to report neighbour's bin store?

[Passthegin99]

My house is end terrace and next door's front garden shares a fence with our back boundary. I don't know who the fence belongs to. Next door has been a state for years but they've started smartening it up a bit recently and have made their front garden into a drive (ignoring the fact they don't have a dropped kerb but never mind). All fine except they've now built a whopping great bin store up against the shared boundary which is essentially a massive, stable, platform for would-be-burglars to climb up onto and hop into our garden!

Given my previous house not far from here was end terrace and we were burgled using exactly this route in - standing on bins to get over the fence, and then obviously in through a door - I'm feeling extremely stressed about this. DP - who is normally a massive curtain twitching complaint lodger (whereas I'm normally live and let live) is being infuriatingly calm about it and says there's nothing we can do and that I'm being ridiculous.

Technically it's an illegal construction unless they have planning permission (no way they do given they made a driveway without a dropped kerb) as it's in the front garden, so I could complain to the council. Would that be unreasonable? So as not to drip feed, they have form for this themselves as they previously complained to the council about DP making excessive DIY noise in the garden which upset him so much he's barely picked up a tool since. If they'd just come and knocked on the door he'd have packed it in happily.

I could go and knock on their door but I can't see them taking it down as it won't have been cheap to build and then if I complain to the council they'll know it was me (yes, they probably will anyway but still). What can I do so I don't fall out with the neighbours but also so I can sleep at night??

thats a really nice bin store - anyone got a link to something similar? Might get one

Another planner here saying technically that bin store requires PP.

However I can't see it not being given retrospective PP if an application were made.

OP you know you're being a bit unreasonable here. Burglars would just stand on the bin, or hop directly over the fence if they wanted to get in. It doesn't look that high

Make sure you have proper locks on doors and windows set up some security lights and maybe some cameras to put your mind at rest.

It's a grand bin store. Better than looking at bins and as everyone has already said, the burglars could stand on the bins anyway.

Could you build one on the other side then you could put things on the top of it, like potted plants or a crocodile so that the burglars couldn't jump down?

www.wheeliebinstorage.co.uk/do-i-need-planning-permission-for-wheelie-bin-stores/

Iwww.bluum.co.uk/products/triple-wheelie-bin-store-with-green-roof-planter like this one

This is incorrect. Always ask someone trying to flog you something for the rules against having it

Seve

You really don't need planning permission for a bin store, my dad built one in his front garden, contacted the local council about planning permission and they told him over the phone he didn't need it.

Several planners have stayed that anything in front of the house will require PP, but what do professional qualifications and experience mean

Not going to argue with you about OP given that you’ve actually checked the regulations 🙂, but if you did report there’s a possibility they’d get retrospective PP anyway.

Is there space to grow some prickly hedges on your side of the fence, so they grow over the height of the fence?

Ah bless you! The voice of reason

Why don't you just check the council's planning portal to see if they do have permission? By the way you can apply to have a dropped kerb after you build a driveway so it doesn't mean they didn't have permission just because there isn't a dropped kerb at the moment.

The council have just built a large bin store in the front garden of our block of flats - concrete and fencing, not just a small wooden thing. I've just checked, and there was no planning permission applied for 🤷🏻‍♀️
Can you ring your planning department and ask?

I think it looks really smart!

OP, you have to think about what you want to achieve. Yes, technically it falls foul of planning, so you can report. But the outcome is likely to be that next door obtain retrospective planning and neighbourly relations have been damaged. It's exceptionally unlikely that they will be asked to remove it.

So, if you want to piss your neighbours off and sour relations - report and they will apply for and be granted retrospective planning permission and the bin store remains.
If you value a good relationship with your neighbours - don't report and the bin store remains without planning permission.

What you really want is the bin store removed, but that is unlikely to happen regardless of whether you report it or not because a smart bin store at the front of the house is not a unreasonable thing to have.

What can I do so I don't fall out with the neighbours but also so I can sleep at night??

You can take responsibility for sorting out the security for your own house

It looks smart and from your pov it is much better to live next to neighbours who are investing in the area and spending money smartening the place up.

id find it bizarre if someone complained about me trying to tidy away bins.

Why don't you simply plant a pyracanthas hedge in front of the fence your side, and pop a security camera and dummy alarm box on your house. If I were a burglar I'd think twice about jumping into that, knowing I was on CCTV.

Without the bin store they'd only stand on the bins.

Flats don't have permitted development rights so if it was an individual or private body doing this, PP would be required.

However Local Authorities do have permitted development rights for things like bus shelters, phone boxes, refuse bins etc. PP would generally not be required in these instances if the structure is less than 4m high and less than 200 cubic metres in volume.

You do where I live. We didn't realise when we moved in and built a shelter for our cats, it was half the height of that bin store and propably smaller footprint but the neighbours reported us and the planning committee came to see it. They came in a council minibus, looked like a group of pensioners on a day trip.

Ours was in the back garden and due to where it was you couldn't even see it from their house, they must have looked over the back fence from the footpath. They said they reported it as they were worried about what we might do next.

Goodness you are making a fuss over nothing. Regardless of whether it requires planning permission you can't expect your neighbours to not do what they want because of someone else's actions. If you get burgled it's the burglars fault, not your neighbours for having a bin store.

I've been burgled twice, both times they smashed double glazed units and stole tens of thousands of pounds of stuff. The police officer when I asked what we could do to ensure it never happens again said "You can put an alarm in, extra locks, a camera and get yourself a guard dog, but they'll get in if they want to get in. Remember the Queen once woke up to a stranger who had broken into one of the most secure houses in the country sitting on the end of her bed'"

It's very cute though, did they make it themselves? I want one!

OP I get that you're highly sensitive to this issue and rightly so. Its unlikely to happen again... Do you have a ring doorbell and dummy cameras?

Gravel deters burglars as its so noisy.

Their curb appeal will increase the value of your home if you ever wanted to move one day. So try and relax a bit x

Couldn't the burgled just stand on top of the naked bin though and get over your fence?

You don't know many burglars do you? 🤣

Grow hawthorn along your boundary - it’s almost the right time of year to plant bare root and it’s not expensive- will def put burglars off. Simples.

YABU - most people keep their bins next to a fence

Poor OP,

You absolutely need planning permission for FRONT GARDEN structures. Doesn't matter what it is.