Boundry "issues"

LoTwan

I am not sure if this belongs here but it was the best option from the list.

During the Summer I took down 2 staggered rows of laylandii which were planted 1m & 2m inside the boundry of my land. They had been insitu for 30ish years and there was no fence behind them marking the boundry. The trees were in place when I bought the land. As they were acting as a natural boundry once they were removed there was nothing physically seperating the two fields along the 15m or so that they were planted.

Truth be told I did nothing about establishing a boundry because, well, I didn't. Now the owner of the neighbouring field is pushing me to put up a fence and a "good strong one" at that in order to insure that her cows don't get into my field.

To add insult to injury my "guy" has done his back in and I have no one to actually put up a fence and she just called, at 10.40 at night, to tell me that the animals need to graze and I am putting her in a difficult position.

So my questions are... who is responsible for erecting a fence? Me, because I took down the natural boundry which was in fact 1m inside my land or her, because she wants to keep her cows in? and who gets to decide what type of fence it should be? If I put up a fence it will be sufficient to keep my kids off her land which is all I need it to be. If she wants to keep her cows in surely she needs to make sure that there is a suitable fence in place to keep the cows in.

muffler

As always you need to engage in some form of dialogue and see if you can both come to some arrangement.

Id just like to point out that we can't discuss the legalities of the situation here as you need your legal eagles for that.

LoTwan

I had planned to talk to my solicitor in the morning & to then call the neighbour. Was just wondering if anyone had any experience of a similar issue.

RKQ

LoTwan wrote: »

If I put up a fence it will be sufficient to keep my kids off her land which is all I need it to be.

I won't discuss legalities here.
But just from a practical point of view, what happens if your fence that is sufficient to keep your kids off her land does nothing to stop her cows entering your garden?
I doubt you'll be happy if the cows make a mess of your garden in the wet winter months ahead.

I suggest that you negoitate a practical & mutually benefical settlement with your neighbour.

LoTwan

HAHAHA I wish I had a garden to destroy. I will however need to keep her cows out of my building site. I just don't want to end up footing the bill for the whole thing.

Mellor

Agree to split the cost,
Agree on a type.

Not that hard.

If you can't agree to split the cost, then it gets messy

LoTwan

Mellor wrote: »

Agree to split the cost,
Agree on a type.

Not that hard.

If you can't agree to split the cost, then it gets messy

It shouldn't be that hard, should it?

Solicitor said get the actual boundary line marked out & that the cost should be split which I am happy with. Neighbour says she wants barbed wire (which neither the solicitor nor I are happy with because I have young children) and she is unwilling to pay for it.

Engineer is marking the boundary in the morning & I can take it from there.

Mellor

If she point black refuses to pay, then imo you can install whatever you want. Along the line mapped out.

Poor Uncle Tom

I'm just reading between the lines here, so to speak, but would it be true to say that your site was part of this lady's farm at one point?

If this is the case then the boundry issue is likely to be dealt with in the deeds for the site which would have been drawn up at the time of the original sale. I would further say that it is likely that the boundry is called up in the deeds as being stock proof and not child proof. It is also likely that the deeds will state who is responsible for providing and maintaining the fence.

You would be best to give your solicitor a call on this.

CJhaughey

The fastest and cheapest thing you could do would be to buy an electric fence energizer and however many plastic standards you need to mark the fence out + a roll of electric fence tape/string and do it that way until the issue is properly sorted.
energizers are arounud €100 for a mains unit, and the rest are not that dear.

RKQ

100% agree with CJhaughey - excellent idea.
An electric fence is cheap, effective, quick temporary solution and stock proof. This idea will give time to both parties, which might ease tensons and avoid an argument.

As IMO boundary issues can fester quickly between neighbours and result in permanent bad feeling, if not resolved diplomatically.

Unwilling

CJ and RFQ - OP has mentioned that there are children involved, hence the previous objection to barbed wire fences. At a guess, I'd say electric fences are not a viable option either!!

CJhaughey

I have kids and they don't go through the electric fence.
Run 4 strands of wire and it will be an effective deterrent for kids as well.

RKQ

Unwilling wrote: »

At a guess, I'd say electric fences are not a viable option either!!

From personal experience children tend to stay away from danger, if told by their parents. Young teenage boys are more likely to play "dare" with an electric fence. They'll soon get tired as the shock is similar to a kick in the backside (I was a teenage once:D)

Cows are also quite clever and quickly learn what happens if they touch the wire on the white poles. Cows will stay away from the fence.

The same applies to a barbed wire fence, young children will stay away from it. I'd prefer an electric fence - a light shock will be sore but it won't scar, cut or slice - unlike barbed wire.
Of couse a kick from a cow could be quite painful, or even fatal to a child.

LoTwan

Thanks for all the information guys.

We did not buy the land from this woman nor was the land hers at any time. The site has been as it is now for at least the last 70 years and was bounded by a natural hedgerow which was augmented by fence posts and sheep wire in some places over time.

The best temporary option for me right now is to go out and buy a battery, electric tape & appropriate stakes and make a temporary boundary to get this woman to stop calling me while I get on with the process of building the house. It also gets around the fact that my guy who will be doing the fence has thrown out his back. This way I am just buying now the thing I will need to get in years to come and I am not paying for a fence that will be moved when the tree stumps have to get taken out.

I would rather a short sharp shock for the boys than an incident with barbed wire.

Thanks for the brainstorming

fishfoodie

RKQ wrote: »

From personal experience children tend to stay away from danger, if told by their parents. Young teenage boys are more likely to play "dare" with an electric fence. They'll soon get tired as the shock is similar to a kick in the backside (I was a teenage once:D)

Cows are also quite clever and quickly learn what happens if they touch the wire on the white poles. Cows will stay away from the fence.

The same applies to a barbed wire fence, young children will stay away from it. I'd prefer an electric fence - a light shock will be sore but it won't scar, cut or slice - unlike barbed wire.
Of couse a kick from a cow could be quite painful, or even fatal to a child.

+1. The Op could also put some of the Plastic Polybarrier you can get for putting around ground works on his side of the fence, to deter the kids from going near the electric fence. It again just needs some stakes to nail it to & is just a temporary solution, but its quick & cheap enough.

Mellor

Unwilling wrote: »

CJ and RFQ - OP has mentioned that there are children involved, hence the previous objection to barbed wire fences. At a guess, I'd say electric fences are not a viable option either!!

They also mentioned that the site was still in construction and the electric fence was suggested as a temporary option