Neighbours from hell

Forums › Off topic › Neighbours from hell

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

6706 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#1987946 4-Apr-2018 06:13

Maybe I'm just getting grumpy in my old age, but I have noticed an increase in nuisance car parking and nuisance dogs in recent years.

Almost every week now I am having to call the council to report a vehicle blocking the footpath or, worse than that, blocking my driveway.

Dogs are a bit harder to complain about because you can't get close enough to an aggressive dog to be able to read the registration tag, hence they are usually impossible to identify when making a complaint. There is one dog that was regularly harassing people while being walked off leash on a walkway near my place and fortunately I knew the owner's address so I made a complaint to the council but the problem has continued to persist.

xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
13769 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1987962 4-Apr-2018 08:06

tdgeek:

That is so terrible. Its bordering on harassment.

Yeah but thing is because its all different agencies involved, and "privacy", theres no way to raise a complaint.

Looks like the woman is selling up anyway, my wife said there were real estate agents at the property yesterday. w00t!

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

LinkTree

MileHighKiwi

782 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#1987963 4-Apr-2018 08:08

We've been pretty lucky in our current home. Several military families who are great neighbours. The only complaint was one family had a dog that barked a lot but was otherwise no problem. There's a Maori family over the other fence with grown up kids and they keep to themselves, but once a year the whole whanau turn up for an all weekend party with guitars and singing on the deck till the sun comes up. We just put earplugs in. One of their kids used to do burnouts in the old man's car but he got a hiding and moved to Australia about 3 years ago. We've just sold up anyway and are moving semi rural.

MikeAqua

7785 posts

Uber Geek

#1987967 4-Apr-2018 08:34

People who don't control their dogs me off.

I've been a life long dog owner (currently between dogs) and I love dogs but there is no excuse to have your dog wandering the street and in particular menacing people.

There are laws to control that sort of behaviour - if only councils would enforce them.

Mike

kryptonjohn

2523 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1987969 4-Apr-2018 08:39

Barking dogs can be annoying where the owner leaves the dog home alone and it barks the whole time. Had that at Whangamata and asked the local vet what he thought - he said call the TC district council and they'd send a dog officer all the way out from Thames! He said the officer would check the property/dog and contact the owners if necessary. I thought it wasn't worth the bother and let it ride - they're not doing it that often.

But good to know all the same.

tdgeek

29753 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1987970 4-Apr-2018 08:40

MikeAqua:

People who don't control their dogs me off.

I've been a life long dog owner (currently between dogs) and I love dogs but there is no excuse to have your dog wandering the street and in particular menacing people.

There are laws to control that sort of behaviour - if only councils would enforce them.

And the ongoing theme in this thread is that we have laws in place for harrassment, noise, dogs, tenants, but what good are laws when it doesn't get acted upon, or takes an age? But if a disgruntled resident loses it and does something, Police there in 3 minutes

xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
13769 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1987975 4-Apr-2018 08:43

kryptonjohn:

Barking dogs can be annoying where the owner leaves the dog home alone and it barks the whole time. Had that at Whangamata and asked the local vet what he thought - he said call the TC district council and they'd send a dog officer all the way out from Thames! He said the officer would check the property/dog and contact the owners if necessary. I thought it wasn't worth the bother and let it ride - they're not doing it that often.

But good to know all the same.

We tried leaving ours outside when we went out but he didnt like it and would bark and howl. Hes just an indoors type of dog when we're not home.

People just think that because its a dog, that it will live outside all the time - its not so.

Dogs bark for a reason, its up to the owner to figure out why.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

LinkTree

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

surfisup1000

5288 posts

Uber Geek

#1987980 4-Apr-2018 09:02

DaveB:

I know that in the UK they have moved away from High density wherever possible. I think that here in NZ the same is true.

Councils are ...... but failing to adequately enforce environmental lifestyle laws? I may misunderstand what you are saying, but council and lifestyle are two separate issues. I personally find your suggestion a bit Orwellian and would prefer to see that individual lifestyle choice and performance continues to equal the end housing result. I do however support moderate protection for low performers, but we cannot hold peoples hands forever.

If we enforce everything, the common denominator will be the support of the laziest and lowest performing end result.

I couldn't disagree more, your arguments are either wrong or nonsensical.

NZ cities are moving towards higher density living, not away. Most councils seem to be adopting smart growth (ie high density) policies. Look at the number of sections being subdivided, and the apartments being built. Compare Auckland now, vs 30 years ago. 1/4 acre sections are a rarity these days. Houses are crammed in like sardines so to speak.

You consider it orwellian for councils to enforce the law. Nonsense. If you don't enforce laws then chaos ensues. If you think only some laws should be enforced, then which ones? Who should decide which laws to enforce? You?

I want councils to enforce environmental laws. It is not ok for neighbours to burn greenwaste and toxic materials such as car tyres. Or to hold rowdy parties every weekend. Neighbours do have rights, but not the right to ruin the living conditions of other neighbours.

You may believe that New Zealands noise and pollution laws are orwellian, but that is an separate argument as to whether we should enforce existing laws.

kickintheeye

112 posts

Master Geek

#1988035 4-Apr-2018 10:04

Congrats. I know how annoying bad neighbours can be. I understand people minding their own business, but it's rude when you don't even say 'hi', 'good morning/evening/night' to your neighbours, or even 'thank you' when you mow the lawn in front of your place and partly in front of their house too.

Geektastic

17943 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1988055 4-Apr-2018 10:36

MikeAqua:

People who don't control their dogs me off.

I've been a life long dog owner (currently between dogs) and I love dogs but there is no excuse to have your dog wandering the street and in particular menacing people.

There are laws to control that sort of behaviour - if only councils would enforce them.

It must also be people's choice of dog. I can't imagine an over representation of spaniels, Labs or Golden Retrievers amongst the 'menacing people' thing.

The whole dog thing in NZ continues to confuse me. In the UK we manage to have them in pubs, many shops, on the Tube, on buses, in public parks, walking across farmland on footpaths and bridleways, walking in National Parks etc etc etc generally with little trouble. In NZ, they are restricted from setting foot almost anywhere and yet there are endless problems apparently.

It seems not to have occurred to anyone that the restrictions are likely to be contributing factors to the issues....

muppet

2571 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1988083 4-Apr-2018 10:43

I'm sorry you found us so bad.

Sheila and I are glad to be gone. Everyone kept saying I was building "leaky homes", whatever those are, I'm glad to no longer be getting badmouthed by "nice clean driveway people" like yourself.

Ol' woofy is a great dog, we fed him at least once every couple of weeks, which you don't mention.

You complain about the chickens, well if you recall we did offer you a bunch of the dead mangled ones to eat, but you said you didn't want them. Your loss, woofy was happy to eat a couple.

The fact you weren't able to easily do a 200 point turn in the cul de sac is hardly our problem. You also complain about the motorbike, well I'm sure you remember we agreed I wouldn't start it between 3am and 5am. You don't mention that, do you?

Finally, it is not at all true that the Garbage men stopped picking up our rubbish because of Ol' woofy. Sure he'd sometimes "have a little talk" to them, but actually the letter we received from the council said it was all the dead chickens we'd stuffed into the bag was why they wouldn't pick it up anymore. Get your facts straight please.

Farewell.

kingdragonfly

11208 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1988102 4-Apr-2018 11:01

Hee hee! :)

MikeAqua

7785 posts

Uber Geek

#1988198 4-Apr-2018 13:24

Geektastic:

It must also be people's choice of dog. I can't imagine an over representation of spaniels, Labs or Golden Retrievers amongst the 'menacing people' thing.

The attitude of a dog generally reflects the attitude of its owner and how it has been raised.

Savage dogs are often found in savage families.

I do believe some breeds have stronger inherent tendency toward aggression, but almost any puppy can be trained to not be aggressive.

Mike

xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
13769 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1988203 4-Apr-2018 13:33

MikeAqua:

Geektastic:

It must also be people's choice of dog. I can't imagine an over representation of spaniels, Labs or Golden Retrievers amongst the 'menacing people' thing.

The attitude of a dog generally reflects the attitude of its owner and how it has been raised.

Savage dogs are often found in savage families.

I do believe some breeds have stronger inherent tendency toward aggression, but almost any puppy can be trained to not be aggressive.

Yup. Our dog scares the hell out of any delivery people. They refuse to come to the door.

He wouldnt hurt a flea tho. (Hence why hes getting eaten by them atm, sigh)

Once you've been introduced, hes a big slobbery goober. Say hi to our stupid lab. Aggressive as a tadpole.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

LinkTree

geoffwnz

1594 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1988206 4-Apr-2018 13:49

Relatively nice neighbourhood with a mix of families, singles and couples. Mostly owned.

Group of late teens moves in to one rental and starts causing trouble. Assaulting people, doing burnouts, leaving their wrecks parked on the street, assaulting more people because they "narced on them", threatening to kill, brawling with the cops that subsequently turned up, getting themselves arrested.
Now that 4 of them have convictions for the above they've quietened down somewhat. But still seem to have a hobby of glaring at those they feel have wronged them and occasionally yelling abuse. All of which gets added to the police report every time it happens.

Turned out they are a pseudo-gang calling themselves "The Hellraisers". Which loosely translates to bunch of dumb kids with no concept of consequences thinking they can cause trouble and intimidate people in their own neighbourhood.

Unfortunately they picked the wrong neighbourhood. Most of us know each other at least in passing. We all share the same view that we will not be intimidated, not tolerate any of their antisocial behaviour. Yeah, we were all young once too and by and large did some dumb things at the same age, but tended not do things in residential areas or assault people for no reason (or any reason really).

Think the one that had a go at me was somewhat surprised when I didn't immediately back down and run away. But once you are nose to nose with someone and yelling in their face (him, not me), it's a bit embarrassing to back down in front of your mates.

We're all just hoping they move on soon.

MotorDrive Rallying

1 | 2 | 3 | 4