Neighbours satallite dish :/

DearJohn

Hi guys,

I had noticed a thread previously on this one but am not sure what to do.

Basically our neighbours have erected a large satellite dish on front of their house. It's is an awful eyesore. The bracket itself is only about 5 foot off the ground and the dish points down at our drive.

The house is rented via a property mananagment company. We are very happy with the neighbours - very nice + friendly so dont want conflict but the dish is so ugly. We asked the management company to look into it and they were nice about it and said the dish was erected correctly (doubt it) and that owners were happy (suppose as long as rent is paid).

Dont want to cause conflict but would like the dish moved to back of house (where every one elses dish on the road is).

I dont know who to contact about this. I did read on Citizens Info that large dish not allowed on front of house but dont know who to email about it.

Any advice would be most welcome.

Trust me - I am not a perpetually complaining neighbour!

TheDriver

one thing i will say is that maybe these neighbours will be gone in a year or so and it mightn't be worth all the hassle. However you could park a nice high van in your driveway which would block their signal (maybe)

DearJohn

Cheers TheDriver - you are probably being quite logical (in terms of amount of potential hassle) if they are not going to be long term.

Not sure about the large van I do see what you mean re blocking signal all the same. Not sure I am ready for a dirty tricks campaign.

It's a pity as I am sure if landload said you have to move it to the back of house it would be easily resolved with little cost/stress.

slicedpanman

DearJohn wrote: »

Dont want to cause conflict but would like the dish moved to back of house (where every one elses dish on the road is).

If everyone else (on your side of the street) has their dish on the back of their house then your neighbours dish is pointing north

I suspect that everyone else on your street and the other side of the road has their dish on the back of the house and people on your side would have to have it on the front to point (roughtly) south

Sat Dishes have to point in a roughly southerly direction and you neighbours probably have no choice but to put the dish out front... and as the driver said -> they'll probably be gone in a year.

if not ask them if they have any free lnb connectors on the dish and maybe they'll let you hook up to a spare connection

bladespin

Check the planning regulations, we had to remove a dish (small) from the front of our house due to this.

DearJohn

@SlicedPanMan all dishes defo not on front. I believe u can get a bracket to allow you to hang dish on back of house or on chimney.

@bladespin Checked out this link: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/housing/planning-permission/planning_perm_altering_a_house

which says "A satellite dish (up to 1 metre in diameter, and no higher than the top of the roof) at the back or side of the house (a dish on the front needs planning permission). Only one dish may be erected on a house".

I'm just not sure who to contact about it. Fairly sure the dish shouldnt be there tbh.

slicedpanman

Here are couple of posts about the legal side of things for dishes...
thread 1
thread 2

However, I'd be very careful about going that way - putting the dish out front may be their only option; chimney mounting a dish is not recommended (poor access for maint and if its a medium to large dish the wind load may damage the chimney) -> the landlord would be against a chinmey mount and probably would prefer if they didn't add any kind of bracket to the house at all

Basically you could get it removed if you do complain but if the neighbors loose access to their TV stations because you don't like the look of their dish they will not be happy, not by a long shot.

Johnmb

Stop looking into your neighbours garden, and their dish won't bother you any more. Simple. As long as its not causing any danger to you or your property, you are in fact just being a complaining neighbour.

muincav

Johnmb wrote: »

Stop looking into your neighbours garden, and their dish won't bother you any more. Simple. As long as its not causing any danger to you or your property, you are in fact just being a complaining neighbour.

Wow Johnmb-you are a brilliant help, do you work for a Government Department? I just cant believe how helpfull you have been to the op...:rolleyes:

watty

Install a fence or grow a hedge.

John mac

any pictures?

Minstrel27

muincav wrote: »

Wow Johnmb-you are a brilliant help, do you work for a Government Department? I just cant believe how helpfull you have been to the op...:rolleyes:

Why would advising someone to not be a nosey neighbour indicate that they have a job in a government department?

DeltaC

Just a thought but if houses do not face due north or south it is POSSIBLE neighbours are pointed at 19.2e for German Channels (or by mistake and wondering why they can't get UK channels) and there is a eutelsat at 13E too...instead of 28E for Astra and Eurobird (which covers freesat and Sky too)...and getting better reception in front.

A LARGE dish suggests they are trying to get European channels that are in different directions again.

See how the direction of their dish compares to others on street to know...

Why not drop over and helpfully suggest that they will get a far better reception in the back

Hopefully, PROBLEM SOLVED...AND you get a nice bottle of wine for a "thank you"

greendom

DeltaC wrote: »

Just a thought but if houses do not face due north or south it is POSSIBLE neighbours are pointed at 19.2e for German Channels (or by mistake and wondering why they can't get UK channels) and there is a eutelsat at 13E too...instead of 28E for Astra and Eurobird (which covers freesat and Sky too)...and getting better reception in front.

A LARGE dish suggests they are trying to get European channels that are in different directions again.

See how the direction of their dish compares to others on street to know...

Why not drop over and helpfully suggest that they will get a far better reception in the back

Hopefully, PROBLEM SOLVED...AND you get a nice bottle of wine for a "thank you"

Yes, especially if you agree to foot the cost of the move. If it is such an eyesore for you, you'd be happy to do that I'm sure.

Tony

Boy what a helpful post.

Fact is that planning regulations state that dishes should not be placed at the front of the house for the vary reason that the OP is unhappy about, they just dont look good especially as its seems its larger than a 60 cm dish.

I'd be very surprised if it was not possible to have the dish mounted on a stand off bracket and pole at the back of the house.

Johnmb wrote: »

Stop looking into your neighbours garden, and their dish won't bother you any more. Simple. As long as its not causing any danger to you or your property, you are in fact just being a complaining neighbour.

Johnmb

Tony wrote: »

Boy what a helpful post.

Fact is that planning regulations state that dishes should not be placed at the front of the house for the vary reason that the OP is unhappy about, they just dont look good especially as its seems its larger than a 60 cm dish.

I'd be very surprised if it was not possible to have the dish mounted on a stand off bracket and pole at the back of the house.

So by that logic I should be able to complain about the neighbours painting their house a colour I don't like? In fact, I just had a look in some of the neighbours gardens here and realised that a guy a few doors up has a Nissan Micra parked in his garden!!! How much is that piece of junk devaluing my house by? How do I get it removed? Of course, it isn't actually doing me any harm (except when he takes it out of his garden to use), but sure neither is anyone's satellite dish. If it ain't a danger then it shouldn't be a problem to anyone who isn't just being awkward. In fact, in a later post the OP seems to suggest putting it on the chimney which is something that could pose a danger, especially if it is a shared chimney! Stop being awkward and leave you neighbours alone as long as they aren't damaging you or your property.

And on a slightly more serious note, I have just realised that about 60% of the people on my side of the road do have a dish on the front of their house. See, my original advise does work, I never really looked before and therefore was never bothered by the eyesores. I'm still not bothered, but now I know they're there....

Tony

I have no clue as to what you can or cant complain about I'm merely stating what the current planning regulations are pertaining to satellite. If you want to rant on about issues other than satellite then you need to go to another forum.

If you dont read this thread then it wont bother you to paraphrase your own earlier unhelpful contribution.

DearJohn

@greendom I wouldnt object to footing the bill to get a technician out to move the dish. Its not a regular Sky Minidish (I aint too technical but its considerable larger than dish we have for Sky - its a solid dish not mesh style if you get me)

slicedpanman

DearJohn wrote: »

... Its not a regular Sky Minidish (I aint too technical but its considerable larger than dish we have for Sky...

Where is your sky dish placed on your house? And is the neighbours dish pointing in the exact same direction? [based on that we'll be able to tell if its possible to move the dish easily and if they are getting FreeSat/Sky or some other sat]

DearJohn

My dish is on the back of my house beneath the gutter its not pointing in same direction as neighbours new dish. Defo looks like one of those Freeview Lidl type dishes (pls forgive my ignorance on this one).

slicedpanman

DearJohn wrote: »

My dish is on the back of my house beneath the gutter its not pointing in same direction as neighbours new dish. Defo looks like one of those Freeview Lidl type dishes (pls forgive my ignorance on this one).

no problem on the ignorance.... we all start somewhere
Well if the neighbours is pointing is a different direction then they are defo trying to pick up a different sat.

If you were standing directly in front of your sky dish looking at it in line with the arm (i.e. standing in your back garden looking towards the front and in a straight line along the bit sticking out from the dish with the lnb+cable at the end) - would you say that the neighbours dish is pointed to the left? or right of your dish? and if so could you hazard a guess at roughly how far left/right (in degrees) its pointing?

Update: see attached crappy jpg --> could you let us know the correct layout? i.e. you on the left or right? rough directions for the dishes

Ger Roe

I have an 80cm motorised dish mounted on a pole off the rear of my house. The dish is just above gutter level and is not visible from the front - no problems with over five years of use.

I recently set up a 60cm dish as a favour for an elderly neighbour where I didn't want to get involved in an extensive installation. The dish is located at the front of the house, right against the front wall but with the bracket mounted on a solid brick buried in the garden at ground level. The dish is two inches off the ground and obscured by bushes at street viewing, but it obvioulsy receives a signal - coax is drilled through the windowframe in to the TV.

Technically it may still be contrary to planning regs (forward of the front facing wall), but it is almost invisible to the casual passer by - there are ways of doing it, without sticking the dish high up on your front wall. It's not a professional option, but it certainly works in the particular circumstance and since I am the next door neighbour in this case, I don't see the dish.

Tony

Ger Roe wrote: »

I It's not a professional option, but it certainly works in the particular circumstance and since I am the next door neighbour in this case, I don't see the dish.

Nice one, if everybody's happy the what the hell.

Johnmb

Tony wrote: »

I have no clue as to what you can or cant complain about I'm merely stating what the current planning regulations are pertaining to satellite. If you want to rant on about issues other than satellite then you need to go to another forum.

If you dont read this thread then it wont bother you to paraphrase your own earlier unhelpful contribution.

My point was that if the only problem that the OP had was that he didn't like the look of the dish, then it is incredibly stupid for him to start reporting them for planning issues or anything else. There are lots of things that people have in their gardens, on their walls, etc that can be regarded as eye sores, but you just ignore those other things. People who are quite and good neighbours now might not remain so with someone who was to get that petty over a dish that was doing them no harm, why risk any backlash?

Tony

Well it seems its a big enough problem for the OP that he/she came on here looking for advise on how to handle it in the best way. We do not know how much of an eyesore it is and its for the OP to judge this as its his problem.

If it were me I'd try talking to the neighbours first

Calling him a complaining neighbour and incredibly stupid is unhelpful

Johnmb wrote: »

My point was that if the only problem that the OP had was that he didn't like the look of the dish, then it is incredibly stupid for him to start reporting them for planning issues or anything else.

I think watty's solution is best actually.
Install a nice wooden panel fence to obscure the view of the dish.
Plant a fast growing hedge on the outside of that if you like aswell.
Would a 6ft panel fence obscure the dish?
Some of these panel fences can be quite nice!

gbee

DearJohn wrote: »

Not sure about the large van I do see what you mean re blocking signal all the same. Not sure I am ready for a dirty tricks campaign..

No, it'd be clamped and eventually towed away and would accumulate €160 in charges daily.

mustang68

You might go to the website of your local council and see how you can report a planning violation, normally it is free & anonymous, they are also obligated to investigate, they can't just ignore your report or not follow up. This may be a good solution if you don't want to go and talk to them if you feel it might get out of hand.

DearJohn

HI Mustang68 - great stuff will chase this one up so. Thanks a mill.

Srooney03

Hi guys,

I had noticed a thread previously on this one but am not sure what to do.

Basically our neighbours have erected a large satellite dish on front of their house. It's is an awful eyesore. The bracket itself is only about 5 foot off the ground and the dish points down at our drive.

The house is rented via a property mananagment company. We are very happy with the neighbours - very nice + friendly so dont want conflict but the dish is so ugly. We asked the management company to look into it and they were nice about it and said the dish was erected correctly (doubt it) and that owners were happy (suppose as long as rent is paid).

Dont want to cause conflict but would like the dish moved to back of house (where every one elses dish on the road is).

I dont know who to contact about this. I did read on Citizens Info that large dish not allowed on front of house but dont know who to email about it.

Any advice would be most welcome.

Trust me - I am not a perpetually complaining neighbour!

---

I cany believe what i am reading here,its people like you that have this country in the state its in...time wasters you have nothing else to be worried about

homer911

This is all DLR have to say about it on their website:

http://www.dlrcoco.ie/planning/oftenasked.htm
(#14)

Best to contact your local Planning Dept and ask them about enforcement

DLR below:
http://www.dlrcoco.ie/planning/Contact_Details.htm

kbell

mustang68 wrote: »

You might go to the website of your local council and see how you can report a planning violation, normally it is free & anonymous, they are also obligated to investigate, they can't just ignore your report or not follow up. This may be a good solution if you don't want to go and talk to them if you feel it might get out of hand.

About 2 years ago in an estate not far from me, a resident took the same approach about a neighbours Sky dish on the front of their house.The local council came out and had a look.
Whilst they were there, they also looked at the whole estate, and issued 19 warnings to residents to remove their dishes from the front of their properties.
Needless to say when the identity of the complaining resident was established, he wasn't the most popular person in the community..

STB

kbell wrote: »

About 2 years ago in an estate not far from me, a resident took the same approach about a neighbours Sky dish on the front of their house.The local council came out and had a look.
Whilst they were there, they also looked at the whole estate, and issued 19 warnings to residents to remove their dishes from the front of their properties.
Needless to say when the identity of the complaining resident was established, he wasn't the most popular person in the community..

People who worry about what other people will say can hide in the back of their cupboard or behind their curtain pretending there is no problem.

You have to be proactive. There is nothing wrong with protecting the value (or non value for many just right now) of your property. Satellite dishes are unsightly if in plain view, especially off the front of houses. There is no reason why Astra sat dishes should be out the front or hanging off the side of houses. I guess that in a lot of cases that these were installed by amateurs or cowboys. There is no reason that they cant be out someones back unless that space is the size of a coal bunker. That most people think they have to placed like aerials ie high is part of the home installers problem.

To the op go to http://www.dishpointer.com/ and enter your address which will pull up the google map, zoom in as far as you can and identify your neighbours house. Check 28.2 etc, 19.2 16.2E and 13E. You should be able to tell what the the satellite is currently pointing at. You can then tell by dragging the pointer to that persons back garden to see if there are any problems with repositioning it.

Calibos

OP, you're not in Bray are you?

I think everyone can agree that ideally none of us would like to see dishes on the front of houses but on a Southern facing Terrace especially there aren't many other options. Surely we can all agree that a row of houses with a rake of dishes on the front is not attractive. However, I think most of us can agree that we aren't going to complain to neighbours about it.

That said I think anything beyond 60cm is taking the piss.

As you come off the N11 onto the Southern Cross road at the south end of Bray, past the Woodies Roundabout and drive past the Swimming Pool on the left, you then drive past a council estate. I swear to God, there is a 1.2-1.4m dish mounted half way up the front wall of a south facing house(Terrace). Its the most bizarre dish installation I have ever seen. I can only assume the owner is someone the neighbours don't want to mess with because the dish has been there a few years now.

Tony

Calibos wrote: »

but on a Southern facing Terrace especially there aren't many other options. .

Yes there are, a stand off bracket with pole can be used. I have seen a great many terraces (even one on the diy video on my site) where its possible to put the dishes on the back. If everyone on the terrace is fine with it theres no problem.

watty

Calibos wrote: »

OP, you're not in Bray are you?

I think everyone can agree that ideally none of us would like to see dishes on the front of houses but on a Southern facing Terrace especially there aren't many other options. Surely we can all agree that a row of houses with a rake of dishes on the front is not attractive. However, I think most of us can agree that we aren't going to complain to neighbours about it.

That said I think anything beyond 60cm is taking the piss.

You can fit a large stand off bracket and dish on north facing wall.

Far West, Donegal, Most of Kerry and West Cork need 80cm to have same rain margin on Astra 2A, 2B and especially Eurobird as 65cm gives anywhere on the Island for Astra 2D. (Sky / Freesat reception)

You need 110cm most places for decent rain margin from any other satellite.

Since there is NO Irish Satellite, people wanting Hotbird, Astra 19E, Turksat etc have no less rights than people wanting 28E (the UK services). Sky Ireland is 99.5% the UK service.

n97 mini

Complain to the planning enforcement section of your local authority.

Mounting a dish on the front of a house contravenes the Planning & Development Act, 2000.

byte

On housing estates where dishes are mounted on the front walls, I don't think they'd look too bad, if every house had the dish mounted in the same place, making it a bit uniform.

But that is never the case. Dishes mounted sporadically from house to house.

Mike 1972

Jays I dont know what youre all complaining about.

In Poland they (quite rightly) reckon satellite dishes are lovely. Down in Krakow they even make sculptures out of them.

(see link)

mixed up

Thank god i don't live beside the op it's a sad day if all you have to do is complain about your neighbours satellite dish.

Mike 1972

TBH I reckon a lot of the objections to satellite dishes are a hangover from the days when they were seen as rich mans toys (and were a lot bigger) and are rooted in a degree of inverse snobbery/begrudgery. (odd in an upmarket apartment development but there you go) The same applies to the hysteria over "mobile phone masts". While inappropriate sitting and poor choice of dish type (e.g. black dishes on white buildings or two dishes on a semi D where one would do) can be problematic at times there are a lot uglier things people can put on their homes with impunity.

HarryPotter41

God help anyone around there who picks a hideous pair of curtains for their front room.

Tony

HarryPotter41 wrote: »

God help anyone around there who picks a hideous pair of curtains for their front room.

Ridiculous and unhelpful comment. Curtains are not regulated by the planning laws, satellite dishes are.

HarryPotter41

Tony wrote: »

Ridiculous and unhelpful comment. Curtains are not regulated by the planning laws, satellite dishes are.

Its a comment to reflect how little people have to worry about in life.

Johnmb

Tony wrote: »

Ridiculous and unhelpful comment. Curtains are not regulated by the planning laws, satellite dishes are.

Principle is the same whether you like it or not. The OP is not objecting because of any practical reason, he is objecting because he doesn't like the look of it. And the stupidity of that reasoning has been pointed out by a few posters, referring to the fact that there are many things that people don't like the look of that can be seen in gardens, and those people shouldn't become bad neighbours because of it.

Tony

HarryPotter41 wrote: »

Its a comment to reflect how little people have to worry about in life.

None of us here have actually seen the situation the OP is referring too so why is everyone so quick to judge?

HarryPotter41

Tony wrote: »

None of us here have actually seen the situation the OP is referring too so why is everyone so quick to judge?

I have no idea why you have been so quick to judge. Unless the dish is 3 meters wide I doubt it is as bad as the OP claims, the management company have no problem with it. Its a complete over reaction by the OP.

Tony

Johnmb wrote: »

and those people shouldn't become bad neighbours because of it.

Thats why the OP asked for advice in order to prevent any fall out, instead he was greeted by several judgemental comments by people who had not actually seen what he had to deal with.

The planning laws forbid dishes on the front of houses for good reason and there is no good reason for them to be on the front except perhaps the installer did not give the option of a stand off or its a DIY job and the owner is not aware that it can work on the back of the house.

as they saying goes "if you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem"

Less criticism and more helpful advice as to how to resolve the issue to everyones satisfaction is the way to go in my view regardless of what you think of the Op's views.

Tony

HarryPotter41 wrote: »

I have no idea why you have been so quick to judge.

Thats a shame , thought we were having a reasonable debate

HarryPotter41

Tony wrote: »

Thats a shame , thought we were having a reasonable debate

We are, if all the neighbours were unhappy then the management company would do something, obviously there has only been one complaint. There are so many things going on in life that are actually worth being bothered about, this is one of them. Does he spend endless nights sitting outside the house gazing at the neighbours front wall? doubt it, why is the dish going to be such a problem?

Tony

HarryPotter41 wrote: »

We are,

Your last comment indicates otherwise.(which I see you have now edited)

HarryPotter41 wrote: »

I have no idea why you have been so quick to judge.

Yet another thread heading for closure.

The guy asked for advice on how to handle the situation not everyones view on whether he was right or wrong.