help with nextdoor garden

[janeyo]

My nan is 89 owns her own house as do all th rest of the row. The one next door has a long back garden 120 feet plus and it is FULL of weeds and rubbish. The weeds are so hight you can;t even see the children's climbing frame anymore. The woman there even pegs her washing out and the weeds are higher than the washing! They have 3 dogs which poo all over too and sometimes get over their broken fence and do it in nan's garden.

There are about 20-30 bin bags overflowing in the yard with food spilling out. Eggshells, cartons, teabags, food waste... It is an absolute eyesore and surely a health hazard?

My nan puts rat poison in her shed and it keeps disappearing so she thinks there must be rats somewhere although have not seen any yet.

Two years ago someone must have complained as they then had a skip and filled it with all the rubbish, but since then it has got as bad or worse.

This is not a council property but nan wants me to complan to someone as it worries her with the mess and the potential rats etc. They share a passageway so she can't shut the mess out. Her neighbours are both professional workers, able-bodied etc - but let their land get like this regularly. If their garden looks like that what on earth is their house like?! The sad thing is that some peopel whould cut off their arms to have such a usable space and they let it look like that. Even my nan keeps her garden nice and we all help her to do so.

Who can I complain to? What is the best way of going about it?

Need help! Rant Over.

[jackie j]

I think you can still complain to enviromental health they will at least point you in the right direction good luck

[HayleyB]

Yep I agree EH at the council should be the people to get on the case.

[screwbylil]

yep i would not hesitate in ringing the enviromental health, its certainly not fair on your nan to put up with a stinking eyesore and if they cant be approached then leave it to the professionals

[Two_Sheds]

an anonymous letter from a "passer by" ? (if the garden can be overlooked by the public).

your Nan doesn't want to get into a conflict with her neighbours, if they think she's grassed them up.
Some people just don't notice mess!

[janeyo]

She certainly doesn't want to cause any 'trouble', but has been moaning about it now for at least 2 years without having the courage to do anything!

I have found some stuff on the coucil website and will be ringing them shortly- will let you know what happens!

[Two_Sheds]

I have found some stuff on the coucil website and will be ringing them shortly- will let you know what happens!

they'll say "nowt to do with us", most likely

Have you the energy to offer to strim the weeds for them? Seeing as you're doing your Nan's garden anyway, kind of approach.
That might embarrass them into keeping it a bit neater?

[janeyo]

I would... but 120 feet of nettles and dog poo and who knows what else is,lurking there - I wold need tetanus first!

I think they are unembarrassable (new word alert) as they have been doing this for 15 years! Letting it get so bad noone can set foot outside the back door then blizting it with skips... but think they all need glasses now as it's never been so bad!

Nan says the children never have kids round to play and none of them ever go outside. They even park their bikes on nannas side as they can't put them in ther own mess!

[NOG]

I would start with the Enviroment Health...or Scocial Services.

[janeyo]

Well the council actually been very helpful. I thinkas these people are repeat offenders. At first they said they cold do nothign asit was privately owned but when we stressed the rat problem they instantly changed their minds.
Upshot is if the rubbish hasn't been cleared within a week to contact them again as they were going to deal with it that day (friday).

Think I will wait 2 weeks to be sure...

OH made me chuckle, the lady on the phone asked if there was any reason why they didn't put their bin bags out (meaning were they ill or disabled etc). OH told them 'yes they are 'lazy filthy scum'.

He always calls a spade a spade!

[Sprocket*]

We had a similar problems with the neighbours who left rubbish on their patio as they were too lazy to put it in the wheelie bin. After being hit with rats i phoned thr council and sat back. The rat man arrived put some poison down in our garden, looked over the fence and hit the roof. I could hear him having a go at her despite the windows being closed.
The upshot was - move it and keep it moved or we charge you a lot of money for encouraging vermin! Rubbish was moved within a day and they moved out 12 mnths later.

Moral of the story - keep mentioning rats!

[TPeers]

Rats, mice, cockroaches, blowflies, foxes.... all desease carrying, all potential health hazards. And as for uncleared dog mess...... I'm not sure I want to know how many potential problems that might create - ringworm is probably the mildest! Fleas, ticks - is it New Forest desease you get from ticks? It's a nasty one, I remember that much. Any of the above can be life threatening to certain elements of society (mainly pregnant women and small children, but would the council know?).

The weed flowers will undoubtably be adding an element of pollen so could contribute to a higher incidence of hay fever or allergic rhianitus (sp?) and I *think* the NHS can charge the council if it can be proved that they failed to act in a timely manner.

I'd consider adding all these to the complaint list if the site isn't cleared properly and maintained to a reasonable standard in short order.

[janeyo]

Thanks it's alays useful to have extra ammunition!

I am going tomorrow to weed nanna's and pick courgettes and beans so will have a look and maybe when I take pics of my plot I will also accidentally take some of their garden too....

[OllieMartin]

Almost seems worth offering to buy their back garden off them and adjoin it to your gran's. Then she can fit in that swimming pool I bet she's always wanted!

[janeyo]

hmm, it might help with her arthritis I guess!