to be fed up with the local teenagers and the people who sold us this house

[beautifulgirls]

We moved here 3 months ago. One of the appeals of the place was a young childrens park literally the other side of the fence from our drive. We asked if there were any problems from the park at all and were told that no there were not, kids obviously use it though. Since we moved in we have had nothing but bother from teenagers in there. It is a residents only area that should be controlled with a coded gate that is broken. The fence was burned down last year and the management company have still not fixed it. It clearly stated no ball games on the entrance (as it is so close to houses - literally 2 car widths away is the fence to it from our house) We have kids playing football all the time in there, right up by our property, and the ball is kicked onto our drive all the time - the kids climb over the plants and the fence, they will not listen to reason when we have tried to politely ask them to go away and play elsewhere as they are causing a disturbance. The management company rarely return our calls or emails and when they do they never give us any answers. Apart from that we get the same groups of kids hanging about in there in the evenings on the swings, often drinking (underage) and littering the place so badly. We have called the police out so many times now it is getting embarrasing to ring them. Often they can not be bothered to come here anyway so the kids just stay put where they are and keep us away until all hours. The language is horrendous, the attitude is shocking - there is no way my kids will be allowed to behave like that when they grow up.
I am cross with the kids for making our lives hell
I am cross with the police for failing to act most of the time we ask for help
I am cross with the management company for being as useful as a chocolate teapot
I am cross with the people who sold us this house and told us there was no problem here.

Any advice gratefully received. I am seriously thinking of contacting a solicitor at the moment and I just want to cry right now. Oh and I contacted the council who were also useless. Took a lot of details and did nothing as far as I can tell.

[salsmum]

beautifulgirls
glad the end result looks good
well done not enough peeps in this world do enough to get rid of these yobs.
Be careful that you don't say too much to the neighbours thou in case these yobs get to hear.
glad you're sorted in the end.

[beautifulgirls]

Well, progress perhaps is being made already - The antisocial behaviour lady called me back again and she has spoken with our local PCSO for us. She had already had one complaint about that park from another neighbour this week too so she is taking it very seriously. The PCSO has given her names of some of the kids he knows to be involved and she is contacting the familys of them by post initially and following up with a home visit etc etc as required. The PCSO is getting various members of the local council together on site within the next couple of weeks and is going to insist the management company get a representative out to discuss it all too. Meanwhile she also emailed another local police officer who has recently started in this area and he rang me this morning to discuss the situation and he is coming along to patrol as often as he can in the late afternoons and evenings to see what is going on for himself.
I know the problem is far from over, but the people who need to listen are finally making much more positive noises for us at last and all being well this will help the situation tremendously. As they said to us, if the ringleaders are removed from the group then the rest will most likely give up anyway.

Liz5573 - Speak with your local police community support officer. He may be able to help. Hard though it is when these people wind you up, you need to be squeaky clean about everything you say and do, and let them be the ones making all the mistakes, so there can be no doubt where from the authorities where this is all coming from.

[CHOCOLATEPEANUT]

whos your council? The police will nearly always avoid neighbour disputes

[liz5573]

I have spoken to the council and they said phone the police

[CHOCOLATEPEANUT]

The police wont do anything,you need to speak to your council

[liz5573]

Every time he has been and said something I have phoned then police straight away i have told them every thing. He is also a peeping tom I can't sit in my garden without him looking to see what we are doing. I think he is a pervert. When my children play outside he waches them from the window my son comes and tells me then won't go back outside to play. I have told the police about this to. I am still waiting for them to come from last week and have phoned again tonight to complain.

[CHOCOLATEPEANUT]

what did he actually say?

Are you writing things down (keeping a diary?)

[liz5573]

yes all the time. On tues last week they came back off hols and I had finished planting a conifer hedge that grow 10mtr high and the Mr came round within 10 mins of being back f in and jefin in front of my 6 year old, when I shut the door he continued to shout through the letter box. He was telling me I couldn't plant the hedge or let it grow more than 4ft. I then explained I had spoken to the council and I could grow it to whatever height I wanted unless someone made a complaint then it would have to be cut back to 6ft 6in. Which is what I intended to grow it to anyway.

[CHOCOLATEPEANUT]

liz

I think your neighbours are treading a fine line.

Anti Social Behaviour is behaviour that is or is likley to cause harrassment, alarm and distress to someone not living in the same household.Thats how the law defines it.The local council and the police are well equipped to deal with this but I am afraid some areas are better than others. The polices usual response is to ring the council!
From what you say the situation started with the parking which is a common problem. You have attemoted to sort this out with a note and they have got arsey.Certainly making lewd comments in front of your child is not acceptable behaviour.

Does this happen often?

[liz5573]

I am so pissed off at the mo. This all started when we moved in really. The neighbours have always moaned about the parking they have to cross our property to get to their house. We had the drive made bigger which cost us £1000, Then they started parking transit vans opposite our house blocking my car on the drive, on more than 5 occasion's I had to get them to move them. So in the end I posted a note through just to say not to park there (I wasn't rude)
The following week after that we had friends round for a drink and she phoned the police saying we had been up til 2am drinking and I was taking my children to school the next day. There was a police man waiting for me when I left the house and I got breathilised. I feel harrassed in my own home! Can they get done for what they are doing?

[GodzillasBumcheek]

Yes, i would think that does class as anti-social. The police should do something, but you have to be persistent. This from someone who can't sort out her own problems though

[liz5573]

I am a married mother of 4 and have been married for 4 years and together for 8 years. I came home from work tonight and had another row with my neighbour. She told me I have a bucket for a fanny. I live in a nice area my house is detached and wasn't cheap. Does her behaviour class as anti social? I have reported her to the police more than once what can I do? I want to go round and cave her head in!! Can anyone tell me what to do?!

[GodzillasBumcheek]

Thinking about the contracts with a bit stating the neighbours are ok, does anyone know if you can do this with rented property? We are trying to get away from noisy neighbours but scared we will be jumping from the frying pan into the fire

Oh, and everyone with noise problems gets my sympathy vote.

[liz5573]

I am a mum of 4 and have fallen out with my next door neighbour. The Mr is a pervert and the Mrs said to me tonight I have a bucket as a fanny she also said this in front of my 6 years old son. (She can't have kids) I live in a really nice detached house that wasn't cheap. I have been married for 4 years and have been with my husband for 8 years. Does her behaviour class as anti social behaviour? Some one please help as I am ready to go and cave her head in!!!

[OrmIrian]

Poor things We decided against an otherwise perfect 4 bed house that would have given us so much space. And at first the fact that the garden backed onto a lovely park with a play area and a small wood seemed wonderful. Until we drove past at about 7.30pm and saw the place swarming with scary teenagers and a police car

Frustrating when a few kids spoil things.

[Hassled]

The earlier advice about contacting local schools' headteachers, with photos, is a good one. The school can't ignore it, and it won't do any harm. My DS1 is 20 and is now a pillar of the community () but went through a bit of a phase at around 14 - it involved banging on some old guy's car on his way home. Anyway, the old guy contacted the school, who contacted me, I gave DS1 the full works and the problem was dealt with.

Our predecessors in this house told me the neighbour was a "dear old thing". She's an evil witch from hell - you have all my sympathy.

[CHOCOLATEPEANUT]

Keep the pressure on the Anti Social Behaviour officer,they have a duty to deal with.

Can I ask what area you live in?

[beautifulgirls]

We have contact the PCSO for the area again and he is trying to arrange a meeting with the council and the management company as well for us - fingers crossed. He is also looking into whether the old owners of the house made any complaints about the park to the police at all as they should have disclosed these to us. If that is positive we are getting more legal advice.

Genidef - they moved miles away from here but solicitors should still have forwarding addresses etc. We've yet to find out if they complained to the council or the management company.

Still waiting for the council antisocial behaviour officer to call me back......and the management company......
Feel like I am flogging a dead horse - though have a good strategy in mind for the next football game, involving me grabbing their ball when it next comes into my garden and then insisting they can only have it back when they all come and stand in my driveway and listen quietly to me. I shall point out they are not allowed to play football in there, they are causing a nuisance, trampling the plants, damaging the fence etc, understand that they do still wish to play football somewhere though and then ask them to come up with a solution to all of our problems......ok I am probably being totally naieve about that working, but at least it will perhaps be more productive than shouting at them.

OOh - local antisocial behaviour officer just called me - said she has already had one complaint from our road about this park this week! Hoorah, I am not alone. She will liase with the PCSO for me from here to see if we can get things moving again.

Thanks for all the support

[Genidef]

I think the management company is the best use of your time and efforts. The breach of contract is a great angle to pursue, plus I would do what your friend suggested and say if you don't deal with this by a certain time, we will take action. I would try to have a solicitor send the letter as well as they can also check you wouldn't be in breach of anything yourself by the action you're taking. If it's not too expensive - citizens advice could maybe do something similar for you.

Just out of interest, as far as you're aware, did the previous owners move well out of the area, or to another part of town? It would be interesting to find out if they've left a long list of complaints behind with the council they didn't disclose to you. But on balance I think suing them etc etc will be a lot of effort for not much return. A solicitor might not agree, but I really think putting your efforts towards the management company is a better option.

Wouldn't pursue the kids with photos etc- others will come along, and the real issue seems to be that the people responsible for the park aren't doing ANYTHING they should be to secure it.

[mm22bys]

I would check your lease to see if the management company is not in some sort of breach. It might take a lot of paperwork, and a lot of time, but it might sort out one of your problems.

I feel for you...

[CHOCOLATEPEANUT]

Speak to your council again.Ask to meet with them.They have a duty to deal with Anti Social Behaviour of this kind and you do not have to live with it.

[beautifulgirls]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts. There are a few good ideas here we will look into including the photos and school/papers ideas. I have some photos of the little oiks graffiting over the play equipment that the police have - and cautioned some of them as a result too. More photos will not be a problem to get, especially if I clear the idea of taking them with the PCSO when I next speak with him too, so he knows officially what I am doing and why.

We asked specifically about problems because the fence had been burnt down, but were assured it was a one off, and that the management company were in the process of getting the funds together from residents to fix it - we were given copies of the letter from the management company to prove it was being sorted. The park clearly states open 8am-8pm only, and being a residents park rather than an open to all public park we naievely believed it would be ok. We expected noise in the day - we are pretty open minded having kids ourselves.

I think we do have a good case on the previous owners here and I shall be following up on it this week to see what we can do.

It took us a long time to find this house, and we are not about to sell up anytime soon. The long and short of it is that someone is responsible here for sorting this out and we are going to fight until it is sorted out.

A friend suggested to me that we take matters into our own hands here if the management company will not act, and firstly notify them in writing of our intentions unless x, y and z is done by a certain date, and if not then tell them what we will do. In that case we shall then get chain and padlock for the gate and put it on between 8pm and 8am and get some sort of fencing up in the damaged area to prevent them using that gap in the fence to hide behind (as they do when the security/police come) and start planting lots of spikey plants to make a natural fence for the longer term.

Roll on the winter and cold weather!

[UCM]

The only thing I can add to this is, that if the previous owners of your house wrote a complaint at any time whilst occupying the house, and didn't state it on the forms that both solicitors should have exchanged.

Sue the fuckers. Right now. I always warn people before they make a complaint in writing or a phone call to the police that is registered. If you do not declare this you are fucked.

Check it out. Get a copy of the forms they signed then make an appointment with the council and ask to see the records.

[hairycaterpillar]

Your post could've been written by me!
We have identical problem. Our house backs onto lovely big park and has a council building beside it (unoccupied at night). We have constant problems with local youth: broken bottles and cans being lobbed into garden, drinking mostly underage, fighting, sex, noise+++. Sometimes they even come into our garden and vandalise car/washing line/kids toys/urinate/try and pick fight with DH (mobile phones at the ready to take piccy)...oh the list of problems is endless!

We've debated all possible solutions police, community council lighting at back of house etc etc but not had much success. We have recently decided that we are probably going to call it a day and move.

It makes me v and .

I do wonder how I will be able to sell the house without saying something...so in a way can understand the sellers of your house NOT saying anything to you. Noone would by a house if you went into all the negatives. Next time we buy I will do more detective work!

Hope you manage to find some sort of solution for your situation, I really feel for you I know how depressing it can be.

[imnot27]

Oh feel REALLY sorry for you, I am so noise intolerant and I know this must be an awful situation!

You do have some legal comeback I think, as others have said re the questions on the forms etc.

Our friends live near a newsagent where there were loads of yoofs hanging about being noisy, swearing etc, so the council installed a 'mosquito', which is a thingy (technical term) which emits a high pitched buzz that only teenagers can hear!! They really hate it, and they have now all gone! Ask your police/ council about getting one in the park, could be activated after 8pm or something.

Really hope it gets better for you. Or that you succesfully move!