Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Which neighbour is being unreasonable?

242 replies

Neighbourshateeachother · 15/08/2021 18:46

Neighbour A runs (ran) a small online business from home (pre pandemic). During the lockdown as more people were buying online business went up. Due to nature of the business a large lorry would visit neighbour A weekly to deliver stock and sometimes Ups / DHL would make visits to collect / deliver.

Neighbour B has young children and likes them to play outside and didn’t didn’t like the ‘busyness’ of the street which is a nice quiet cul de sac. Neighbour B reported neighbour A to the council and got the business shut down.

Neighbour A found out neighbour B was responsible for this and told everyone in the street both in person and on the street WhatsApp chat.

Other residents of the street now feel awkward. Who IBU neighbour A or B?

OP posts:
SeoultoSeoul · 16/08/2021 20:04

Was A operating a food business without a food hygiene certificate? But A is blaming B for the closure because she was under the councils radar until she was reported?

Rainbowshit · 16/08/2021 20:38

@Muma1992

Reading back over this thread is actually really funny. I can't believe people think that one complaint about deliveries would close down a business operating out of a residential address and that the council had previously said "we don't mind, just don't inconvenience those neighbours" Confused
Exactly this. The council are not going to shut down a legally operated business after only one person's complaint. There's more back story to this.
liveforsummer · 17/08/2021 04:50

I got the impression the one person complained multiple times as opposed to just one complaint. Some people can be pretty relentless.

MaMelon · 17/08/2021 09:45

Even if one person did complain multiple times then there must have been good grounds for closing down a business. I'm not sure about anywhere else, but our Council is so stretched for resources that one moaning neighbour isn't going to persuade them to put the time, effort and legal resources into shutting down a business that's operating perfectly legally - they just wouldn't.

There's definitely more to this story - although we'll never find out because the OP has legged it.

DoubleTweenQueen · 17/08/2021 14:16

I can testify first hand that councils will not act against anyone going on inconvenience to neighbours, unless robust legal position allows them to do it - so a legal breach has occured of some sort?
They will also not act against breaches of planning, but encourage and support retrospective applications.
It's less costly. Sadly not for the neighbours........

JustLyra · 17/08/2021 14:34

@DoubleTweenQueen

I can testify first hand that councils will not act against anyone going on inconvenience to neighbours, unless robust legal position allows them to do it - so a legal breach has occured of some sort? They will also not act against breaches of planning, but encourage and support retrospective applications. It's less costly. Sadly not for the neighbours........
This is so true. I firmly believe that if our neighbour having the lorries in wasn’t affecting traffic at a really bad junction just down from us, and therefore access to the school and doctor’s nothing would have been done (it’s a narrow road so when the lorries were in anyone else trying to come in had to wait on the main road, which backed up traffic and blocked the school entrance more than once).
FaceForRadio1973 · 17/08/2021 15:07

I can understand neighbour B's frustrations... However I do hope that they are satisfied destroying A's livelihood, income, aspirations, and that they won't object to B's removal van when they are evicted because they cannot pay the mortgage. On the bright side, their kids will be back in school soon, and eligible for free school dinners....

MaMelon · 17/08/2021 15:16

@FaceForRadio1973

I can understand neighbour B's frustrations... However I do hope that they are satisfied destroying A's livelihood, income, aspirations, and that they won't object to B's removal van when they are evicted because they cannot pay the mortgage. On the bright side, their kids will be back in school soon, and eligible for free school dinners....
You have literally no proof that has happened or will happen. None whatsoever.

As many of us have said, there’s a ton load more to this story.

ChainJane · 17/08/2021 15:45

A is in the wrong for running the business from home without caring what impact it had on those around them. A also lost the right to any moral high ground when they chose to "grass" on the "grass".

B has done nothing wrong, they've simply asked the council to investigate and provided them with evidence to help them make a decision. It's the council's call at the end of the day.

It's hard to have any sympathy for A, they sound like a nasty piece of work.

Looneytune253 · 17/08/2021 15:51

I think neighbour b is awful esp if it is just once a week. Roads aren't for playing on anyway and if the children are playing on the road then neighbour a needs to be outside with them.

Marmelace · 17/08/2021 16:01

I think it's all made up bollocks.

SingingInTheShithouse · 17/08/2021 16:04

Neighbour A is in the wrong

It's incredibly hard for the council to make a strong case for a desist order, they need strong evidence of a genuine nuisance. So it must have been very obviously a genuine problem for neighbour B at least, likely other neighbours supported the complaint too

Lavendersquare · 17/08/2021 16:07

If you have ever worked for a council you will understand the complaints that come across your desk every week. From too tall sheds, wrong colour brickwork, traveller families living in houses, people washing cars daily, bins in the wrong place, parking (whole thread on this), benefit fraud, caravan on drive etc the list is endless.

Running a business from home is allowed so if the council shut the business down it must be for more that having deliveries, I should think that if it was food related maybe there was no hygiene certificate, or was doing something that needs to be off the premises for safety etc.

Bloodypunkrockers · 17/08/2021 16:19

@FaceForRadio1973

I can understand neighbour B's frustrations... However I do hope that they are satisfied destroying A's livelihood, income, aspirations, and that they won't object to B's removal van when they are evicted because they cannot pay the mortgage. On the bright side, their kids will be back in school soon, and eligible for free school dinners....
In what way has B destroyed A's livelihood?

If A was operating legally then there would be no issue.

2girls · 17/08/2021 16:39

That's some business if it needs a lorry every week to deliver stock. But only the occasional pick up Hmm the pick ups would have to be much more frequent if A is selling the lorry load of stock every week unless the items they are selling are quite big...
But no a council can't shut your business down they can only stop you from running it from your house if it's against regulations or whatever. Neighbour A should rent premises

paddlingon · 17/08/2021 16:46

Neighbour A needs to rent commercial premises to run business.
A residential area is just that.

icedcoffees · 17/08/2021 17:05

@FaceForRadio1973

I can understand neighbour B's frustrations... However I do hope that they are satisfied destroying A's livelihood, income, aspirations, and that they won't object to B's removal van when they are evicted because they cannot pay the mortgage. On the bright side, their kids will be back in school soon, and eligible for free school dinners....
If A was operating legally, the council wouldn't have been able to shut them down.
New posts on this thread. Refresh page