re this father and kids trespassing

[Vintagejazz]

I live in an apartment and the ground floor is a creche. There is a playground with raillings which is private property but kids climb over the railings at nighttime and use the place as a football ptich.
This is causing problems with shouting kids in the playground in the evenings, gangs of kids gathering right below my windows and balcony as well as children often being there quite late and creating noise and disturbance.

Both the Management Company and the Creche Manager have asked me to contact the police anytime I see kids in there as it is private property (with, presumably, insurance and H&S implications amongst other thing).
Obviously I don't want to be reporting kids from the neighbourhood to the police, so I just tend to tell kids to get out when I see them in there.

This evening there were three children in there kicking a ball and I told them they had to leave. A while later I saw them back in there and called down to them that they had already been they couldn't play in there. A man smoking on the adjoining balcony (but in the next building as semi detatched so don't know him) leant over and told me they were his kids and there was no problem with them playing there. I said that I had been asked to call the police when kids trespassed in there and he said it was okay as he was 'keeping an eye on them'.

I feel annoyed as basically he told his kids to ignore a request from another adult to leave private property,and has made it difficult to get the message across to other children that they can't play in there if his kids can.

Should I complain to management company or just say nothing for the sake of peace? Really don't want gangs of kids right below my windows all the time when it's not a general playground. But neither do I want to be a grumpy neighbour.

The Police would do nothing because trespassing is not a crime as such - it's a civil matter. The Management Company would have to take the children (father) to Court to get them banned or whatever and there might be a monetary fee for anything the trespassing children have spoiled - perhaps with Court costs in addition..

If they're trespassing, then they're trespassing. It doesn't matter what he thinks. I would call the PCSO, explain the situation and have them send someone round on walk about. Alternatively the owners can put up bigger signs and make it clear that it's private ground and that trespasser will be prosecuted.

If someone repeatedly trespassed and cause a public nuisance, yes, the police would do something.

You could buy one of those devices only teenagers and young people can hear - it is a very high pitch sound which hurts their ears. That will chase them off. Don't tell anyone you are using it.

Thanks everyone. Just sitting here feeling upset and hating the thought of this man teling his kids to 'ignore that old busy body' or whatever.

Greengrow
Is she going to tamper with private property and place this child-annoying device on the private land of a creche, or is she just going to have it on in her own flat, and see if the sound reaches that far?

If the sound does reach that far, it'll also have the potential to bother her neighbours, with or without children. At which point it'll be interfering with their private lives in their own bloody home.

Put it on her own flat and hopefully it will extend that far. It could be tried each time the children trespass. As it's dark and night no other children will be out anyway and only trouble makers will be out at that time . It works very well to drive them off streets. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito

Advise the creche manager to get CCTV.

Get a load of great big plants for your balcony. Then water them. A lot. With a power hose.

The creche manager just keeps reiterating that it's the residents' problem because it's their children who are doing the trespassing.

But with parents like the one I've described, what can you do?

I've been tempted Poosey.

Think I'll ask if a sign can be put up making it very clear that trespassers will be prosecuted and the Creche and Residents Management Company will not be liable for any accidents.

Presumably random parents cannot then say that it's okay for their child to play in there.

Think I'll ask if a sign can be put up making it very clear that trespassers will be prosecuted and the Creche and Residents Management Company will not be liable for any accidents.

That would be pointless as trespassers can't be prosecuted and if an accident happens for which the Creche or Residents Management Company would be liable, sticking a sign up won't override that.

So basically it's up to the creche to properly secure the area if they don't want to be liable for any accidents that occur on their property?

Yes. It's their problem, not yours. They are not paying you to act as their night security guard, are they?

Greengrow

Put it on her own flat and hopefully it will extend that far. It could be tried each time the children trespass. As it's dark and night no other children will be out anyway and only trouble makers will be out at that time . It works very well to drive them off streets.

In which case, as I already said: If the sound does reach that far, it'll also have the potential to bother her neighbours, with or without children. At which point it'll be interfering with their private lives in their own bloody home.

She lives in a flat, not on a bloody island. Flats are not detached dwellings in the middle of nowhere! I live in a flat myself- the latest of a series of flats. In this one, like all the others, I can hear my next-door neighbour's music if he puts it on loud. If I got a Mosquito to protect the land below, it would be audible above, thus upsetting his children.

There's also the possibility that the OP could buy a mosquito and forget to switch it off during business hours when there are supposed to be children there. For that reason alone, I expect the staff wouldn't want their next door neighbour buying one on their behalf.

Why don't they put up a taller fence?

Oh please don't get one of those bloody things. I'm 38 and I can hear them. ring 101 and see if it is a police matter if it's causing you bother.

Can the crèche paint the railings or the top of them with that burglar paint?

I would just forget the whole thing. If the noise disturbs you, then so be it. It would be just as noisy if they were playing in the street.

We are encouraged to come and play in the grounds of our school. After school great big secondary dc lope in to use the basketball net. I know it's not the same but that's how I would deal with it. Tell the crèche you are not willing to watch their grounds for them.

Those noise things are terrible by neighbour got one to stop cats messing his lawn. The cats were totally unaffecteded but I was not.