We have applied for and have been granted approval from the council to build under our house. Unfortunately our neighbour has always had issues with us making any changes to our place and has been calling the council on us repeatedly for anything and everything she can over the last 5 years. We are at the stage now where we are over it. Any advice on what we can do? Because she is not harrassing us herself, we can't apply for a harassment and restraining order.

carl2627 - 2020-10-05 18:12:00

One thing you can do is make an official information request for all the complaints made over the 5 years, council notes and how the complaints were resolved. You will need to be careful how you word the request as the council won't identify the complainant.

You can get good info on making a request on the site fyi.org,nz but won't be able to make you request via that site because it doesn't do personal. But there are thousands of requests and responses there and they will give you some ideas.

Once you have all the info suggest take it into the council, lay it out for them and see what they suggest. If they are presented with a pattern of complaints without merit, they may have ideas. Maybe have a chat to the local community law office first.

Back in the day I got sent out to see in person a state tenant constantly complaining about the neighbour, also a state tenant. Then I talked to the neighbour. There were faults on both sides but neither really understood the impact of their actions. Because they didn't talk to each other. Bit of compromise on each side and no more issues. Just saying that sometimes a mediator type person can cut through the crap.

artemis - 2020-10-05 18:51:00

Artemis; thank you SO much !

carl2627 - 2020-10-05 18:56:00

carl2627 wrote:

We have applied for and have been granted approval from the council to build under our house. Unfortunately our neighbour has always had issues with us making any changes to our place and has been calling the council on us repeatedly for anything and everything she can over the last 5 years. We are at the stage now where we are over it. Any advice on what we can do? Because she is not harrassing us herself, we can't apply for a harassment and restraining order.

Simply ignoring her doesn't seem too difficult.

johnston - 2020-10-05 19:03:00

Johnston it is when you constantly have to explain yourself to the council.. its a waste of their time, and ours and each complaint can take half an hour or longer to sort, plus their driving time

carl2627 - 2020-10-05 19:06:00

carl2627 wrote:

Johnston it is when you constantly have to explain yourself to the council.. its a waste of their time, and ours and each complaint can take half an hour or longer to sort, plus their driving time

I wouldn't worry about Council's time. Eventually they will see she's a prolific and vexatious complainant.

johnston - 2020-10-05 19:38:00

build a fence.

jethrocat - 2020-10-05 21:25:00

The way you have been observed/ surveilled over that many years the neighbour's alleged actions are borderline stalking imo.
Do the oia first to the council. Might be some pointers in this.
https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/sites/default/files/2019
-08/Frivolous%2C%20vexatious%20or%20trivial%20August%202019.
pdf

When or if you get the information. You might consider taking the info/ summary of when/ what has happened to a Private investigator (possibly former police) who might be able to background the neighbour.
Might be zero point in any attempted mediation with a neighbour who is a full on nutbar, it could make things worse.
Might be an idea to up the security cams/ lights, sensors on your place.

serf407 - 2020-10-05 23:14:00

carl2627 wrote:

Unfortunately our neighbour has always had issues with us making any changes to our place and has been calling the council on us repeatedly for anything and everything she can over the last 5 years. .

What changes? In 5 years, you have continued doing things to your place then? Is it a cross lease? Stand alone property?
Always 2 sides to a story.

lythande1 - 2020-10-06 08:09:00

serf407 wrote:

The way you have been observed/ surveilled over that many years the neighbour's alleged actions are borderline stalking imo.
Do the oia first to the council. Might be some pointers in this.
https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/sites/default/files/2019
-08/Frivolous%2C%20vexatious%20or%20trivial%20August%202019.
pdf

When or if you get the information. You might consider taking the info/ summary of when/ what has happened to a Private investigator (possibly former police) who might be able to background the neighbour.
Might be zero point in any attempted mediation with a neighbour who is a full on nutbar, it could make things worse.
Might be an idea to up the security cams/ lights, sensors on your place.

That would make the op worse than the nutter but harmless neighbour.

johnston - 2020-10-06 08:23:00

As long as you play by the rules just carry on as normal, as Johnston says.
Ignoring the neighbour and just dealing with the council when you have to, just keep interactions polite but curt with the council, don't go into great details with the council, the less you interact with them the better.
The council will soon tire of her complaints.

mrcat1 - 2020-10-06 17:43:00

jethrocat wrote:

build a fence.

or a bridge...

lakeview3 - 2020-10-06 18:03:00

mrcat1 wrote:

As long as you play by the rules just carry on as normal, as Johnston says.
Ignoring the neighbour and just dealing with the council when you have to, just keep interactions polite but curt with the council, don't go into great details with the council, the less you interact with them the better.
The council will soon tire of her complaints.

unless of course they could be justified.....some people are just noisy and inconsiderate and expect others to put up with it. A bit of mutual respect goes a long way.

Nightmare neighbours include:

People with small yappy dogs
People with large dogs who bark all day
People with too many cats or actually even just one cat that thinks it’s territory includes the neighbours vege garden
People with boats and campers and who don’t have adequate room for them
People with V8s or skylines
People with stock cars
People who have too many parties
People who are car enthusiasts and have too many cars and do home tuning.
People who mow lawns on the weekend despite being retired and having all week to do it.
People who have noisy teenagers
People who have screaming toddlers
People with pet parrots who make sounds like ringing phones ALL DAY (and yes we have had to tolerate that, bad news is those birds can live until 80 years old)
People with heat pumps too close to your house, or spa pools....

Did I get everything?

lakeview3 - 2020-10-06 18:11:00

Ooohhhhh I forgot the LEAF BLOWERS!

lakeview3 - 2020-10-06 18:12:00

lakeview3 wrote:

unless of course they could be justified.....some people are just noisy and inconsiderate and expect others to put up with it. A bit of mutual respect goes a long way.

Nightmare neighbours include:

People with small yappy dogs
People with large dogs who bark all day
People with too many cats or actually even just one cat that thinks it’s territory includes the neighbours vege garden
People with boats and campers and who don’t have adequate room for them
People with V8s or skylines
People with stock cars
People who have too many parties
People who are car enthusiasts and have too many cars and do home tuning.
People who mow lawns on the weekend despite being retired and having all week to do it.
People who have noisy teenagers
People who have screaming toddlers
People with pet parrots who make sounds like ringing phones ALL DAY (and yes we have had to tolerate that, bad news is those birds can live until 80 years old)
People with heat pumps too close to your house, or spa pools....

Did I get everything?

Lucky you don't live next to me, nothing for me to start up my boat engine at 2am when we get back from fishing, and its got a real cackle and loud.
Or i start up the semi auto shot gun at 2am rounding up coons.

mrcat1 - 2020-10-06 18:28:00

jethrocat wrote:

build a fence.

BUT don't plant a peach tree under it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

smallwoods - 2020-10-06 18:29:00

lakeview3 wrote:

unless of course they could be justified.....some people are just noisy and inconsiderate and expect others to put up with it. A bit of mutual respect goes a long way.

Nightmare neighbours include:

People with small yappy dogs
People with large dogs who bark all day
People with too many cats or actually even just one cat that thinks it’s territory includes the neighbours vege garden
People with boats and campers and who don’t have adequate room for them
People with V8s or skylines
People with stock cars
People who have too many parties
People who are car enthusiasts and have too many cars and do home tuning.
People who mow lawns on the weekend despite being retired and having all week to do it.
People who have noisy teenagers
People who have screaming toddlers
People with pet parrots who make sounds like ringing phones ALL DAY (and yes we have had to tolerate that, bad news is those birds can live until 80 years old)
People with heat pumps too close to your house, or spa pools....

Did I get everything?

You missed out nosy, intolerant busy bodies.

sparkychap - 2020-10-06 18:34:00

lakeview3 wrote:

unless of course they could be justified.....some people are just noisy and inconsiderate and expect others to put up with it. A bit of mutual respect goes a long way.

Nightmare neighbours include:

People with small yappy dogs
People with large dogs who bark all day
People with too many cats or actually even just one cat that thinks it’s territory includes the neighbours vege garden
People with boats and campers and who don’t have adequate room for them
People with V8s or skylines
People with stock cars
People who have too many parties
People who are car enthusiasts and have too many cars and do home tuning.
People who mow lawns on the weekend despite being retired and having all week to do it.
People who have noisy teenagers
People who have screaming toddlers
People with pet parrots who make sounds like ringing phones ALL DAY (and yes we have had to tolerate that, bad news is those birds can live until 80 years old)
People with heat pumps too close to your house, or spa pools....

Did I get everything?

The ones that are offended by almost anything at all. You forgot those ones.

bryalea - 2020-10-06 18:39:00

sparkychap wrote:

You missed out nosy, intolerant busy bodies.

With security cameras

orphic1 - 2020-10-06 18:40:00

jethrocat wrote:

build a fence.

But definitely not a deck.

thumbs647 - 2020-10-06 18:40:00

orphic1 wrote:

With security cameras

And more chips on their shoulders than McCain's.

sparkychap - 2020-10-06 18:43:00

thumbs647 wrote:

But definitely not a deck.

.

johnston - 2020-10-06 18:48:00

Greens voters.

johnston - 2020-10-06 18:48:00

sparkychap wrote:

You missed out nosy, intolerant busy bodies.

intolerant of what exactly??? My list above???

But yes agree re the busy bodies....as I have said before, I don’t GAS what people do as long as they are QUIET.

lakeview3 - 2020-10-06 19:05:00

orphic1 wrote:

With security cameras

haha funny though isn’t it, who is the first person people run to when they get their house robbed? Did I see anything on MY camera? Lol why would I? It’s there to provide security for MY house not theirs- blardy cheapskates.

And even if I did see something, I might just not be bothered replaying the footage unless they were one of the nice considerate people ????

Edited by lakeview3 at 7:18 pm, Tue 6 Oct

lakeview3 - 2020-10-06 19:07:00

mrcat1 wrote:

Lucky you don't live next to me, nothing for me to start up my boat engine at 2am when we get back from fishing, and its got a real cackle and loud.
Or i start up the semi auto shot gun at 2am rounding up coons.

more like lucky you’re not next to me....2 can play that game....

lakeview3 - 2020-10-06 19:11:00

smallwoods wrote:

BUT don't plant a peach tree under it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That comment brings back memories!

supadeal - 2020-10-06 19:17:00

supadeal wrote:

That comment brings back memories!

Over in NZ Issues now but has added a prefix 'formally known as'.

mercury14 - 2020-10-06 19:23:00

lakeview3 wrote:

more like lucky you’re not next to me....2 can play that game....

Really? You and whose army can play any better??

mrcat1 - 2020-10-06 20:09:00

mrcat1 wrote:

Really? You and whose army can play any better??

.

lakeview3 - 2020-10-06 20:44:00

lythande1 wrote:

What changes? In 5 years, you have continued doing things to your place then? Is it a cross lease? Stand alone property?
Always 2 sides to a story.

That's what I was wondering. If cross-lease you can't just do whatever you want to without informing the other owner(s) of the section.

athena2 - 2020-10-06 21:03:00

We have a very annoying neighbour too.
He has complained to The Council about various things.
First when we moved here I used to be a delivery Person &my orders used to be delivered by A Truck twice a week & no longer than 10 minutes each time. I got a visit from Council saying I wasnt allowed to do so anymore. But I got second option from Police Officer who thet cant stop you as He is a delivery Person doing his job. He can park there all day long as not blocking anyone elses driveway.
Then he told them we played loud music all day & tooted our car horns &dogs barked all the time which were all proved to be false. We were backed up by other neighbours who told council Not True.
Anyway he was fined for having Bee hives on his property without correct Permission. So now we never see or talk to him.

ferrit47 - 2020-10-06 21:19:00

He also pulled bondary fence down after asking me if he could do so. I said No Way Leave it alone. But we went out same evening & came home 4 hours later & he had taken it down. Anyway he has just put new one up as he was ordered to reinstate it & was told to paint it too & cost him heaps too. 4 years later.
So hes a very nasty neighbour.

ferrit47 - 2020-10-06 21:26:00

ferrit47 wrote:

He also pulled bondary fence down after asking me if he could do so. I said No Way Leave it alone. But we went out same evening & came home 4 hours later & he had taken it down. Anyway he has just put new one up as he was ordered to reinstate it & was told to paint it too & cost him heaps too. 4 years later.
So hes a very nasty neighbour.

were your dogs barking though? I seem to remember a discussion over it at the time here on thr MB.

I was having problems with my neighbour whose silly little white dog yelped for an hour one night by our fence. Awful awful sound. Like shrieking, and our house is double glazed but still not enough to shut that awful sound out. Mr LV ended up going over there at 11pm and having a word. The neighbour was just sitting there with the curtains open watching TV. I mean WTAF? shows how much of a toss he gave about the effects the dog had on other people. Anyhoo.....a week later the dog got rehomed. Sadly 2 years down the track they now have 2 more yappy dogs. I have had to have words again over it. They really are the worst dog owners I have ever known and I told her so as well. They had 2 other bigger dogs but she managed to kill one with slug bait and the other one who was absolutely beautiful got so overweight all her teeth rotted and her kidneys failed. They never walked them. Every day the little dogs are out wandering and pooing on other people’s lawns. Anytime our front gate is open they are in on our lawn. Sometimes the dogs are out and the neighbours go out and drive past their own dog down the street and they still think that’s OK. These are also the same people who had 5 cats and whose cat I caught on our camera at 2am spraying urine on a tent we had up airing on our lawn in our fully fenced property. To say I have had a guts full of their behaviour is an understatement. And that’s just the animals I have mentioned.....

lakeview3 - 2020-10-06 22:27:00

mercury14 wrote:

Over in NZ Issues now but has added a prefix 'formally known as'.

Thank you.

supadeal - 2020-10-06 23:48:00

This message was deleted.

roysmrs - 2020-10-07 11:06:00

This message was deleted.

kittycatkin - 2020-10-07 18:25:00

kittycatkin wrote:

Racoons in NZ ? Where ?

Who said he meant racoons?

sparkychap - 2020-10-07 19:00:00

lakeview3 wrote:

unless of course they could be justified.....some people are just noisy and inconsiderate and expect others to put up with it. A bit of mutual respect goes a long way.

Nightmare neighbours include:

People with small yappy dogs
People with large dogs who bark all day
People with too many cats or actually even just one cat that thinks it’s territory includes the neighbours vege garden
People with boats and campers and who don’t have adequate room for them
People with V8s or skylines
People with stock cars
People who have too many parties
People who are car enthusiasts and have too many cars and do home tuning.
People who mow lawns on the weekend despite being retired and having all week to do it.
People who have noisy teenagers
People who have screaming toddlers
People with pet parrots who make sounds like ringing phones ALL DAY (and yes we have had to tolerate that, bad news is those birds can live until 80 years old)
People with heat pumps too close to your house, or spa pools....

Did I get everything?

Time to buy a few acres and most of those neighbourly problems won't worry you.

kacy5 - 2020-10-07 20:56:00

lakeview3 wrote:

unless of course they could be justified.....some people are just noisy and inconsiderate and expect others to put up with it. A bit of mutual respect goes a long way.

Nightmare neighbours include:

People with small yappy dogs
People with large dogs who bark all day
People with too many cats or actually even just one cat that thinks it’s territory includes the neighbours vege garden
People with boats and campers and who don’t have adequate room for them
People with V8s or skylines
People with stock cars
People who have too many parties
People who are car enthusiasts and have too many cars and do home tuning.
People who mow lawns on the weekend despite being retired and having all week to do it.
People who have noisy teenagers
People who have screaming toddlers
People with pet parrots who make sounds like ringing phones ALL DAY (and yes we have had to tolerate that, bad news is those birds can live until 80 years old)
People with heat pumps too close to your house, or spa pools....

Did I get everything?

You forgot curtain twitching neighbours who spy on their neighbours all day, judge them for being boomers, from Auckland, have traveled, immigrants, own more than one house or are on a benefit.

rhys12 - 2020-10-07 21:48:00

rhys12 wrote:

You forgot curtain twitching neighbours who spy on their neighbours all day, judge them for being boomers, from Auckland, have traveled, immigrants, own more than one house or are on a benefit.

quite often they are the very same people. Generally though the immigrants are the nicest of the lot, it’s just a shame we can’t fit the immigrants in due to the sheer numbers of them who want to come. I would happily swap out some NZers of the above categories for some quality respectful immigrants any day (and long as they were skilled lol)

Edited by lakeview3 at 10:26 pm, Wed 7 Oct

lakeview3 - 2020-10-07 22:26:00

kacy5 wrote:

Time to buy a few acres and most of those neighbourly problems won't worry you.

nah then you have dust, tractors, boy racers, roosters, rats, feral cats, rabbits possums and neighbours with guns who are seemingly unfamiliar with New Zealand laws!

Edited by lakeview3 at 10:28 pm, Wed 7 Oct

lakeview3 - 2020-10-07 22:28:00

rhys12 wrote:

You forgot curtain twitching neighbours who spy on their neighbours all day, judge them for being boomers, from Auckland, have traveled, immigrants, own more than one house or are on a benefit.

FYI I can’t even see my neighbours thank goodness due to the fact I have planted around the perimeter to OBSCURE them.....the only thing I can see is the road by my gate which is why I noticed the lockdown breakers who kept driving past.....

lakeview3 - 2020-10-07 22:31:00

This message was deleted.

kittycatkin - 2020-10-08 11:01:00

This message was deleted.

kittycatkin - 2020-10-08 11:02:00

This message was deleted.

kittycatkin - 2020-10-08 11:05:00

kittycatkin wrote:

Coons are racoons, unless one is a redneck American who uses the word of black people. What else could a coon be but a racoon ?

Falcoon maybe.

I wonder why the council keep responding to OP's neighbour when the complaints have been ongoing for several years - you'd think if it was a waste of council time then they would stop coming out.

shelleigh - 2020-10-08 12:21:00

lakeview3 wrote:

nah then you have dust, tractors, boy racers, roosters, rats, feral cats, rabbits possums and neighbours with guns who are seemingly unfamiliar with New Zealand laws!

I don't have any of those although the odd hare runs across the paddocks. Neighbours are far enough away to not bother me and the only one close is elderly and never there anyway. His lawnmower doesn't go for long and still not close to my place to be annoying. Stags only roar for a short period and calves bellowing at weaning lasts a couple of days, both nice natural noises---when I hear them.

kacy5 - 2020-10-08 12:23:00

kittycatkin wrote:

Someone I know moved next door to a curtain twitcher. They couldn't go out into the garden without being peered at by the nosy biddy next door, and it was really getting to them.

One day the husband (a respectable man who had never done this before) went to the letterbox and felt eyes boring into his back. Yes, there she was. He turned his back and did a down-trou....

No more eyes glued to a gap in the curtain after that :D

LOL. Did you have cameras aimed at him? Would be worth seeing if you could put up a link.

kacy5 - 2020-10-08 12:27:00

lakeview3 wrote:

were your dogs barking though? I seem to remember a discussion over it at the time here on thr MB.

I was having problems with my neighbour whose silly little white dog yelped for an hour one night by our fence. Awful awful sound. Like shrieking, and our house is double glazed but still not enough to shut that awful sound out. Mr LV ended up going over there at 11pm and having a word. The neighbour was just sitting there with the curtains open watching TV. I mean WTAF? shows how much of a toss he gave about the effects the dog had on other people. Anyhoo.....a week later the dog got rehomed. Sadly 2 years down the track they now have 2 more yappy dogs. I have had to have words again over it. They really are the worst dog owners I have ever known and I told her so as well. They had 2 other bigger dogs but she managed to kill one with slug bait and the other one who was absolutely beautiful got so overweight all her teeth rotted and her kidneys failed. They never walked them. Every day the little dogs are out wandering and pooing on other people’s lawns. Anytime our front gate is open they are in on our lawn. Sometimes the dogs are out and the neighbours go out and drive past their own dog down the street and they still think that’s OK. These are also the same people who had 5 cats and whose cat I caught on our camera at 2am spraying urine on a tent we had up airing on our lawn in our fully fenced property. To say I have had a guts full of their behaviour is an understatement. And that’s just the animals I have mentioned.....

They only bark if someone comes down our drive or if someone walks past Driveway & then I stop them. He just does to cause trouble But it all Backfired in his face as he was the fool who got in trouble in end.

ferrit47 - 2020-10-08 13:51:00