Should fines be issued for messy front gardens?

I think it’s about finding a balance, as well as collective action.

We put a lot of effort into our garden and we also help our neighbours (one of whom is disabled and one who is elderly) to keep on top of their gardens by cutting their hedges, mowing their lawns and weeding.

We live on a estate (part private housing and part housing association). There is some Council owned “green” land at the end of our road that was left to overgrow and look unsightly which we, along with some other neighbours on our street, now look after ourselves and have planted nice shrubs and bushes (those who can afford to have donated one plant each). Collectively this is cheap, relatively easy and non time consuming.

Dumping rubbish in your garden (old bits of wood, broken toys and furniture, and – yes – the obligatory manky mattress) is altogether different and those responsible should be fined if they don’t do anything about it.

I think that housing associations in particular need to take more responsibility and support and encourage their tenants not to dump rubbish. They also need to bring persistent offending tenants to account. Certainly where we live it is the housing association who neglects its responsibility to ensure that its properties are well maintained and kept clear of rubbish, despite repeated requests for it to do so.

hi people i have approx 3 ton of garden waste in my front garden as i have recently set up my own gardening business and do not yet have the income to pay the council £35-£50 per half ton at my local tip.half the rubbish is from my garden itself and the rest from customers gardens.my neighbours and landlord are threatening me with fines if i do not clear it. I want to no if im legally obliged to do so.i understand it does not look amazing for the rest of the road but i currently cant afford non essential things such as tipping fees and council fines.any help would be amazing thanks rich.

I have a neighbour across from me who privately rents the property from a relative. We have seen numerous drug activities and ‘dodgy’ people coming and going. The children they have have been taken into care. We have contacted the police numerous times who have done nohing about it. Luckily the man of the house has moved out and has quietened down a little. However a makeshift fence has been erected at the side of the property and is very unsightly, made up of old wood and a metal sheeting all at different levels, the garden is very untidy and is very unkept. We were looking to move recently but it is a major sticking point for anybody that comes up the street. If i were to arrive up and see ta house across from one i were about to buy it would be a definate no!! How do i approach this? What rules are in place for the property owners to abide to to ensure neighbours are not left in a position that they may not be able to sell their own property due to the state of another neighbour?

Part of the problem is – Exactly what is an “eyesore”? Obviously piles of unbagged rubbish, and dismantled cars and machinery, but is a fully concreted front, what about lots of council wheelie bins, what about uncut grass, what about parked cars, what about overgrown bushes and plants – and how overgrown?

One of the problems is that the definition of “eyesore” is just too subjective – there ought to be

I am in the orocess of building a house and my neighbour has put 4 industrial containers right up against the boundary fence because we complained about the roaring of engines from their scrap cars as they race them as a hobby. Thes containers ar in fact not in the rear of their property but in the front. W ehave been told by Moray Planning enforcement officers that they are perfectly within their rights