Council insisting I clean up my back yard... can they do this?>

phoebe1989seb

That does seem really odd, unless as another poster said your tenants tidied before taking the pics they sent you.......

In our village we have one empty property - previously let out, but no-one has lived there since we bought our house over two years ago - and the rear *garden* is completely overgrown. The owner is bankrupt and lives in a different part of the country. To my knowledge nothing has been done about the state of that garden.

We also have a neighbour (a friend for whose house we now hold a key as he recently discovered rats had got into the building ) lives in London and who rarely visits his cottage here. He has been known to leave it 18 months between visits and his very large garden - which adjoins ours, although his house does not - is also like a jungle with huge unkempt trees, grass that hasn't been cut for years and an awful mole infestation. We even had to get our plumber to fix his outdoor tap that sprung a leak and was spraying water in all directions for literally months on end and had actually started to turn our lawn into a quagmire. The council haven't taken any action regarding that situation either.

Not only that, but we have been carrying out extensive building work over the past two years and until fairly recently our rear garden resembled a cross between a building site and a reclamation yard......at one time we had over 8 tonnes of boulders out there - thank god the council didn't see that!

What I'm trying to say in my roundabout way, lol, is that whilst I've heard of councils sending out letters about trees/hedges over-hanging footpaths etc, I've never heard of them doing so in relation to untidy gardens - unless perhaps they are visible from the public highway........or a neighbour has reported vermin etc

Councils do get things wrong. I remember once when we lived on the South Coast a lovely character property had a notice outside saying that the council had turned up one day and removed all the planting (including mature trees and specimen shrubs) in the front garden whilst the owners were out, when in actual fact they had the wrong house and were meant to have been at another property that had plants obstructing the highway!

Does make me think the letter has been sent in error OP........

Andehh

I say post up the pics to give us a full idea of the 'picture' here. The letter may have been sent in error, but if the council stand by what they said there is something we/you arn't being told .

evoke

Almost certainly a neighbour has had a problem with rats and are trying to find the property that may be responsible.

macman

Which dept of the council is advising you of this? Ask them under what legislation they intend to take this action.
The only possible justification is for this to be done by EH, if it's deemed a health hazard. Rats or other infestation in rubbish usually.

SJshah

The council hasn't provided you with the correct justification to force you to clear the garden, write to them asking to confirm exactly what's wrong and why they want it cleared. Since it's a private property you shouldn't need to do anything unless there is an issue which affects the surrounding area, such as an infestation, drainage problems, mess visible to public etc.

Council workers like to over-reach their rights so don't let them intimidate you. Get them to provide the correct evidence and justification for what they are asking of you.

Contains_Mild_Peril

I agree with the above: you should ask the council for clarification of exactly what they think the problem is. If there is deemed to be a public health risk, the Environmental Health department may be able to insist on action, but they have no right to carry out work on your property and charge you for it for purely aesthetic reasons. One relevant legal precedent in England is the case of hoarder Richard Wallace, who successfully defended his right to keep his garden overgrown and cluttered because it was not causing any health and safety issues to anyone else, and being perceived as an eyesore was ruled not to be a sufficient reason to force him to have it tidied (and I'm sure your garden is much tidier than his).

katejo

Councils do make some unexpected demands and are unreasonably abrupt in their approach. Earlier this year I got a complaint about location of my bins. I am in a terrace and have very limited space at the front. I have to fit 3 large bins in and fall over them just trying to get to my door. I got a letter earlier this year threatening me with a large fine in court if i left 1 bin on the pavement. I wrote back to complain about the tone of the letter.