A distant neighbour has moved their front gate to the other side of their front garden away from the pavement and onto a shared patch of grass. (They live in a sort of courtyard with grass in the middle.) This new arangement is brick, it’s not goint to be trivial to alter. She didn’t consult the neighbours who face her house.

Her gate now opens directly onto the shared grass courtyard and the other neighbours want it left grass. It’s obvious she will want to construct a path when the grass turns to mud from the footfall. The other neighbours are going to say no. Friction will ensue.

Why do people find ways to make their lives harder?

Sorry to bother STW with this crap but SWMBO vents it at me and I feel the need to vent it on. 🙂

It’s obvious she will want to construct a path when the grass turns to mud from the footfall. The other neighbours are going to say no. Friction will ensue.

Not if it’s muddy.

I feel the need to vent it on.

Install a permanent vent onto the shared courtyard. 🙂

There may be something in the deeds about access rights to the courtyard – ie for what purpose residents can use the courtyard.

There may be something in the deeds about access rights to the courtyard – ie for what purpose residents can use the courtyard.

I suspect they’ll find a solution of that sort. …but she’s still created a situation where her neighbours have to start looking at their deeds to find a way to force her to spend £££s on undoing the work she had done and she’ll resent that. It was all totally forseeable and avoidable.

Install a permanent vent onto the shared courtyard.

😀

but she’s still created a situation where her neighbours have to start looking at their deeds to find a way to force her to spend £££s on undoing the work she had done and she’ll resent that.

Residents could always take a vote whether or not to install a decorative five foot picket fence parallel to, and two inches from, her boundary.

And a shrubbery?

Who actually owns the land? Is there a paper trail for it?

And a shrubbery?

Ni!

Astonishing to believe that people who share a space will do their utmost to command it. I saw someone take offence once** (new resident) when the biennial shipment of stone was delivered that, for the previous 20 years had been collectively spread/levelled by the other five houses to keep the access track free from potholes.

**They went mental as they were the owners and the others just had a right of access. Needless they were offered the opportunity to fix it at her their time and expense. She’s now on the local council…

Who actually owns the land? Is there a paper trail for it?

I’m hearing all this stuff 3rd hand but apparently it’s shared land between the 8 houses that front onto it and nobody is disputing that. (I’m told they pay a gardener between them to mow it.)

Residents could always take a vote whether or not to install a decorative five foot picket fence parallel to, and two inches from, her boundary.

Exactly the kind of sillyness I think this is going to disolve into.

Why do people find ways to make their lives harder?

Let ’em. Not worth the stress if its someone elses problem.

Astonishing to believe that people who share a space will do their utmost to command it. I saw someone take offence once** (new resident) when the biennial shipment of stone was delivered that, for the previous 20 years had been collectively spread/levelled by the other five houses to keep the access track free from potholes.

I’ve just remembered as a student we had a rented house strip of grass less than a mower width shared with next door. I used to mow it when I did ours simply by putting the mower wheels on the path each side of the strip – trying to position the mower wheel in the middle of an 18 inch grass strip to do half of it was harder than doing the lot.

A woman ran out one time to inform me half of it was hers. FFS, was the renter of the place next door going to try to steal a 9inch strip of grass from her and signal the intent by mowing it? (I kept mowing it, mowing half was impossible.)

Exactly the kind of sillyness I think this is going to disolve into.

It’s the pettiness that made Britain great!

I did read somewhere about some bloke, his dog and his pristine lawn. A prankster froze some nice smelly sausages and nailed them into the lawn. Later the dog had a fun day digging them up, the resulting lawn looked like a WW1 re-enactment.

She sounds like she has lots of cats.

Gategate innit.

A distant neighbour

I’m hearing all this stuff 3rd hand

I feel the need to vent it on.

I’m struggling a bit here…!

Who actually owns the land? Is there a paper trail for it?

Where there is shared access over land, ownership of said land doesn’t necessarily convey any additional rights over those who have access to it.

paper trail

I thought it was grass?….

Is this in England?

I have to be honest, I’m struggling to see the bit where you need to give a crap about this? Not being facetious, I just can’t see the bit in your post where it actually affects you?
Move on, that way an early grave lies.

Where there is shared access over land, ownership of said land doesn’t necessarily convey any additional rights over those who have access to it.

Care to elaborate please? I can think of a few, the obvious ones being the right to sell or build a pump track on it.

Park your car on the bit outside her house!

When I worked for Kirklees council in the habitat destruction department I had to deal with all kinds of odd people. Mowing the lawns for some retirement bungalows and have no option but to cross from one to the other. Turn mower off and go across shared path to avoid damaging a lawn (that’s not on the route) with the Scag. Bloke comes rolling out yelling about trespass. Standard response was to nod politely and repeat “that’d be lovely. Tea, milk no sugar” ear defenders FTW!

My favourite was when everyone got behind with hedge trimming so they gave it to the young crew, me and another guy, to catch up. Bloke watched us cut his massively overgrown shrubbery and then rang the council to complain that we’d cut his hedge (plans were wrong).

People can be dicks.

I’m with @dashed & @submarined on this one, failing to see how this directly affects you and so will and offer up the sage words for you to write out lots of times, or use as a repeated chant of “Not my circus, not my monkeys”
😉

Anyone actually asked her why she’s done it?

“oh right, right. But doesn’t that mean you have to walk across the grass to get in your front gate? Won’t that get a bit muddy?”

Whereas I agree that some people just seem to want to seek out conflict (we have a neighbor like that) – some people are just thick as mince. Maybe she just thought it would look nice and hasn’t really thought it through? Remember that half the population is below average intelligence.

I have to be honest, I’m struggling to see the bit where you need to give a crap about this?

I say, crimping one off on the new path is going a bit far IMO.

Care to elaborate please?

I don’t own any part of the access road that must be used to get to my house, my neighbours do. Despite that they cannot park cars, block the road or do anything to restrict my access and this is specified in the deeds (there are parts of the road they would like to but that’s a whole different story). Now obviously there is a bit of give and take and being reasonable involved but that’s the basic legal position.

In this example if someone else owns the land I would expect it to be “illegal” to block the new gate in any way and if she owns it then it may be the case that she can build a path however there may be a covenant that prevents it.

Anyone actually asked her why she’s done it?

“oh right, right. But doesn’t that mean you have to walk across the grass to get in your front gate? Won’t that get a bit muddy?”

Whereas I agree that some people just seem to want to seek out conflict (we have a neighbor like that) – some people are just thick as mince. Maybe she just thought it would look nice and hasn’t really thought it through? Remember that half the population is below average intelligence.

Agree with all of that, seems more likely than a deliberate attempt to create strife. Maybe a five minute conversation either before or during the work would have caused engagement of brain. That definitely didn’t happen. Whether anyone spoken to her since it’s all been in place I don’t know – the gossip will reach me by the weekend.

Is this in England?

Yes.

She sounds like she has lots of cats.

I’m thinking the same. 🙂

obvious ones being the right to sell or build a pump track on it.

Right to sell, yes. Right to build a pump track… not necessarily.

Depends on what the deeds say about access.

All sounds bonkers though.

Once the helicopter pad is installed it will all make sense.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/flying-cars-emissions-help-environment-a8867611.html

obvious ones being the right to sell or build a pump track on it.

Imagine it was a flat ….. building a pump track on the land would be like annexing the landing out side your flat preventing the use of it by others trying to reach the floors above.

I actually remember this plotline from Midsomer Murders. Didn’t end well.