How to Deal with Cold Angry Neighbours

Imightnotbearobot on 07/05/2016 - 15:02
Last edited 11/05/2016 - 19:15 by 1 other user

Our house (House B) faces the reserve and we have since erected a fence to ensure there are no trespassers to our land.
Our neighbor (House E), whom we used to get along with started hurling abuse to us about the fence because according to him, we should not have a fence erected.
Is there anything I can or should do about this?

To enable better understanding of the house/ neighbor, picture is located here: http://s32.postimg.org/oyi951uo5/IMG_5569.jpg

I am house B, the new fence is coloured orange and house E is angry at us making the fence.
The highest part of our fence is about the same height as his ground/backyard.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • inherentchoice on 07/05/2016 - 15:14

    Be nice to your neighbours if that's how you want them to treat you.

    Can you give him something as a kind of peace offering?

    • Imightnotbearobot on 07/05/2016 - 18:56

      Yes, we do want to get along with him but I don't know how I should go about it? When he hurled abuse at us, we told him that we thought he was a friend…

  • Diji1 on 07/05/2016 - 15:31

    Well I would'nt be nice (although I've only heard your side of the story). But I wouldn't try and escalate it but I'd call the police and they'll hopefully go around and warn him about it if he does it again.

    Did his view get obstructed or something?

  • dasher86 on 07/05/2016 - 15:50
    +1

    Did you need permission / get permission to put up that fence?

    • Imightnotbearobot on 07/05/2016 - 18:54

      SHould I get permission from him to make my fence? What if he says no and I need a fence?

    • shadowarrior on 07/05/2016 - 19:24
      +3

      Looking at that picture, his neighbour E does not share a common boundry line for the fence, so there is no need to get any permission to build one. At max, the permission if needed, would have been from F.

      @OP, do you have fence on your side of the property running along D,E,F and A? Does your new fence now meet the two side fences and enclose your property? Is your fence within your owned land? If yes to the questions above, ask neighbour E to get over it.

      Go talk to your council, verify that they have no objection with the fence. Talk to your body corp or estate covenant if you have one, to check they have no problem with the fence. If neither party has any problem, send your neighbour E a letter stating why you erected the fence, and that you have had chat with the council and estate covenant about the same. You would like to maintain a friendly relationship with them like before, but if he is still not satisfied, he can talk to the council about it. But you won't tolerate any pestering/abuses etc, and you will actively monitor such behaviour. If you find him repeating such behaviour, you will lodge a complain against them with the council for disruptive behaviour and will drag the case to the civil court.

      Do not abuse back, you don't yell at street dogs barking at ya.

      • Imightnotbearobot on 07/05/2016 - 19:47

        There is a fence on the side of the property running from C,D and E. We are in the process of building the fence on the A side and has consulted neighbor A before construction and has his approval. We have gotten surveyors to come before erecting the fence, so yes it is whithin my own land and have council approval.

        The only part E is annoyed of is the orange bit of the fence. Type of the fence running from his backyard to the orange bit is the same.

        Thanks shadowarrior.

        • shadowarrior on 07/05/2016 - 20:08

          Was CDE fence already present? And then the orange part of the new fence joins the existing fence which was in line with CDE? If that's the case, then that orange part is on F's plot. Which would have needed you to take permission from F. Isn't there any existing fence for the back of F and G? Is the picture precise, that the small orange part is not in E's boundary, rather is in F's boundary (backyard)?

          About your fence with A, make sure you get 2-3 quotes of the fence, and discuss the quotes with A. Also check with A on which style of fence he prefers and come to a mutual agreement. Unless A already has a fence on your side, the fence between you and A will be a boundary fence and both A and you dip 50/50 on the cost. Check with A on access to his property if needed for construction of that fence.

        • Imightnotbearobot on 07/05/2016 - 20:10

          @shadowarrior:
          Yes CDE fence is already present. I have permission from house A and F. Yes the picture is precise. The small orange part is not in E's boundry.

        • shadowarrior on 07/05/2016 - 20:11
          +3

          @Imightnotbearobot: Then E has nothing to complain about. Time you start typing that letter I mentioned earlier.

        • Speckled Jim on 08/05/2016 - 10:54

          Exactly as you've indicated and shadowarrior stated, your neighbour is therefore questioning your security arrangements.
          Never was cool, particularly in 2016.

  • outlander on 07/05/2016 - 15:59
    +3

    So your neighbour was crossing your land to access the reserve, and now can't because you put up a fence. Is this correct?

    • Imightnotbearobot on 07/05/2016 - 19:02

      sorry for the confusion, post edited

      • tomsco on 07/05/2016 - 19:42

        So they were crossing over your land? Do you have a fence across the border between the two of you?

      • outlander on 07/05/2016 - 20:46
        +2

        Okay, so his back view of the review is obstructed. And if he needs to make a quick gettaway, he now needs to jump two fences instead of one.

        Tell him to get stuffed. If he keeps whining, knock him out, pry out his fillings and feed him to the jackals. Ain't nobody got time for this.

        • Forenti on 07/05/2016 - 21:58

          so his back view of the review is obstructed

          I don't know if this is true but it makes sense. House E wouldn't be angry for no reason seeing as the fence isn't on his border. Would be good if the OP tried to understand where he was coming from

        • outlander on 07/05/2016 - 23:41

          @Forenti:

          Forenti's right. You gotta empathize with this guy. Only by looking at things from his perspective, can you really identify his weaknesses and exploit them.

        • shadowarrior on 08/05/2016 - 00:37

          @outlander:

          The highest part of our fence is about the same height as his ground/backyard.

          Wouldn't be obstructing his view if that's the case.

  • gza on 07/05/2016 - 16:26
    +5

    If there is one thing I have learnt in life, it is that you cannot get along with everyone. It's human nature. And there is no point in trying. If there is no reason for him to be in your life, ignore him and he will probably go away. If it persists, let someone else deal with him, preferably the authorities.

  • Nutrino on 07/05/2016 - 17:23
    +1

    More to this story? Why would he abuse you?

  • chill on 07/05/2016 - 17:31
    +1

    thread needs pics

  • GnarlyKnuckles on 08/05/2016 - 02:05
    +3

    "… to ensure there are no trespassers to our land."

    If it does come to a point where you actually need to defend your decision to build that fence (which I doubt will ever happen; I am pretty sure you have done nothing wrong at all here), I would point out to any relevant authority asking, that without a fence there, stray (or unsupervised/unleashed) dogs can run from the reserve right into your back-yard, which is a potential danger to any children that may be playing there.

    I am no expert on such matters so I am happy to stand corrected on this; but there have been a few very tragic occurences in Melbourne over the years involving dogs 'straying' onto properties and harming children.

    If you presented that argument, I doubt anyone could reasonably 'counter' it. Even if you yourselves do not have children, that is beside the point. I am pretty sure you are quite within your rights to erect a fence to ensure that if you want to have a BBQ/party in your back-yard with children present, that there is no chance that a stray dog can just 'run in and wreak havock'.

    I'm not trying to be 'alarmist' (and I love dogs/have always had at least one myself), but here is a link to a case you may be familiar with. Of course this is the 'worst-case-scenario', but there are many cases every year that are not as tragic, but do involve kids being attacked by dogs that are not owned by the family.

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-17/dog-kills-melbourne-to…

  • terrys on 08/05/2016 - 10:47

    I don't often say this.
    Sounds like a job for Bikies.The note to the council regarding annoyance may be better tho. The guy is being a dick.

  • shaybisc on 08/05/2016 - 12:33
    +1

    Have you asked him why you shouldn't have a fence erected on your property, because I don't get it? How does he get to the reserve now?

    He must regard it as his ancestral right to wander through your property as a shortcut to the reserve. Boo hoo- tosser.

  • momov3 on 09/05/2016 - 00:10
    +1

    If you could get a letter from the Council confirming the fence is legal, you can show it and he should never have cause to complain anymore. You could ask a council officer to come by and have a chat with the neighbour explaining the legality. A similar situation happened with us and it involved propping up our back fence so that it did not encroach upon the neighbour's property. We thought we did a very good job, it cost us money too, neighbour complained it was not good enough and still wanted us to replace entire fence. We got the council inspector to come by and check it out as being within standards and the inspector told them our job was very adequate enough and to butt out. We did not hear a squeak from them after that.

  • Euphemistic on 09/05/2016 - 07:11
    -1

    He'll probably get over it. just stay civil and stick to your guns.

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