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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not think a hairdresser working from home is a problem

138 replies

woopdedoodle · 09/02/2021 08:37

I'm not name changing, because they already know who I am, and after yesterday so do my neighbours.

A few doors down from me a woman has opened a two seat salon in her garage. Obviously it's been closed most of the time since,she also hadn't asked planning permission. Now she has and there are two women running a campaign to shut her down.

They think she will get 5000 customers a year by car 10000 extra car journeys on our road. Before Christmas their argument was while they were home working they could see her home working .

I said I didn't see a problem, yesterday they came back and when they wouldnt leave or take no for an answer I shut the door.

I could hear them shouting outside my front door, so now all the neighbours have heard how rude I apparently am.

So AIBU to think it's not the end of the world to have a small local hairdresser, house prices are not going to plummet, and I should support the planning application.

I am not a customer BTW

OP posts:
SinkGirl · 09/02/2021 08:41

5,000 customers a year - more than 13 a day, 7 days a week, all year round?

They’re bonkers, unless she’s got another stylist working too.

And why would it be 10,000 extra journeys - would those people not be going to another hairdresser?

They sound bonkers.

shitinmyhandsandclap · 09/02/2021 08:41

Unless the place will be causing parking problems then I couldn't get worked up about it either

Finfintytint · 09/02/2021 08:42

It wouldn’t bother me either.
Are these protestors also complaining about the increased traffic created by DPD, Hermes etc?

borntohula · 09/02/2021 08:44

I'd be there ASAP so no, I see no problem either. Desperate for a haircut.

RockingMyFiftiesNot · 09/02/2021 08:44

I agree their maths is seriously flawed. I would have no issue with someone running such a small business from their home. As long as the neighbour to be considerate when parking etc

LaurieFairyCake · 09/02/2021 08:44

She will probably see 3 or 4 people a day and take 2 days off a week

My own hairdresser had something similar - no one noticed

They are completely in the wrong, we are all going to need to work after Covid

dottiedaisee · 09/02/2021 08:47

I think your neighbours have far too much time on their hands !

Mamagotskills · 09/02/2021 08:47

Their maths is shit for a start.

Say 3-4 customers a day on average. 5 days a week, 48 weeks a year (being generous). That’s 840 clients.

Then say a portion of those don’t drive....

Honestly I couldn’t get worked up about it.

mootymoo · 09/02/2021 08:48

Why would 5000 customers (optimistic!) mean double the amount of journeys? Surely 5000 customers mean 5000 journeys? (Not that they can fit that many customers with only 2 seats, colouring takes a long time for instance). My neighbours has a salon in a bedroom, I know it's against the covenants for this estate but I would never report her, it's handy having a salon 6 doors down and traffic isn't an issue

TheYearOfSmallThings · 09/02/2021 08:49

I would not want my neighbours opening a hair salon next door to me. It is a residential street, and if she is successful there will be people coming and going all day. I also wouldn't buy a house next door to such a business.

The women campaigning against her are being unnecessarily aggressive about it, but I definitely wouldn't be supporting the idea.

Mumdiva99 · 09/02/2021 08:52

So it's OK for them to work from home....but not her?

If there is adequate parking not an issue. We live at the end of a cul-de-sac where each house only has 2 spaces and no room for road parking - no room on the road leading to us either....here it would be an issue. As long as you aren't in that situation then just ignore the hoo Haa.

Love51 · 09/02/2021 08:52

@mootymoo because they go there and then back again.
Some will go there and then somewhere else, but assuming 2 journeys per customer really isn't the main error in their maths!

OP said 2 seats, which is why they've accounted for 2 fte members of staff.

TeaSoakedDisasterMagnet · 09/02/2021 08:52

That’s a bit bonkers. How would one person see 5000 customers in a year? I wonder how they’ve come to that conclusion. I can see a big chain like Toni and guy seeing that many or more, but not one hairdresser.

It wouldn’t bother me. And if she was good, then I’d be a customer for the convenience!

GottaGetThatPorkPie · 09/02/2021 08:54

The only time I would have an issue is it parking on my street were to be a nightmare because of it.

If not, I honestly don't understand why someone would care about this. In fact I'd probably go myself when they opened!

user1493413286 · 09/02/2021 08:55

I don’t get the issue; my hairdresser has a simaikr set up and I don’t see why it causes a problem to anyone else. The only thing that i would question is how parking would work but if the answer is street parking then I honestly couldn’t get myself worked up over it.

SingingLoud · 09/02/2021 08:55

While I wouldn’t complain to the councils or start a petition about this, in my last house, there was a beautician working from home in our cul-de-sac, then someone else started up as a dog groomer, then another neighbour decided to fix cars out of his garage.

We had people knocking at our door almost daily thinking we were the beautician or dog groomer. The car repair man’s home was obvious due to all the crap all over his drive and the rusty cars outside the house.

We lost the turning circle in the cul-de-sac due to their costumers parking, and the kids couldn’t really play out the front any more because of the amount of cars driving in and out and dotted around.

So depending on the layout of your road, I wouldn’t be happy about this.

BowtieBling · 09/02/2021 08:58

@TheYearOfSmallThings won't be the only person with that viewpoint.
People want to live in suburbia with no disruption. Some neighbours have issues with children playing or how someone else parks their car.
Live and let live isn't always a phrase that comes easily.

louise4754 · 09/02/2021 09:07

Are they driving two cars each? I don't get it.
Or a journey each way lol?

AStudyinPink · 09/02/2021 09:08

Definitely fine for it not to bother you. Reluctantly, I have to say it would bother me if I moved somewhere quiet and someone opening a business next door meant 4-5 extra people arriving and parking and leaving every day (including Saturdays?). People have a right to object.

SoupDragon · 09/02/2021 09:10

People have a right to object.

They don't have the right to try and bully people who disagree though.

RockingMyFiftiesNot · 09/02/2021 09:13

have to say it would bother me if I moved somewhere quiet and someone opening a business next door meant 4-5 extra people arriving and parking and leaving every day (including Saturdays?).

I just don't get the issue - that's less than one person per hour. We live in a lovely quiet road but people have visitors and deliveries coming and going all the time.

Hoppinggreen · 09/02/2021 09:13

They have a right to object, but not to harass people who don’t agree with them.

AStudyinPink · 09/02/2021 09:14

They have a right to object, but not to harass people who don’t agree with them.

Certainly.

CrazyOldBagLady · 09/02/2021 09:14

We have a similar set up on our street, the house involved has had their front garden paved to provide parking and it's never caused any issues.

AStudyinPink · 09/02/2021 09:16

I just don't get the issue - that's less than one person per hour. We live in a lovely quiet road but people have visitors and deliveries coming and going all the time.

You don’t get the issue, but I do. If you had ten deliveries a day, you’d now have the equivalent of 50% more disruption, and some people really don’t like disruption, which is why they move to quiet places. COVID has already made home life less separable from working life, so I can see why people want to draw a line.