People keep reporting us - a WWYD?!

[HorseWhisper]

have name changed for this. I have lived in London in a v small house for 17 years and know everyone on the street where I live and they all know my dcs. Everyone looks out for each other - there are a few nightmares, but nothing unusual. It's basically been a fantastic, peaceful existence.

I met dp 4 years ago and he has young dcs who live in a village in a rural area (around 2 hours away from here). It happens to have fast connections into London and I wanted to buy a house and we could get a lot for our money in this location. So we bought it, with the idea that we would move here around Easter and rent London out.

It is v rural but the previous owners went on about what a friendly small village it is. I was nervous moving here because I'm a city person at heart and was worried about 'village life'.

Obviously Covid got in the way of things and we've only just managed to move.

it is a beautiful house with a large plot (an acre of garden) and one side of the garden backs on to the gardens of a street (so say about 10 houses gardens back onto that side) but we have been here a week and

1. Had the police round within 2 days because someone reported us for breaking lockdown when we were moving in (this was after it was announced that we could move house)
2. Had the council round twice because 'someone' has been reporting we are damaging trees (the guy just came round again now!)
3. My children are in the garden today (they are 19/20) and I've just had the police drive past to ask if I am having a party in the garden because someone has reported us AGAIN.

What should we do? Should I just ignore this? Should we insist on finding out who is reporting us? I'm quite happy to speak to people directly, I just can't believe that people have so much time on their hands that they are doing this. I told the police I felt this was harassment. I have to say they did seem a bit fed up of the whole thing themselves but they couldn't tell us who reported us. I have given them my phone number now so they can call us if it happens again.

We had an awful village busybody when I first moved here 24 years ago. She complained about how we cut our hedge,.how we didn't trim our verges, how we didn't have curtains so caused light pollution (we are 400m from.another house).

I just kept being nice to her. She ended up being a good friend and a loyal village ally! She died last year, had a huge funeral and I miss her

She would never have called the police though!!

where does everyone get these super responsive police from? I've had damage following a drunken party and no sign of any action on the perpetrators.

where does everyone get these super responsive police from? and the council!!!! I was thinking exactly the same. Mine will barely come out for burglaries let alone any of this BS.

You've made me think about how much she would have LOVED Covid and being able to shop people 😅😅

I’m a Londoner too op, and I’d not be baking cakes and writing my life story in cards to people to hope they stop being cunts to me.

Yes, but that's why you live in London. That's also why I live in London, but I come from a small place and can guarantee that the cakes and cards route will ultimately lead the OP to far more happiness in the long term, even if she has to do it with gritted teeth.

warn the council you'd sue them for harrassment

you must get on local face book group explain you have done nothing wrong and disappointed with how unwelcome you have been made to feel . Call the wankers out.

I’m a Londoner too op, and I’d not be baking cakes and writing my life story in cards to people to hope they stop being cunts to me

I was a Londoner too. I played the long game.

you must get on local face book group explain you have done nothing wrong and disappointed with how unwelcome you have been made to feel . Call the wankers out

that's literally the worst advice ever

YY to Fb, a local website or something like "Nextdoor placename". There will be something.

I still belong to the local Nextdoor site where my mother lived and it is curtain twitcher paradise. Someone had a good moan about a chiropodist doing house calls, so I went off on one. I don't live there and don't know anyone, but got loads of likes. Of course the very elderly need personal care and chiropody is an important aspect of that. The origional complainer was a mobile hairdresser, who clearly did not understand why keeping old people mobile and out of pain is more essential than having your hair cut.

Be nice and polite. Explain that you have just moved in. ("Luckily the easing of lockdown allowed house moves!") When you actually get to know people they will tell you who it was. They will know. It will help cement friendships.

There is always one. If you are polite and rise above it, they will pick on someone else.

It is a very strange time and just because this has happened now doesn't mean it is going to be like this forever more. I imagine it is probably an elderly lonely person who is terrified and has nothing else to occupy them. If they've lived there a long time it probably compounds that. I would also say join facebook not for the 'lie of the land' but because it will be invaluable later to find out what is happening, events etc.

I am a city girl moved to a village almost 20 years ago to live in the house DH already had. It was never my dream or aspiration to live in Hicksville and once the kids are at college/uni then we're off. He lived here with his first wife and I got lots of comments when I moved in.

I'm not into the 'village community' thing read 'your business is my business' and wouldn't be baking cakes in the hope of placating people who should quite honestly fuck off and mind their own business. If you do then you are plopping yourself into the place they want you to be in. If you're doing nothing wrong then let them keep ringing the police- the police will quite soon tell them to go away. Don't let it get to you, view it as sport if anything.

ITONYAH
you must get on local face book group explain you have done nothing wrong and disappointed with how unwelcome you have been made to feel . Call the wankers out

shock that's literally the worst advice ever

WHY it's nothing short of bulling so obviously you agree with bulling says a lot about you

Could be more than one person! Could be wrong end of the stick or could be nasty neighbour, probably the latter.

If you can be arsed write a general info note, print some copies and one posted through the letterbox of every house around you. Keep it friendly and maybe say you look forward to having folks round when lockdown eases. Or say the same on local FB group.

I think @ExCwmbranDweller has nailed it. My nextdoor neighbour who is lovely, but never leaves the village except for Tesco and the point to point, has completely lost the plot over the virus.

She is torn between finding me very brave as an NHS Keyworker and wanting me to keep 100yds away from her at all times and wear a Hazmat suit.

We live in an area of v low cases, I actually know how many cases there are in our local hospital via mates (almost none) but she doesn't believe me as she's scared.

I've given her a load of masks in an attempt to get her to go to Tesco and see what life is like outside the village.

The Facebook group comment is quite a nice passive aggressive way of calling them out on the village community BS they probably pride themselves on. However, it also lets them know that they're getting to you.

I hope it doesn't continue! another week of this and I might go stark raving mad! I don't think the police will come back - they were v nice and quite understanding.

I was very surprised anyone from the council came round. He was a person from the planning team. He was very nice and took loads of pictures. We have one tree with a tree preservation order on it and someone told him we had chopped it down. Which would have been quite something as it's fucking enormous. There is a dead tree that's falling over and we've propped it up so it doesn't fall on anyone and he told us we needed to apply for planning to actually remove it which we will do.

ok will join facebook and join the village group - I have to apply to be a member

Create a Facebook account. It takes minutes. It looks like it will be useful in your new life. You don't need to add anything whatsoever to your account. You can even make up a name if you want. It's quite useful for logging into Mumsnet and the like.

Our next door is properly batshit. It makes the paramilitary wing of the mumsnet covid police look like Dads army.

Worth a look at who posts the most. You will hand your offender.

Terrible advice about cakes btw. What if - shudders - the OP makes the wrong cake? You know the one only Murial is allowed to bake because she has been doing it since 1959?

it is a beautiful house with a large plot (an acre of garden)

If you brag about things in the village like you have here then you can't expect to be Ms. Popular.

Just ignore them OP. if you retaliate or seem bothered, they will do it more. you've done nothing wrong - in fact it will piss them off more by cracking on as you have been.

The council and police are coming round because somebody with influence is reporting you. Either a local bigwig or a longstanding resident who went to school with them.

I think you said that you put cards through doors a while ago. Do it again. Emphasise that this is your permanent home i.e. you're not second homers and you're looking forward to getting to know anybody. Say the same thing on the local pages. Just be relentlessly pleasant even though you might not be feeling it right now. If they keep reporting you after that there's something wrong with them.

@manitobajane

it is a beautiful house with a large plot (an acre of garden)

If you brag about things in the village like you have here then you can't expect to be Ms. Popular.

That's not bragging, she's chuffed to bits with her new patch and it sounds like rightly so.

I live in a small village. I would just ignore it unless.of course you want to be part of the happy clappy, tea on the green type of villager.