Driveway vehicles.

[bashbarnard]

One for dum dum maybe.

My neighbour has complained that i have two stripped cars outside. On my property i might add. My current one and the one im pulling to bits for the parts. She said that im being a nusicence and that i shouldn't be doing it there and its an eyesore. I said im more than happy to throw some car covers over it but its the only space i have to do it. Still wasnt happy so asked her if she wanted to pay a £400 workshop rental for me for a month and she didn't like that either. There is no winning. I dont spill anything. It all get cleared and goes to work. I dont leave a mess. I dont make noise late. And its the first time ive done it on the driveway. Usually do it at work.

[ADV_93]

As long as its your own vehicle and you keep noise down and dont work at night there shouldnt be an issue

[Eeyore]

Yeh same issue that I had mate. Now you know how i feel. Sounds like she at least spoke sensibly and wasnt shouting at you though! Just do what you need to do and then look for a unit i reckon. Ill pay if i get to share it whilst i do the swapping of bits from one car to the other. More than happy to pay you to strip and do a few things if you want some extra work? Sure youre busy at the moment though! Im sure tom would be up for having a bit of work space too.

[bigcheez2k3]

Ignore them.

[Connor]

f*ck em, as long as it's on your property/have landlords concent

[Niall]

Your land, you're not causing a problem to others...crack on!

[ginge191]

I used to work out of a garage on a shared estate; Niall etc came down a few times to help out, we used to make a fair amount of mess as everything came out of the garage - we had the usual people come round and complain but we were as polite and courteous as possible.

Kindness kills in these situations. If the authorities get involved , you're well within your rights and continue to be courteous, it'll just wind them up.

[306Dan]

Smile nod and walk away from them it's great to see the expressions they come out with

[Dum-Dum]

Just ignore her, worst that happens is that she calls the Police and the Police tell her not to be daft and to poke it. They might even pay you a visit and see that your not being a problem first before telling her to grow up.

It could be construed as anti social behavior by someone with a stick up their arse ( see here for definition http://content.met.police.uk/Article/Wha...0022084553 ) but you'd never get convicted of anything or get an ASBO (or one of the things that replaced ASBO's) so I wouldn't worry.

If the council or Police are do get called and are shitty with you ask them how it is proportionate for them to stop your legal right to enjoyment of your premises and possessions (in the manner of your hobby) when you are doing something that most normal people would see no problem with.





I know lots of people here have had issues with neighbors complaining about working on cars outside their own house so you are not alone.




Oh and top tips, try and use power tools during the day, 9-5 is preferable and I try not to do it at weekends so people get a lie in. Be careful when you are grinding or welding with regards to sparks and if you are taking something apart try and keep the stripped end facing away from the road so it looks prettier. All that sort of stuff will make you look like a really reasonable and sensible person and anyone comes round knocking. I stick to these rules and have fixed a couple of little things on neighbors cars (boost leak and a bulb) and never have any issue.




You could also keep a diary of any contact you have with her as if she keeps harassing you about it then she MAY commit an offence especially I you have asked her not to speak to you about it any more (say she comes back with the same whinge)






Also if the police do come round Tea and cake/biscuits make many friends

[bashbarnard]

Thanks for all the info guys. I get on with everyone on the estate and they are all friendly. Including her when cars are not involved. I do however like to keep people happy. So i have covered up the stripped hdi so it just looks like an undercover car and have also turned mine round against my fence so it doesnt look like its stripped either. I never use power tools early or late as i myself have my little boy and understand how frustrating it can be in the evenings when they are trying to sleep. Im nothing but nice to everyone round here.

I will keep note of what she said just incase. She is also a police officer. Which doesnt bother me in the slightest. I hardly see how its disturbance of the peach. Most people even stop and ask what im up to and have a chat in a friendly way as im on a dog walking route. Its the first time ive ever had anyone complain though.

[Dum-Dum]

I will keep note of what she said just in case. She is also a police officer. Which doesn't bother me in the slightest. I hardly see how its disturbance of the peace.

It isn't a breach of the queens peace. Your thinking of peace as in peace and quiet but this is a common misconception, it is actually peace as in the opposite of war. Basically its an ancient offence used to stop or prevent any violent conduct.

[bashbarnard]

Ok. You learn something new everyday. Well like ive said i cant see it being a problem any more and if it is ill just ignore it and she will have to live with it.

[insomaniac45]

Lol. you are correct, no matter what you do, you will never win. I had very much the same, but it was with my mother when i was living at home, she moaned my motorbike was in bits again.... lol.

But, i feel you have done the right thing in covering it up. Its always better to try and keep the peace, you never know when you will need a favor

[Iceman299]

I'd tell her to stfu and if anything, create more of an eyesore just to piss her off, but that's just me lol

[Niall]

I'd tell her to stfu and if anything, create more of an eyesore just to piss her off, but that's just me lol

And thats just an awful idea. We all want to have a go at some people occasionally but its never a good idea to do it to those that you have to live next to!

[bashbarnard]

what niall said. as ,uch as that would be fun its not like i rent the house here. I do live here and intend to be here a while. would make life easier if everyone all got on a little

[Pebbles167]

You live next to them out of geographical necessity not personal choice. As long as you're not being unreasonably loud or untidy, just smile, be polite and continue. They'll get used to it.

[ozpug]

Not sure if its the same in your area but there is probably a planning law she could get you with if she complained to local government. Your house is designated for residential use and it could be argued your using it for workshop/wrecker operation. Doesn't sound like she's going that way but its always good to be aware.

[Iceman299]

I'd tell her to stfu and if anything, create more of an eyesore just to piss her off, but that's just me lol

And thats just an awful idea. We all want to have a go at some people occasionally but its never a good idea to do it to those that you have to live next to!

what niall said. as ,uch as that would be fun its not like i rent the house here. I do live here and intend to be here a while. would make life easier if everyone all got on a little

I personally couldn't care less what other people think of me. If i'm doing things on my property that others don't like, that's their problem. Some neighbours are just whingers and will always be that way

[cpikey316_]

My neighbour is always tinkering with things on his drive and if I did it too, he'd probably offer to help!

Dum-dums reasonable enjoyment thing is the answer, you can prove you aren't a scrappy! Maybe a bit of niceness? Is there any car things she needs doing? Bit of a ball ache I know but keeping people sweet is generally the answer.

[r3k1355]

Not sure if its the same in your area but there is probably a planning law she could get you with if she complained to local government. Your house is designated for residential use and it could be argued your using it for workshop/wrecker operation. Doesn't sound like she's going that way but its always good to be aware.

Ther have only been a very limited number of those cases though, and they were required to keep a photographic diary of the various cars coming and going, being stripped and such.
1 or two cars being repaired won't even get a minutes notice with the authorities, what with the cutbacks now they won't even bother to respond to someone complaining.

---

Seeing as she claims to be a copper she probably wants to watch herself anyway, if she attempts to use her contacts, or official powers to cause the OP trouble she can quite rightly be done for it.

[Toms306]

In the UK there are some places, I'd guess most, with strict guidelines on what you can and can't do/have, I'm not sure if they're legal or more to do with the council though. When my area was first built there were a lot of these, no car fixing, no caravans or boats on driveways, no parking on grass verges etc... That was 20 years ago so most won't know lol and it doesn't look like anyone gives a crap about it anymore.

Had similar in my previous village though, with a ban on car maintenance being one - which one of my previous neighbours used to his advantage, ending up with another neighbour having to rent a unit at cost and distance for his race car. He wasn't happy with me working on cars either, but I wasn't close enough to his property for it to be too much of a problem lol.

I don't see why people have such an issue with it though, I can understand if you're making noise and mess everyday and night, but if not, what's the issue!?

[r3k1355]

It's a fuzzy issue when it's written into the deeds, because who's supposed to enforce it??
Technically I think it's planning control or someone like that from the council, but they almost always couldn't give a flying f*ck or don't actually employ anyone to do that job in the first place.

I think my deeds say I'm not allowed to keep ducks/geese or some shit, fairly sure my neighbour has some though.

[cully]

my deeds state no wild foul, industrial machinery, or caravans on our land
walking around the estate you will find it all!

[r3k1355]

It's weird why the say no wild foul as well??

[bashbarnard]

Chickens are also classed as wild fowl. We had to get them written in to deeds as we used to keep some.

[silverzx]

Tell her to f*ck off.

[procta]

just make sure its all tidy and even cover up the two cars, I covered up the MGF so no one would complain, The Reshell, the two were practically out of sight, and the one that was more of an eye sore was closer to the house, all bits, that were getting binned off, were shoved in the old shell, so out of sight out of mind.