To feel upset at the thought of a stable next door

[AnnieHoooo]

Neighbours daughter informed me she is building a stable on their land for her cob horse and pony. It's 1 metre from my garden fence and 4 metres from my kitchen window.

AIBU to want to move house?

I have invested 15 years into my garden. The horses have pulled my fence right down already and eaten their way through my escalonia, laurel and hawthorn.

I visited an elderly relative recently and there's been horses in the field adjoining her garden all summer.There's bite marks and actual chunks lifted out of her fence on 2 sides of her garden. It's a large rural garden and we estimated it to be about 50 metres of destroyed fencing not a single upper panel was unbitten. I'd have discussions with her about how damage will be remedied.

It's about 6 acres but she's planning on putting the back of the stable 1 metre from my garden, probably for the shelter from my house and trees. It's very windy and wet here in NW Scotland. My property sits below the road level and below where the stable would be.

If she has 6 acres that's quite unreasonable and I'd tell her so. The topography of your house shouldn't mean you have to have a stable beside it.

No idea if it will be moveable but she said it will be wooden. It's very boggy land no good grazing at all. Full of rushes. It might never happen 🤞

Thanks for all the advice!

In hot weather horse urine absolutely will smell on the ground, our horses have a smaller turnout area when we don't wish to use the fields for whatever reason, as they tend to go in the same spot it soon builds up.

I'm pretty sure that stacking needs to be 5m away from your property too.

Stabling not stacking!

Is the stable going near your house because that's where it's flat?

No. It's probably going next to me because of shelter and so they don't ruin their view. It's all on a slight slope down to the sea.

It's going to stink. I'm not surprised you're upset but in my humble opinion I would fight it rather than selling up and moving. Good luck.

Have a look at your household insurance and see if you have legal cover and if so get advice from there

Six acres?? Then she can put it elsewhere. I'd talk to your council planning department or even get legal advice.

She also needs to sort out the fencing.

If its boggy land its going to be very poached in the winter. Run off will probably be awful. And flies will be bad in the summer. Talk to her and point out your concerns and then talk to your local planning authority and as others have said, take legal advice from a solicitor who deals with land management issues.

You can build any structure under permitted development as long as it’s within the size limits. My neighbour has built a brick three bedroom “summer house” —bungalow—. All within PD

Sounds like the neighbour and not the horses are the problem. Perhaps you need to get her round for a cuppa and go through alternatives. She might not realise the distress this will cause

My neighbour three doors down has horses and I like them as creatures but my god it stinks as you walk past.

I'll speak to her when I see her. She's very pleasant, in her 20's and it's her grandparents' land. She doesn't live here so I only see her when she's doing something with the horses near my side.

I'd love this. Free manure and a beautiful garden.

I'll speak to her and ask her if she can make it further along, at least 5m from my fence. They'll do what they want though, it's their land.

I'll plant more hedges, build up a big fence, rat- proof it with barbed wire at the bottom. My other neighbour has offered to put an extension on his electric fence to keep the horses away.

I think the best solution is to build a new garden at the front so I can relax in it.

😂😂😂 the roses will love it!

She’s clearly a dick not to have adequate fencing. But I also find it odd that people live in rural areas but object to the reality.

I would tread very carefully op. I had neighbours at one point that objected to virtually everything, caused damage and were all round twats, and I think they were quite surprised at exactly how unpleasant I could make things without ever stepping over the line of what I could legitimately do with my own property.
You don’t sound remotely like my ex neighbours, but her attitude to the fence already proves she’s a knob, and it might be worth checking exactly what rights she has before you speak to her or risk pissing her off.
Eg after they hacked down my hedge behind their garden I replaced it with the most godawful collection of old steel sheets, barbed wire and assorted shite on their side, an unnecessarily large collection of rotting support poles for the replacement hedge, and new post and rail on my side. You don’t deserve that but nothing stopping her doing similar if she’s already an arse.

You're being rather passive about this. Yes it's their land but that really doesn't mean they can do whatever they want. That's why planning regs exist. Sometimes planning permission isn't granted.
They're her horses and it's her responsibility to fence them in, you shouldn't be spending money to fence them out.

Don't think she can just put stables that close to the boundary.

She may well need to get planning consent for what's considered a change of use.

If it's already designated for equine use, and she's thinking of calling them 'temporary' field shelters (eg on skids, as PPs have suggested) they may need to be at least 5m from the boundary (and moved every 28 days).

If I were you, I'd be updating my hedgerow with some new plants, the kind that horses really shouldn't eat, and advising her to put in her own fencing/ hedging/ electric fence within her land to keep her animals safe.

But it sounds like the first step would be to contact your local council, and get a good understanding of their approach/ the legal situation, so you know what to expect, before having more conversations with her or the grandparents.

You say her grandparents own the land. Could you speak to them with her present to show them the damage you’ve experienced so far and to ask them how they will prevent more damage and your kitchen outlook being adversely affected. The GP may have no idea of her plans.

I think anyone on here saying you should plant poisonous hedges etc is disgusting behaviour. That's the same as saying you'll stick poison out for any innocent animal to find how would you feel if someone did that to your dog or cat that you consider a part of the family.

She will need planning permission unless she gets a stable on skids like another poster has said. Any permission applied for you can object against and if it is mobile stable maybe try talking to her to find a solution you are both happy with. Personally I would be more concerned with where the muck heap is than any stable

You should definitely fight it, it's going to STINK 🤢