Neighbour has piles of rubbish in garden

Buying house2020

Hi all,

I live in an area of terraced houses and we all have a larger patch of a garden behind these terraced houses.

One of the neighbours has no bin, regularly burns his rubbish at the back (resulting in the most toxic and nauseating fumes).

All of this is bad enough, but we've recently discovered that he is also piling up his domestic rubbish in his back garden, not in bag bin liners, just strewn all over his garden.

Some of his rubbish is blowing over in to my patch of garden.
But my major worry is that his rubbish will attract vermin and lead to a serious pest control issue.

This area is a long established close knit old fashioned community. Reporting someone would be a big no no and would result in us being completely ostracised. We have bought a house here, so here for the foreseeable!

This man is very popular and well liked by the neighbours.
We are the newest members of the neighbourhood.
Reporting this man is not an option for us as the finger would be pointed to us and we don't want any hassle or conflict with the rest of the neighbourhood.

His garden is well away from public view, so there is slim to no chance of some of the public reporting him either.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

fritzelly

If you can't talk to him and won't report it then you will have to live with it

Reporting won't reveal its you

CoBo55

Unfortunately to get it sorted you'll have to report him unless you want to go in and clean it up yourself. My next door neighbours garden was a bloody scrapyard and a dumping ground for any aul ****e that people didn't want anymore, all of it useless. Inevitably the rats started to appear so I reported him to the council. The place was cleaned up, job done.

Smee_Again

Report him.

Either people know the rubbish is there but are too afraid to report him, in which case they’ll be glad that you did.

Or they don’t know it’s there at all in which case if they ostracise you for reporting the rubbish are they people who really care about?

Victor

Can it be seen in the aerial views on Google Maps?

Buying house2020

Thanks for the advice so far, the tricky thing is, people really like him, look out for him etc. Don't understand how he is so popular and well regarded, but for whatever reason he is. The rest of the neighbourhood would turn on us if we broached the issue with him or if they suspected we (the newbies and still the 'outsiders' dared to report him.

I also don't understand how the other neighbours are not disgusted with all this rubbish and fumes also, for some reason he is let away with stuff.

Rhys Essien

OP, don’t hesitate and report him as soon as you can. It’s pretty disgusting to be storing waste in your backyard full stop but to also burn waste in a residential area is downright brazen. I might have a small bit of sympathy if he was lighting fires and was living in the middle of the countryside but again it is now against the law.

Both cases are a health hazard so report him anonymously if you’re afraid.

elperello

Being new to the area you don't know the story behind why he is well regarded and people look out for him.

He may have had some sadness in his life or did something really good for the community in the past.

There are lots of reasons why he might be cut some slack by those who know him a long time.

Having said that if you really want to tackle the issue you can report to local authority and they won't reveal your identity.

pauliebdub

Buying house2020 wrote: »

The rest of the neighbourhood would turn on us if we broached the issue with him or if they suspected we (the newbies and still the 'outsiders' dared to report him.

You seem to put a lot of emphasis on how the other neighbours would react over the reasonable reporting to the council of dumped rubbish. You're showing them far too much deference. If you report the issue the neighbours won't know it's you. What you describe is illegal and will attract vermin, report the issue and stop worrying about the neighbours. If they ostracise you over an issue like this that's causing you a problem then they're not worth bothering with in the first place.

You’re going to have rats in your home. You need to decide if appeasing neighbours is really more important than avoiding that.

fritzelly

Buying house2020 wrote: »

. Don't understand how he is so popular and well regarded, but for whatever reason he is.

Maybe there are several people playing along

Buying house2020

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

You’re going to have rats in your home. You need to decide if appeasing neighbours is really more important than avoiding that.

When you put it like that!


How would I report him anonymously?
Would I contact the local authority?
What type of information about the case will they require?

laserlad2010

Borrow a friends drone, some quiet time of the day get it up and grab a few direct overhead pictures to submit to the council.

that way you don't have to worry about the pictures giving it away. IMHO I'd put my name to it but I can understand the concern.

I've reported other stuff to the council and there isn't much personal information required just location pictures and description.

Agree with other posters the neighbours couldn't give a hoot
" Oh thats #6 they reported Jimmy for having rotten rubbish and rats in his garden, don't speak to them" sounds ridiculous

Feets

From memory its the Hse you ring. Rats will ensue soon if you dont. They handle calls like this alot in specific areas. No need to wait. They will do as much as can be done.

Suckit

OP, have you spoken to him about it and expressed a concern?

laserlad2010

laserlad2010 wrote: »

Borrow a friends drone, some quiet time of the day get it up and grab a few direct overhead pictures to submit to the council.

Isn't that a tad invasive?

Dunfyy

Report to council take video

Niner leprauchan

Niner leprauchan wrote: »

Isn't that a tad invasive?

Invasive is better than inflicting a rodent infestation on someone’s home.

CoBo55

Niner leprauchan wrote: »

Isn't that a tad invasive?

Take no notice, just some lobtaw telling someone to do something he'd never have the balls to do himself.

Victor

Feets wrote: »

From memory its the Hse you ring.

Council litter warden. HSE would likely require there to be a rodent problem for them to become involved.

beauf

laserlad2010 wrote: »

Borrow a friends drone, some quiet time of the day get it up and grab a few direct overhead pictures to submit to the council.
....

Nothing more likely to get everyone's attention than a drone over their house. That is the exact opposite of discrete.

Victor

Victor wrote: »

Council litter warden. HSE would likely require there to be a rodent problem for them to become involved.

In fingal the council have their own epa office that will take on private areas. Warden only deals with public spaces.

ReginaldSmythV

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

Invasive is better than inflicting a rodent infestation on someone’s home.

There's no evidence of that though.

Rats aren't interested in concrete and kitchen units from building work so it really depends on what's being dumped.

kravmaga

Buying house2020 wrote: »

When you put it like that!


How would I report him anonymously?
Would I contact the local authority?
What type of information about the case will they require?

Its clearly illegal to burn rubbish in a built up area in back garden.

Also report him to Environmental Health section in your local authority.

Get video evidence from your mobile phone from your upstairs bedroom, discrete , presume you have blinds or curtains.

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/environment/waste_management_and_recycling/burning_household_waste.html#

http://www.epa.ie/enforcement/report/#.VPhqd4lybhk

Zak Flaps

Buying house2020 wrote: »

Hi all,

I live in an area of terraced houses and we all have a larger patch of a garden behind these terraced houses.

One of the neighbours has no bin, regularly burns his rubbish at the back (resulting in the most toxic and nauseating fumes).

All of this is bad enough, but we've recently discovered that he is also piling up his domestic rubbish in his back garden, not in bag bin liners, just strewn all over his garden.

Some of his rubbish is blowing over in to my patch of garden.
But my major worry is that his rubbish will attract vermin and lead to a serious pest control issue.

This area is a long established close knit old fashioned community. Reporting someone would be a big no no and would result in us being completely ostracised. We have bought a house here, so here for the foreseeable!

This man is very popular and well liked by the neighbours.
We are the newest members of the neighbourhood.
Reporting this man is not an option for us as the finger would be pointed to us and we don't want any hassle or conflict with the rest of the neighbourhood.

His garden is well away from public view, so there is slim to no chance of some of the public reporting him either.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Have you any update on this?