Neighbour has an opinion on where I put my bins

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We live in on a very quiet cul de sac. The homes have large front gardens and small drive ways. Almost identical to photo attached (not my street just an illustration of our set up). Houses also have a side yard/paved side garden where people keep their bins.

Well I have decided I will keep my bins in front of my garage at the front. We have a dog who gets let out throughout the day. I have a lot of anxiety around my dog being let out as I am not always convinced the side gate is left shut. It gets opened when it is bin day. Every time I let the dog out I have to check to see if gate is close and when I see someone else letting the dog out I shout at them to check. It’s just unnecessary chaos. Ideally I will just put a padlock on the side gate so teens don’t mess up by leaving it open. We live 3 turns away from a somewhat busy b road.

Anyway, a neighbour has since come around and said please can I put the bins back into the side garden as it is unsightly. Granted I am the only person on the cul de sac with them out. But who cares??

I am not the arsehole, right?

edit: whoops looks like I took out voting somehow

Not everyone has storage space.
And not everyone wants to use their limited garden space to 'store' their bins if they have other options.

i have four wheelie bins for different recyclables and general rubbish and they have to live in the front garden as I have no side access. Tough luck if any neighbours don't like it.

However, I have applied some of those stickers that make the bins look like flowered areas, which make them look a bit better. Would that be an option OP?

Why don’t you just bring the bins to the front on bin day? Or keep them in the garage and bring them to the front on bin day? They don’t need to be out all week?

If you want to keep the bins at the side then the teenagers need to learn to keep the gate locked.
I'm sure they're good at remembering things that are important to them, and it's a security issue as well. If they can't be trusted with this will you be able to trust to leave them at home unsupervised.

Of course if you don't really mind about the bins then carry on.

We have a neighbour who keeps allsorts of crap outside her house. It does make it look a bit tatty.

I have been meaning to get a lock. Bins have been out at front for maybe a week. Just ordered a lock and chain. AIM is for side gate just to never be used so I can have peace of mind

I'm with your neighbour on this one.

It just takes one time. So I still check every time the dog is let out. Not the biggest deal in the world but just a pain.

If you got hold of a car with no wheels, jacked on bricks, and a piss stained mattress and left those in the front for a couple of weeks, they’d shut their rip about the bins.

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So basically you can’t be arsed putting a padlock on or checking when you let your dog out, and you can’t trust your family to keep your mutt safe?

Yeah, I would just keep moving the bins out of sight and you’d have to address your own dog problem.

Right - so this is a temp thing that has been going on for a week and will be resolved soon. That's not the impression I got from your OP.

Just tell the neighbour this. Not an issue.

I don't want to pick up my dogs poo, it doesn't bother me. I do it to be a good neighbour, because I know it bothers others and a little effort from me makes others happy. If we all put in a little effort then we can live in nice places, if we all just do what we want then things go downhill.

I’m don’t think it is her right to tell you what to do…. But, yes, they probably look pretty grotty in front of the garage. Get a self shutting mechanism for you gate.

If the kids are coming and going and are unreliable about shutting it, your problem is the gate/dog and not the bins?

The answer is to padlock the gate if you want to keep the dog secure, not stolen and not wandering the streets in search of tidbits/the park. If kids forget keys then tough. Open gate weekly to put bins out and lock it again.

I'm with your neighbour, it is unsightly but also because having the bin in the driveway is too far away. Some idiot always throws a half yoghurt pot or something else that will drip through the house as you try to empty it.

When I was little Dad put a heavy-ish spring on our side gate so it would swing shut on its own. It also had a latch that caught when the gate shut. Would that work?

I would be refusing politely to entertain such nonsense. Does anyone remember when satellite dishes were first installed and there was all kinds of nonsense about not having them where they could be seen? If the neighbour didn't accept my polite refusal, then my next refusal would be less polite. You have no need to give a reason or say anything but "I am sorry but that won't be possible" or something similar. We are going over to bins later this year and I have a similar issue with my free roaming tortoise. The gate is locked but also the space underneath it is blocked with tubs of plants. My bins will therefore be living at the front of my property.

Well no, I check every single time if the side gate is closed before letting the dog out (we’re talking 4x a day). House rule is teens do the same but I don’t trust them 100%.

It just takes one time for it to be left open for it to all end in tears

Let's not pile on people who have NO CHOICE due to not having anywhere else to store bins. I don't think anyone is expecting those people to do anything else or that they are lazy or don't respect the area they live in.

No, the answer is for the neighbour to keep their beak out. What next? We don’t like your curtains, they look Dunelm. Etc

Interesting didn’t know such a thing existed. Will look into that, thanks

this. do this.

Or move the gate further down the passage way so the the dog can’t get into the area where the bins are and the bin men don’t touch the gate.

Where I live, bins can’t be visible from the street and can only appear on bin day. They can issue fines if you are a repeat violator.

So I would make sure you aren’t in violation of any local regulations before taking too big of a stand on this one.

Who is issuing these fines? We just live on a normal street

We keep our bins in front of our garage - similar set up to your own. This is because we’re both disabled and have an assisted collection. It’s less of a faff and l don’t have to worry about forgetting to unlock the side gate on bin day, or the bin collectors letting the dog out by mistake. Our NDN continued to complain even when we explained why we do it and still occasionally has a go if they are particularly full. We just ignore. They’re kept clean and sanitised by the local wheelie bin cleaners so if there’s no cause for complaint they can jog on !!

I had no idea people had issues with visible bins, I see them everywhere no matter the town, village, city.