Crazy neighbour and fence (DIAGRAM!)

[LittleMissGiggles1980]

First time poster, long time lurker. Hoping the lovely mumsnetters can give me some sensible advice. Bear with me its a bit long and rambly (in the interests of not drip feeding). Also - diagram!

Our outwardly seeming mid 60s middle class respectable neighbour has a long history of being batshit crazy and has fallen out with everyone around her and all of her neighbours (including previous owners of this house).

We fell out 8/9 years ago about a 30 year old fence between the gardens (amongst other things) I painted my side of it green thinking it was our fence as per the deeds. She kicked off saying it was her fence and we were to remove the green paint and restore it to its original colour. Apologised etc, explained we didnt know, its difficult to remove paint, offering to paint over it etc. None of this was good enough for her and it got to solicitors letters and surveyors stage. (At one point I was gaffer taping up my letter box as every time I went out I came home to a nasty letter) Eventually the solicitors must have persuaded her to drop it and it all fizzled out, though she continues with low level annoyance - clanging gates in the middle of the night to wake us up, mowing, strimming or sanding when we have people in the garden etc. Eventually we put up our own fence inside our boundary that was 2m high.

Last year she had her old fence removed and replaced by another fence, higher than ours, which I argued with the installers was over the legal height and should have planning permission. It looked a mess as it was poking up above ours and screamed neighbour dispute (we want to sell our house soon so trying to avoid having to declare anything) In the end I didn't pursue it as we needed access to her side for some work we were having done so decided to leave in the interests of good will.

This summer we have had a new fence at the back and decided to take out the fence we had erected inside our boundary to make it all match up and look nice, (plus gain back the foot or so of land lost from moving our fence inwards.)
On seeing we had done this, she has waited until I have gone out then, leaned right over her fence into our garden to messily paint the top third of her fence on our side, letting it drip/splodge down and ensuring it looks a mess, just out of sheer spitefulness.

Obviously its her fence, legally I can't touch it or change it and she is entitled to make it look awful on our side if she wants to.

WWYD?

I could paint the rest of it the same colour but it will start all the nasty letters up again.(She leans over and checks it to make sure I havent done anything about it, I have video evidence of her doing this)

If I leave it it looks awful though will probably fade over a few years but we want to move sooner than that.

I could put our old fence back up but you would still see her fence above it and it would still look suspect to potential buyers with it being a double fence.

I could try and jet wash it off but she would probably just re paint?

I could string razor wire across to prevent her leaning over? (I have kids but it would be high up)

I could grow bamboo or similar to hide it but then thats expensive.

Any suggestions on what to do?

Wow!! Sorry, no advice but... wow!!

I would put trellis up a few inches inside of her fence and grow something vigorous up it. You could put your old fence back up if you still have it, just move it a bit closer to her fence, and use that to grow plants up. If you plant bushy plants they will grow taller than your fence and help to hide her fence. It'll look pretty and, while it will cost a bit of money, it's better than an ongoing argument. If she won't let you paint her fence then she definitely wouldn't let you string razor wire across the top.

what colour did she paint it

Garish orange fence colour (autumn gold?) Her side is that colour. See pic.

Thanks, razor wire could be attached to our old fence posts so not on her fence (kind of hoping she doesn't see it and garrotts herself

It's not a problem to have a double fence, that can happen when both parties want the 'good side'.

Excellent diagram, but for bonus points can you tell us which direction the infamous fence faces? Some climbers are really quick (presuming she doesn't poison them...)

I presume you looked into this during the previous dispute, but what do the land registry plans show regarding boundaries and responsibility?

Ugh, painted fences are horrible, that orange colour always looks bad.

I wouldn't do bamboo, it can be sooooo difficult to control. Which is great for revenge on your neighbour, but would put me off buying your house.

She sounds barmy . I'd get some of that willow / bamboo screening and stick that up on your side , just make sure it at least goes up to where her paint job finishes .

Her side of it faces W, our side E. Do you think the double fence might be ok then? Could raise ours up a bit on bricks or an extra gravel board so its the same height?
Land registry plans show its our boundary to maintain but it is definitely her fence.

I know the orange is grim...

Go with a fence as big as hers in your boundary.
Why are people so nasty - what is wrong with her? She needs to get a grip and look at what is going on in the world. Jesus!

What a mess. Passive-aggressive fence painting! I'd build a fence so it can't be seen, or plant several massive bushes in front of it.

I know Looby, she has no friends or family ever visit and obviously has some issues, too much time. When we had all the sols letters etc when it a kicked off before we were going through IVF/miscarriages which was horrendous extra stress but at least gave us some perspective!

I would actually do this differently.

I would be very smiley and ask her if she woudl like access to finish painting her fence, or if she would liek you to finish painting it with her paint?

If she says yes then you have the fence all one colour. It may not be your favourite colour, but it will fade, and it will look so much better all one colour.

Then I would plant things very close to the fence which will grow up and take the edge off, but not touch the fence.
You could stick some bamboo canes in and grow things like runner beans up them for a quick cover, but that will only last the summer.

Not pretty, but it could be a lot worse.

I would just ignore the silly neighbour - she is only doing it to annoy(but maybe get cctv to see what she does next) Invite people over to laugh at her popping her head over?

Pyracanthus grows pretty fast and prickly - it is pretty and the birds like the berries If it grows over the top, she can waste her time cutting it off. That will give her something to do.

If you're wanting to move I'd just match that hideous orange colour and paint it the same as she has done

She can clearly do fuck all about is as you're just finishing her job for her - you have photos to prove she painted it

Our neighbours, although not nasty by any means but no sense of privacy, cut down all vegetation on their side. We put up a trellis and planted japanese honeysuckle which grows really quickly!

She sounds like a real pain

No idea what to do but i am honestly concerned you live next to my mother.

Oh no, have looked at the diagram now and you dont.

Buy some trellis panels and put them along the top of your fence. . Paint first!!
Quite cheap and will block her hideous fence!!

Put your fence back with some trellis on top to take it up to her height then grow some lovely plants up it. Job done.

Opps. Cross post.

Inform the council if it's too high. Get the bloody thing removed.

I'd just paint it. Won't you have to declare the neighbour dispute anyway seeing as she involved a solicitor so it's all on record?

If she tried to get you in trouble for painting it just look all innocent and say she did it herself! What's she going to say "oh no I didn't, I only painted the top third"?!

As hideous as the colour is I'd do as PP suggested and finish the paint job. If you aren't going to be there much longer it's probably the easiest option and less likely to draw the attention of potential buyers to a neighbour dispute.