Dumping of green waste onto private property, not visible from public road, illegal?

An Ri rua

Hello all.

Hoping ye can cast some light. I AM NOT seeking legal advice. I am meeting our family solicitor on Thursday for that. I AM seeking robust discussion that may give insights as to potential routes that could be taken, should others find themselves in similar predicaments to that which I describe.

We have a small field with a laneway that runs the full-length of one of the houses while the field runs the full length behind a number of houses.

We have a hostile neighbour who has spent, it seems, the best part of multiple years dumping large amounts of green waste (and it would appear non-green waste, but not refuse, as yet unknown) over his side perimeter fence into our lane.

Back a few years ago, the issue came up originally (trees cut at base on our lane, gate opened in fence!!) and solicitor's letters were fired off and some returned and some remediation occurred. Because of my father's rapidly declining health (he has since died), he unfortunately made serious (no ability possible or intent meant) threats, angrily and stupidly, against the offender, at his own home. Not good. This caused my ailing father to retreat onto the back foot and in his last 2 years alive, it seems his ailing health was taken advantage of to the extreme.

What recourse is there for us legally and practically. If there is no recourse legally for private landowners (even though there is casuistic evidence as mentioned) when others dump ample green waste and more (branches, wood fence planks etc) on their property, is it legally acceptable to return all waste over the fence. I have asked a practically-oriented digger driver to 'walk' the lane and he tells me, on initial inspection, that this tramp has left AT LEAST two days' work for someone else to clear up.

If there is recourse legally (I can prove that large amounts of green waste match tree breasting which Google Streetview show to have been his and now breasted), then what is the course of action?

We are meeting with the family solicitor this week who will have handled the initial malevolent attack on our property and boundaries a few years ago. The 'offender' is a director of a well-known national organic brand. Should there be sufficient evidence to pin him to this on this occasion, I intend to cause maximum damage PR-wise to his family's brand. I do not tolerate those who bully elderly people.

I would appreciate the legal viewpoint on the issue of green waste / cuttings thrown on our property. And more. planks. Cut timber. Hopefully not refuse. But LOTS and LOTS. Disgusting. I might add that I am aware that cuttings from our foliage could legally be thrown back (in UK anyway) but, seeing as he went to the rounds of cutting our planted evergreens at the base, they have not been in a position to shed anything in recent years...

I am not a malevolent person. But exceedingly tenacious. I would prefer to find that we have legal redress. Second-best would be to find that, provided I provide my own labour, I am free to throw my newly-acquired green waste back into his property; causing of course no material damage in the process. Or could it be that he may dump on my property but that I may not on his?

This neighbour, being of farming stock, is an ignorant thug hiding behind the veneer of SME Ireland and deserves to be outed for intimidating old people and immoral dumping. That is a further step I may take should we have legal right to redress firstly. It has gone on too long to ignore or compromise.

RATM

The 'offender' is a director of a well-known national organic brand. Should there be sufficient evidence to pin him to this on this occasion, I intend to cause maximum damage PR-wise to his family's brand. I do not tolerate those who bully elderly people.

Theres your solution right away. Buy a cheap battery driven CCTV and stick it in the nearest ditch. Record, record, record all onto a memory card and then download it. Ensure his face is clearly visible while he is illegally dumping. Illegal dumping is a story that the media come across all the time and wouldn't bother printing. However if the culprit is the head of a company that claims organic credentials then it is a story, and a good one at that.

Your other option is to bring his illegal dumping to the attention of supermarkets where his product is stocked- they won't want the bad PR either.

Finally I'd say that before doing any of the above you should approach him with the CCTV footage and use it in a carrot and stick fashion rather than jumping right in and releasing it. Because if you just release it and you effect his business & revenue then you really will have started a war and my guess is his pockets are a lot deeper than yours.

An Ri rua

Thanks @RATM,

the only problem with cctv is with regards to the new laws of filming that intrudes on another's property. Which in this case, it would be. Young family etc. It would require strict adherence to the legal code of course.

Yes, I imagine that once legal wrongdoing was established, then a very damaging PR exercise could be presented to their board for internal consumption and the option of pressure applied to director to settle. Our war-chest would be maxium 5% of the company's but I would think 2-3 times his net worth. I would not relish destroying / damaging a national brand. Damaging via this evidence. Destroying via more unconventional PR means.

But that would be the outer extreme of a feud. Much more interested in legal discussion around scenarios such as this. Can it be legally allowed to extensively dump on another's private property? Found this interesting link last night:- http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/print/index/media-centre/news-departments/news-doe/news-doe-february-2010/news-doe-080210-coalisland-company-director.htm In the 'Notes to editors', it states "The mixed waste found on site comprised wood, organic waste....". Again, this director was acting in a directorial capacity on their own site. That would not apply directly to our discussion here.

RATM

Well yeah in using CCTV you'd have to be mindful of the direction the camera is pointing. Pointing directly into his property would be a big no-no. Without knowing the angles and the place where you are it is difficult to tell. But it sounds to me like he is dumping over the fence and onto the lane.

So then you can capture him from one of two angles. You can point the camera facing the direction of the length of his fence. Then when he pops his head over the fence to throw whatever he is throwing then you'd hopefully get him.

The other option is to realise that humans are creatures of habit- i.e. if he is dumping in a spot then chances are he always dumps in the same spot every time. So assess where that spot is and place the CCTV on the ground a few meters away from where he is likely to dumo and at a 45 degree angle pointing up to the sky. Depending on the height of the fence he is going to have to lean over it at least a little bit to throw something over it.

Of course if this is grass clippings he is dumping then another approach is to simply wait until you hear his lawnmower fire up. Then hide yourself in bushes with a camcorder & tripod and wait. Bring more than one memory card as you need to be constantly recording, you might not have the time to press record when you actually see him. Also you want full and complete footage.

As to your other concerns I couldn't answer as I just don't know. Your meeting with your solicitor tomorrow should help in that regard.