I live in the front house that shares a drive with the back house. They have to drive past my house and the fence/gate that borders the shared drive. The fence/gate is at the back of the house - and allows access to our backyard - especially for the lawnmower man.
A fence panel just fell off the fence last weekend due to high winds. So you can see into my backyard. But the fence and the gate is stable and not a danger to anyone.
My woe is - my neighbour whom I have had constant problems with the last 8 years - stuck a note in my letterbox demanding we fix it immediately.
Because at the time, the fence panel had only been off for only 4 days, my husband had yet to fix it as he gets home after dark and we were planning on nailing the panel back on this weekend.
But my neighbour has infuriated me, that I don't want to fix it now and make her think she got her way. We are the only ones that use this gate/fence on the shared drive to our backyard and having a panel missing is not a problem of concern for us. Especially seeing the fence is still standing and it is still serving its purpose.
I can't find anything in the Fencing Act that says I have to do repairs on a fence immediately. Especially seeing this fence does not border her property, but the shared drive. And seeing is not a danger to anyone.
My nice neighbours next door to me were gobsmacked that she sent us a note without giving us the benefit of the doubt to fix it when we were able too. And suggested we don't fix it straight away.
And that is where I feel slightly discriminated against. They own their house. I rent this house off my family trust. But I have an agreement with my family trust, that I can treat this home as if I own it. It is just not in my name. It belongs to my children's Uncle.
My question is: Can I fix the fence panel when I want to?
A bit of history about this neighbour - she wants the shared drive swept constantly. I had her knock on my door one afternoon and lead me up the drive to point out the leaves. At the time, there was only 4 leaves on the drive, but she told me she wants them swept up before they blow down the drive into her parking bay and front door. She was very intimidating and would push her face into my face.
I also have a garden along the shared drive where it is not fenced and this garden is on my property. She has hopped in there and cut my rose bushes back. When she does gather leaves from the shared drive, she had been dumping them all on this garden - which is right outside my daughters bedroom. It took me over 4 wheelbarrow loads to clean this out. She has stopped doing this when I sent her a copy of the plans specifying what was shared drive and what was private property.
Also when the fence was in a bit of dis-repair while we were saving up to fix it. She would constantly close the gate. The gate had been left open securely - as she complained about it swinging out. So once it was securely open, she complained about it being open, saying her grandson wanted to play on our trampoline. Then she changed her tune that she was worried about running over my kids. So in the end, they said they would pay for it. My kids uncle thought this would shut them up. I thought differently.
But when negotiating on the type of repairs, she wanted the whole gate to be removed and a permanent fence erected with no access. Which would mean we had no access to our backyard for the lawnmower man. She kept asking me why we needed the gate - and could not understand why we needed access from the shared drive. The previous owners had a gate here as they had a boat also and for access.
So because I have had so many confrontations with her and her yelling at me about things, I told her she was not allowed to step foot on my property and if anything major needs doing, she is to put it in writing. I did this because she had already trespassed on my gardens and entered my property to close the gate repeatedly. It opens into my property.
A few months after this, I got a note in my letterbox - asking me to cut a palm branch that was obstructing her letterbox access. This branch was not obstructing it, so I just moved it behind another branch. I also took photographic evidence and keep a record of every petty little thing she does.
She wants everything to look pristine, fair enough, so do I - but I am not going to break my back and clean the drive every time she wants it looking good. Which she wants no leaves at all. I don't mind the leaves. They gather along the fence line and don't look bad at all. But she told me off about my trees dropping leaves. But she didn't go and tell the neighbours next door that their leaves were dropping on the drive and to do something about it.
I feel she discriminates us because we are not the homeowner and she wouldn't dare do this to the neighbours on either side.
But because she does Yoga from her house, she does not want her yoga clients looking at my house and the leaves. Which for the life of me I cannot understand why she bought a house at the back of a shared drive. Especially when the first half of the shared drive is where we park our cars and utilise it.
We are seasonal gardeners - so we sweep our end of the shared drive a couple of times a year - especially during spring/summer and the end of autumn once all the leaves have fallen. For some this would be enough, but for her, she wants it done every week.
I've never once put a note in her letterbox telling her it is her turn to clean the drive. Which she never does. She wants us to do it.
Just so depressing that she disrupts the enjoyment of living in our home. The only good thing is the neighbours on either side of me are really nice and make up for her badness.
I look forward to hearing other peoples thoughts and ideas on this. Sorry this was so long.
A fence panel just fell off the fence last weekend due to high winds. So you can see into my backyard. But the fence and the gate is stable and not a danger to anyone.
My woe is - my neighbour whom I have had constant problems with the last 8 years - stuck a note in my letterbox demanding we fix it immediately.
Because at the time, the fence panel had only been off for only 4 days, my husband had yet to fix it as he gets home after dark and we were planning on nailing the panel back on this weekend.
But my neighbour has infuriated me, that I don't want to fix it now and make her think she got her way. We are the only ones that use this gate/fence on the shared drive to our backyard and having a panel missing is not a problem of concern for us. Especially seeing the fence is still standing and it is still serving its purpose.
I can't find anything in the Fencing Act that says I have to do repairs on a fence immediately. Especially seeing this fence does not border her property, but the shared drive. And seeing is not a danger to anyone.
My nice neighbours next door to me were gobsmacked that she sent us a note without giving us the benefit of the doubt to fix it when we were able too. And suggested we don't fix it straight away.
And that is where I feel slightly discriminated against. They own their house. I rent this house off my family trust. But I have an agreement with my family trust, that I can treat this home as if I own it. It is just not in my name. It belongs to my children's Uncle.
My question is: Can I fix the fence panel when I want to?
A bit of history about this neighbour - she wants the shared drive swept constantly. I had her knock on my door one afternoon and lead me up the drive to point out the leaves. At the time, there was only 4 leaves on the drive, but she told me she wants them swept up before they blow down the drive into her parking bay and front door. She was very intimidating and would push her face into my face.
I also have a garden along the shared drive where it is not fenced and this garden is on my property. She has hopped in there and cut my rose bushes back. When she does gather leaves from the shared drive, she had been dumping them all on this garden - which is right outside my daughters bedroom. It took me over 4 wheelbarrow loads to clean this out. She has stopped doing this when I sent her a copy of the plans specifying what was shared drive and what was private property.
Also when the fence was in a bit of dis-repair while we were saving up to fix it. She would constantly close the gate. The gate had been left open securely - as she complained about it swinging out. So once it was securely open, she complained about it being open, saying her grandson wanted to play on our trampoline. Then she changed her tune that she was worried about running over my kids. So in the end, they said they would pay for it. My kids uncle thought this would shut them up. I thought differently.
But when negotiating on the type of repairs, she wanted the whole gate to be removed and a permanent fence erected with no access. Which would mean we had no access to our backyard for the lawnmower man. She kept asking me why we needed the gate - and could not understand why we needed access from the shared drive. The previous owners had a gate here as they had a boat also and for access.
So because I have had so many confrontations with her and her yelling at me about things, I told her she was not allowed to step foot on my property and if anything major needs doing, she is to put it in writing. I did this because she had already trespassed on my gardens and entered my property to close the gate repeatedly. It opens into my property.
A few months after this, I got a note in my letterbox - asking me to cut a palm branch that was obstructing her letterbox access. This branch was not obstructing it, so I just moved it behind another branch. I also took photographic evidence and keep a record of every petty little thing she does.
She wants everything to look pristine, fair enough, so do I - but I am not going to break my back and clean the drive every time she wants it looking good. Which she wants no leaves at all. I don't mind the leaves. They gather along the fence line and don't look bad at all. But she told me off about my trees dropping leaves. But she didn't go and tell the neighbours next door that their leaves were dropping on the drive and to do something about it.
I feel she discriminates us because we are not the homeowner and she wouldn't dare do this to the neighbours on either side.
But because she does Yoga from her house, she does not want her yoga clients looking at my house and the leaves. Which for the life of me I cannot understand why she bought a house at the back of a shared drive. Especially when the first half of the shared drive is where we park our cars and utilise it.
We are seasonal gardeners - so we sweep our end of the shared drive a couple of times a year - especially during spring/summer and the end of autumn once all the leaves have fallen. For some this would be enough, but for her, she wants it done every week.
I've never once put a note in her letterbox telling her it is her turn to clean the drive. Which she never does. She wants us to do it.
Just so depressing that she disrupts the enjoyment of living in our home. The only good thing is the neighbours on either side of me are really nice and make up for her badness.
I look forward to hearing other peoples thoughts and ideas on this. Sorry this was so long.
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