Dumping neighbor

Pixielena

So I live in a small estate and I have a nice green opposite me. I'm home a lot the last year and I really don't think I like my neighbors or where I live anymore. Can anyone relate to that!!! Anyway I have noticed a big pile of ashes building up in the middle of the common green. I literally could not believe it when I saw my neighbor stroll up one evening and casually tip her ashes on to the pile. I've see her do it several times now so I'm pretty sure it's just her. This is illegal isn't it? I really don't need the hassle of a dispute but I do think it's seriously bad form. What would you do?

homer911

Drop them back on her doorstep with a note? Put them in her bin and leave a note?

listermint

Assuming the pile is the location of annual Halloween festivities. She probably thinks she's not doing anything wrong. I'm not saying that's right. But isn't the issue the bonfire?

Smee_Again

listermint wrote: »

Assuming the pile is the location of annual Halloween festivities. She probably thinks she's not doing anything wrong. I'm not saying that's right. But isn't the issue the bonfire?

What bonfire?

OP take a picture next time and report her, that’s scummy behaviour.

fryup

ashes can you elaborate? the remnants of a living room fireplace? the remnants of a domestic waste fire? the remnants of a garden fire?

listermint

Smee_Again wrote: »

What bonfire?

OP take a picture next time and report her, that’s scummy behaviour.

A pile of ashes in the middle of a green area.... Shouts to me Halloween.

sebdavis

Personally I would go out one night, fill it all into a wheelbarrow and dump into her lawn. Job done

fryup

i wouldn't be doing anything harsh so quickly

bear in mind, what if she comes from a rough family???.....and also what if she's mentally ill i.e.not quite with it

Smee_Again

listermint wrote: »

A pile of ashes in the middle of a green area.... Shouts to me Halloween.

Yeah, because someone is dumping ash there. OP makes no mention of a bonfire.

Pawwed Rig

Report to the council or dump them back in her garden.

listermint

Smee_Again wrote: »

Yeah, because someone is dumping ash there. OP makes no mention of a bonfire.

There is no need to get aggressive with me Smee, its early on a wed. im offering some perspective. OP never mentioned any fuller information other than neighbour adding to an ash pile.

Smee_Again

listermint wrote: »

There is no need to get aggressive with me Smee, its early on a wed. im offering some perspective. OP never mentioned any fuller information other than neighbour adding to an ash pile.

Well we can all create scenarios to excuse scumbag behaviour.

listermint

Smee_Again wrote: »

Well we can all create scenarios to excuse scumbag behaviour.

Can you read back once where I excused the behaviour. In fact I explicitly said I don't.

But I'm sure you might enjoy fabricating stories in your head to excuse taking umption with others on the internet. Whatever floats your boat.

Did I mention relax..it's morning. Have a tea.

Fann Linn

Just report her to the council. Simples. And If you want her to get a fine, make a statement and be prepared to stand over it.

punisher5112

Video, photographer.....


As said report to litter warden in council.

Mrsmum

That's bizarre imo but if she's doing it non secretly, she must think it's fine. If you don't want to get into it with her, would you(secretly) drop a note in her door saying Dear neighbour, please don't dump your ashes on the green, it is making a lovely space unsightly and may encourage others to add their rubbish also. Tk you, a concerned neighbour.

Pixielena

Hi thank you all for replying. There is no bonfire or anything to do with a bonfire. It's a nice area with some trees and bushes. It's ashes from her domestic fire. I think I would like to report her to the council but I really wouldn't want her to know it's me. It was suggested to write a nice anoynmous letter asking her to stop and if not threatening to report her. She would think of herself quite highly above the rest of us so I was shocked to see her doing it.I saw two kids playing beside the ashes yesterday evening and God it looked bad.

el Fenomeno

listermint wrote: »

Can you read back once where I excused the behaviour. In fact I explicitly said I don't.

But I'm sure you might enjoy fabricating stories in your head to excuse taking umption with others on the internet. Whatever floats your boat.

Did I mention relax..it's morning. Have a tea.

You're the one who completely fabricated some bizarre bonfire scenario tbh.

OP said they noticed an ash pile building up. It was obvious to anyone reading - except you it seems - that someone was dumping ashes and then OP caught his neighbour in the act.

OP - if neighbour is brazen enough to do it in the green in front of the houses, maybe they don't realise what they're doing is pretty crappy. Ignorance is no excuse obviously, but you do have to account for it. Have a word with them - that's the obvious solution which I'm sure you know already.

This "anonymous letter" crap is bollix tbh - if it's bothering you, grow a pair and say it to her. Why wouldnt you? Are you scared or something?

fryup

Pixielena wrote: »

It's ashes from her domestic fire.

as in a fireplace or a back garden fire burning domestic waste?

funkey_monkey

Pixielena wrote: »

She would think of herself quite highly above the rest of us so I was shocked to see her doing it.

Straight over to her house and tell her to stop. She how highly she thinks of herself then.

If you don't want a confrontation then contact council - but do they not require a name to record the offence?

Pixielena

The ashes are from her fireplace. I don't want to say anything to her face because I just don't want an argument and I think she would scream and shout to defend herself. I think I will send a note and then if it keeps happening I will contact the council. I just don't want hassle on my door step but I don't want dumping either.

Harpon

listermint wrote: »

A pile of ashes in the middle of a green area.... Shouts to me Halloween.

Have you just come out of a coma or something? This is April.....

magicbastarder

Pixielena wrote: »

I think I would like to report her to the council but I really wouldn't want her to know it's me.

FYI, you have to give a name and address to the council if reporting this (to prevent malicious reporting), but this is confidential and not released by the council if they follow up on the claim.

148multi

magicbastarder wrote: »

FYI, you have to give a name and address to the council if reporting this (to prevent malicious reporting), but this is confidential and not released by the council if they follow up on the claim.

As I understand there is a box you can tick to keep your name confidential when making a written complaint.

Mango Joe

Pixielena wrote: »

Hi thank you all for replying. There is no bonfire or anything to do with a bonfire. It's a nice area with some trees and bushes. It's ashes from her domestic fire. I think I would like to report her to the council but I really wouldn't want her to know it's me. It was suggested to write a nice anoynmous letter asking her to stop and if not threatening to report her. She would think of herself quite highly above the rest of us so I was shocked to see her doing it.I saw two kids playing beside the ashes yesterday evening and God it looked bad.

Going by the bit above I'd bet she has some stupid rationale worked out where ashes are a natural material and she's simply returning them to the environment where the green area will magically assimilate them back into nature.

The reality is that the ashes won't go anywhere quickly, will kill the grass underneath and cinders can have quite sharp edges which are not ideal on a green where kids should be able to play.

You shouldn't have to risk bearing her wrath just for pointing out that she's being a complete ar5ehole - Don't feel bad about sending an anonymous note.

Maybe mention that it's been discussed among her neighbours that so she doesn't jump to the conclusion that its just one person and everyone else is fine with it.

You could say there's clear photos of this illegal dumping happening and they'll be sent to the council for the next time.

Might be no harm to take some photos as proof if you can - even better taken from your car from a neutral vantage point so they can't ne traced back to you.

malinheader

punisher5112 wrote: »

Video, photographer.....


As said report to litter warden in council.

Don't want to sound smug, but this is a total waste of time. I am speaking from experience.

punisher5112

malinheader wrote: »

Don't want to sound smug, but this is a total waste of time. I am speaking from experience.

Well I know very much so where that like would be going but I'd be super banned for saying.....

fryup

Pixielena wrote: »

The ashes are from her fireplace. I don't want to say anything to her face because I just don't want an argument and I think she would scream and shout to defend herself. I think I will send a note and then if it keeps happening I will contact the council. I just don't want hassle on my door step but I don't want dumping either.

really? is she the full shilling? is she on her own?

and as i said previously is she rough or from a rough family?? cause rough types never forget they'll hold a grudge

Mrsmum

You could also accidently on purpose bump into her one day and go Howya X, lovely day. God would you look at that, a disgrace isn't it. What sort of animals would do a thing like that. ��

Mango Joe

malinheader wrote: »

Don't want to sound smug, but this is a total waste of time. I am speaking from experience.

Hmmmm is 'smug' the right word here? Speaking from experience are you?

- Unless in a dramatic twist you happen to be the Council Litter Warden who habitually ignores all of these complaints!!!

rn

Before going to council, I think it's worth mentioning to your local residents committee.

I used to be on one and we didn't directly intervene to any particular dispute and we had a green area problem with dumping, kids breaking trees and dog poo. But we did mention specifically problems on our green area on our newsletter and erected signage that we got from council. After that the vast majority of our illegal dumping and dog sh!t problems disappeared over the next 12 months.

Basically once people knew that other people cared about the green area, the abuse generally stopped. There's still the odd transgression

magicbastarder

if it's coal ashes she's depositing, they're actually considered toxic.

malinheader

Mango Joe wrote: »

Hmmmm is 'smug' the right word here? Speaking from experience are you?

- Unless in a dramatic twist you happen to be the Council Litter Warden who habitually ignores all of these complaints!!!

Definitely not the council litter warden but feel like one sometimes in my own area. And thinking that the council will sort out your litter problems is totally not going to happen.
But hey no harm in trying. Good luck.

magicbastarder

it's amazing what people will do on their own doorstep. years ago, my wife bought a house with her brother, n a new build estate. there was an existing field boundary/ditch about 50m from their house which had filled up with random domestic fly tipping. i contacted a local councillor, and arranged that if i hauled the stuff out of the ditch and left in in a pile, he'd arrange for the council to come and collect it, which they did.

except when i was doing it, my wife's new next door neighbour expressed amazement as i was doing it, at the fact that i was doing it, and sure what harm was it?
it became quickly apparent that she had been the person, or one of the people doing it. i laid it on thick then. i hope i embarrassed the **** out of her.

Mimon

listermint wrote: »

A pile of ashes in the middle of a green area.... Shouts to me Halloween.

What?? The OP just said the neighbour was seen adding to the pile, so the nieghbour obviously has created it!!

Unless you have proof it was her (photo/video) or she sticks a note with her name, address and date of birth into each ash pile, the council will not follow her up on it. Although they can see a mess, they can't point the blame at anyone in particular, unless they have proof.

What you could do, is go the anonymous letter route (you post it, with a stamp, don't push it in her letterbox yourself, as you'll invariably end up being seen). This gives you confidentiality, and also gives her the anxiety that it could be any neighbour in the street that seen her.

Alternatively, you can report her to the council for not having wheelie bins (which is where cold ashes can go, so I'm assuming she doesn't have bins or surely she'd just do that?). You are required to have a waste collection service, or have a stack of receipts from the local recycling centre/skip hire company to show that you're getting rid of waste that way.

Personally, if you're quite confident she has no CCTV on her house, and you can do it quietly, a note in the letter box, and her ashes fired all over her front garden, will be the most successful route, as she will know that it's likely to happen to her again and again.

Either way, do something about it now, before it does actually encourage a bonfire in that area, and more littering as a result.

If you have a resident's association, then mention it there, too, I suppose (I've never lived in an area with a resident's association, so can't comment how successful that's likely to be).

listermint

Mimon wrote: »

What?? The OP just said the neighbour was seen adding to the pile, so the nieghbour obviously has created it!!

She has since come back and clarified. Adding to a pile doesn't mean it wasnt always there.

And for those questioning it's April. Ash piles simply don't disappear. They stay for pretty much ever.

The OP should plant a sign on the pile related to illegal dumping and a link to the legislation. And be done with it.

Eircom_Sucks

sebdavis wrote: »

Personally I would go out one night, fill it all into a wheelbarrow and dump into her lawn. Job done

no you wouldn't

you'd be the curtain twitcher

Calahonda52

fryup wrote: »

ashes can you elaborate? the remnants of a living room fireplace? the remnants of a domestic waste fire? the remnants of a garden fire?

from an urn?

Mimon

listermint wrote: »

She has since come back and clarified. Adding to a pile doesn't mean it wasnt always there.

And for those questioning it's April. Ash piles simply don't disappear. They stay for pretty much ever.

The OP should plant a sign on the pile related to illegal dumping and a link to the legislation. And be done with it.

You just made up an unlikely/make believe scenario in your head!!!

sebdavis

Eircom_Sucks wrote: »

no you wouldn't

you'd be the curtain twitcher

If you say so

Mimon

Eircom_Sucks wrote: »

no you wouldn't

you'd be the curtain twitcher

People not correcting others ****ty behaviour is why we live in a litter covered country. If people can't act like adults they need to be told sharpish.

listermint

Mimon wrote: »

You just made up an unlikely/make believe scenario in your head!!!

You've never seen bonfire piles on green areas ?

Well laa dee daa on you...

Mimon

listermint wrote: »

You've never seen bonfire piles on green areas ?

Well laa dee daa on you...

You made up something and you are doubling down when challenged and then come out with this childish level of la deee da posting, oh ffs

sebdavis

listermint wrote: »

You've never seen bonfire piles on green areas ?

Well laa dee daa on you...

Normally at this time of year they would be long cleaned up, normally that happens a few days after the bonfire because the council would be afraid someone would get hurt and sue

If the remains of a bonfire still is on the green it ain't one from Nov last year

fryup

Calahonda52 wrote: »

from an urn?

everyday?? need to call the cops then

listermint

sebdavis wrote: »

Normally at this time of year they would be long cleaned up, normally that happens a few days after the bonfire because the council would be afraid someone would get hurt and sue

If the remains of a bonfire still is on the green it ain't one from Nov last year

Not where I grew up it didn't. There wasn't any council cleaning up.

listermint

Mimon wrote: »

You made up something and you are doubling down when challenged and then come out with this childish level of la deee da posting, oh ffs

Well laa dee daa. It appears you've never seen a bonfire on a green area and you think it's such an outlandish thing.

That's pretty laa Dee dah but sure look ....

HildaOgdenx

Deleted User wrote: »

Unless you have proof it was her (photo/video) or she sticks a note with her name, address and date of birth into each ash pile, the council will not follow her up on it. Although they can see a mess, they can't point the blame at anyone in particular, unless they have proof.

What you could do, is go the anonymous letter route (you post it, with a stamp, don't push it in her letterbox yourself, as you'll invariably end up being seen). This gives you confidentiality, and also gives her the anxiety that it could be any neighbour in the street that seen her.

Alternatively, you can report her to the council for not having wheelie bins (which is where cold ashes can go, so I'm assuming she doesn't have bins or surely she'd just do that?). You are required to have a waste collection service, or have a stack of receipts from the local recycling centre/skip hire company to show that you're getting rid of waste that way.

Personally, if you're quite confident she has no CCTV on her house, and you can do it quietly, a note in the letter box, and her ashes fired all over her front garden, will be the most successful route, as she will know that it's likely to happen to her again and again.

Either way, do something about it now, before it does actually encourage a bonfire in that area, and more littering as a result.

If you have a resident's association, then mention it there, too, I suppose (I've never lived in an area with a resident's association, so can't comment how successful that's likely to be).

Just curious about the bit in bold. I remember an idea being mooted at some stage, about proof of rubbish disposal, for households, but I don't think anything came of it?

OP, it would annoy me a lot too. Is there a WhatsApp group or anything like that for your estate that it could be mentioned on? I'm sure it's annoying for lots of people. It might just take one person to start the ball rolling by mentioning it.

con___manx1

Ash is actually a good fertiliser for grass. It has to be spread in a thin layer. Not just dumped in a pile.

spaceHopper

I get rid of ash two ways, on my own garden we have a raised bed, we don't burn coal or in the brown bin assuming its cold.

There are trees on the green across from my house and I do dump the leave that blow in to our garden from them back in amongst them into brambles so that they say put that's as far I'd go and it was my neighbour who suggested it.

Send her a letter in the post that it has been reported to the council that she has been dumping ash on the green and she is advised to stop. Instead use the brown bin once they are cool. She'll never know it was you, if she continues let the council know.