Messy neighbour. Should I confront or ignore?

Jonathan_Powell

A few month ago we had new neighbours move in and from the start you got the impression they were going to be eventful; from the constant cursing whilst speaking on the phone (so loud that I'm hearing it clearly from my bedroom with the windows shut) to one of their friends being drunk 8am in the morning, staggering around, falling into parked cars and causing a whole scene.

One thing that's definitely becoming an issue is the rubbish. Where we live, we don't have bins but instead out the bags out the night before to be collected. Every now and again he foxes will get to one but people just clean up their mess. It's not uncommon to see a neighbour in someone else's front garden picking up garbage from a bin that tore open.

With these neighbours however, it happens all the time. Primarily because they have their bins and other rubbish out in the open for days and not just the night before collection. If a bin is torn, hey also do bag it up again and just keep it outside for the wind and animals to disperse it even more.

It was quite bad on Monday. There was a pack of open pork chops (with the meat still inside) right outside my door. Rubbish in the front garden of myself and my neighbours. In front of their house there will be dirty tissues and things blowing around. I've never seen them clean any of this up and it's usually there until nature sends it somewhere else.

For a lack of a better term, they come across quite chavvy and my partner and I have already said to ourselves will pay as little attention to them as possible. The rubbish however is getting quite bad.

Any advice? 

coffeehound

You can't reason with unreasonable people.  Probably best to put up with the mess rather than potentially get into a conflict with them.

FreeBear

Jonathan_Powell said:

A few month ago we had new neighbours move in

Rented accommodation ?

Wait for the landlord to get tired of their antics.

Owned outright ?

They could be there for life, so your options are stay & ignore or move.

FaceHead

Do you own or rent? If you own you might not want to get into a dispute which might be declarable when you come to sell, which you might do sooner rather than later if they are seriously problem neighbours.

Putting rubbish out on a non-bin day (where I live, before 8pm the night before) constitutes flytipping. You can report this as such and theoretically it's a fineable offence. You can also report the attraction of vermin etc. to environmental health. If renting, or owning and going to stay put 10+ years, definitely report to council. The council might have a word, which probably won't make any difference.

Which leaves you at the options of 'ignore' or 'move'.  

Grizzlebeard

First call is Local Council, Health & Safety or Environmental office about the rubbish (raw meat etc.). Even if you get the wrong number you'll be put through to the right department. They should actually keep you anonymous to stop aggravation, although neighbors may guess.

Council can issue orders and fines if they think rules are breached.
Probably won't lead to better behavior but is the correct civil approach.

mug2007

When we lived in Milton Keynes it was bagged collection, nightmare, whenever someone had a chicken carcass or something it would end up strewn all over the road.  We have since moved to a wheelie bin area, much better .  I would be tempted to ignore, if at all possible, as strong possibility things could get worse.  You could try the polite approach, wish our council provided wheelie bins and you could try  raising the problem with the council so they are aware.

Teapot55

(This won’t be read by bad neighbours but) I put ‘grotty’ stuff into a small recycled bag and place in freezer till bin day - stops smells, flies, maggots, rats, cats, seagulls …

Rosa_Damascena

It saddens me that dreadful neighbours can so negatively impact on a person's quality of life and people essentially have to put up with it.

rach_k

I'd report it to the council and keep doing so every time it happens.  It sounds like a bad combination of inconsiderate neighbours and an impractical rubbish collection situation, so maybe the council should be considering using bins.  

I would report it as a general issue e.g. "There is rubbish blowing down Road Street, a lot of it near my house at No 1"  rather than reporting the neighbour specifically, so you aren't in a potential dispute situation.  If the council decides to investigate and pursue the neighbour for it, that's their decision.  

Jonathan_Powell

Ironically, they're the only neighbours with a wheelie bin outside their house. Either it's full or they are not using it. We live in an area where everyone is old and only move out when they die. In the 5 years I've been here, 3 people on our small road have died and the house has been sold. 4 if you include the person who died in our house which paved the way for us to buy our place.

Each time you just hope the person who moves in is decent. Friendly neighbours have moved in right next to us, though the really bad cooking smells stink up the whole area every now and again. Other neighbours seem to be alright, never spoken to them but noticed the lady smokes all the time and she's very pregnant. 

Rosa_Damascena

Jonathan_Powell said:

Ironically, they're the only neighbours with a wheelie bin outside their house. Either it's full or they are not using it. We live in an area where everyone is old and only move out when they die. In the 5 years I've been here, 3 people on our small road have died and the house has been sold. 4 if you include the person who died in our house which paved the way for us to buy our place.

Each time you just hope the person who moves in is decent. Friendly neighbours have moved in right next to us, though the really bad cooking smells stink up the whole area every now and again. Other neighbours seem to be alright, never spoken to them but noticed the lady smokes all the time and she's very pregnant. 

If the neighbourhood has changed maybe its time for you to think about relocating too.

Interestingly the opposite has happened in an area close to my parent's home. A couple of renters in a row of flats are now starting to take a real pride in their front gardens (this is a transformation after 40+ years) and its having a halo effect of the rest, gradually the rest are following suit