Sometimes I wish we either lived right in the middle of nowhere, or on an estate with really big fences!
Anyhow, I've come to the conclusion that our neighbours have very little respect for anyone other than themselves (and I think even that could be questioned).
We should have realised this after they monoblocked around their house and partially converted the loft without consulting planning, then ignored anything they were told, but we figured that maybe something got lost in translation (they're Iranian) and they don't quite understand how the system works….maybe….maybe something more to do with them thinking it's better to live in a one bedroomed cottage (4 kids ranging from 2-16 and 2 parents in a one bedroomed cottage!) rather than the 3 bedroomed flat the currently rent out!
Anyway, we have a situation that behind our row of cottages is land that is earmarked for development (it's our former gardens retained by the company who sold our cottages on). Planning has been refused at least half a dozen times as there's simply not enough room for the proposed developments…la la la I digress..
so, there's no fence between this land and our garden, but we've been using the former garden area (the old link fence is still up) as our own, as have the neighbours with their bit to the rear of their cottage.
We have recently been given formal permission from the landowner to use this land for growing in and maintaining the fruit trees etc. We don't have very big gardens that are good for growing in (lots of tree cover)so it makes sense to try to utilise land that's otherwise derelict.
Now, the kids all wander about the back land, no problems with that, Last year they stripped the tree of apples, dug up two of the smaller trees and planted them in their front garden. I think it would have been nice to have been asked whether we had any objection to this, as we use the land as an extension of our garden, but nope, it was a night-time job! This has been a sore point ever since.
So, having been granted permission from the landowner, I go round next door, let them know this and suggest that we have a harvesting party, get all the kids involved and pick apples and brambles…share and share alike…good, no?
Nope, seemingly not. Got home yesterday to find 4 kids merrily picking apples. They soon got called in by their mum when she spotted me.
You try to offer a little and get it kicked back at you.
My immediate rage driven solution would have been to cut the trees down. But instead we ended up picking the apples ourselves. Brambles get picked on Saturday.
Mesh fences are planned around the garden and we'll be letting the dog loose in there most days.
What would you have done?