][/img]

Regards
Davie

To be clear, there is no shell there, just the trailer. There was only a shel there while I was disposing of it.
Further back was his suggestion, along with digging up the tree that's there (green squiggles on the pic) and moving that to outside the window.
4 issues with that. 1. I don't want a tree that close to the property, 2 we're aparently not allowed to move the trees/shrubbery, 3 it would provide an easy step over the 7ft fence fe would be burgalers, 4 our intention is to move the fence line out to the border (there's already a fence there around 6th from the driveway).

Just leave it there. If you dont beleive it in contrevention of any points set out in the deeds then he'll have to put up with it.
I mean, he is only looking at the side of you house anyway, its not like its spoiling his view of green pastures or a pleasent garden.

Ive had neighbours moan at me for parking my (Taxed and insured) car on the road out side their house, because they were having works done and it meant they couldnt park their car there whilst the drive had a skip on it!!!
Ok the car wasnt in use at all. Sadly I felt I had to move it as it was my parents neighbours not mine and didnt want to cause friction, but had it been my house I would have left it right where it was.

Theres a chap who lives opposite my inlaws who has a car that is taxed and insured but left out side his house so that no one else can park there. It literally sits there 24/7/365, it only moves when the MoT is due. I wouldnt mind but its an eyesaw dark blue/green escort, and before that he had a cream metro that eventually failed its MoT hence the escort coming along. http://g.co/maps/v3q3x
He must be paying several hundered £'s a year just so no one parks infront of his house. But its a terrace street, so just behind his escort there is an empty space thats usualy filled with the neighbours 4x4!