June - 04......................Andrews 'toys'

The outside of the cottage is looking much prettier now than when we first moved here.  My sister and friends who come up regularly, love to help in the garden.  The vegetable garden was taking shape. Eddie was enjoying putting in the wooden frames creating raised beds and we used the cinders from the coal fire for the pathways in between.  

The only trouble is the noise we have to listen to when we are in our garden.  Sunday morning - a beautiful sunny day - time to enjoy a peaceful day in the garden.  Not so here.  The power hosing of lorries would start up and go on for hours. The incessant sounds of rock being quarried and loaded onto lorries was such an unpleasant, intrusive and overbearing noise.  Weekends were when Eddie and I would be together wanting to enjoy our new home, but always spoiled by the unrelenting activities next door.  The sounds were unfriendly and aggressive and so alien to the environment surrounding us.

The weekends were now becoming fraught as we tried to stay positive about our plans but the interference in our lives from the neighbours was not improving.  We have lived rurally for a number of years prior to purchasing here and know to expect the sounds of tractors coming and going, deliveries of feed and so on.  However the disturbances we were putting up with were not those of farming they were industrial and blighting our quality of life.  There seemed to be no consideration for us.   Ann Gifford had also, quite obviously, found this disturbance intolerable as she had only been able to suffer it for a few months before selling - to us!  The family before her had lasted only eighteen months before they too, moved out.  We'd been living here for six months and were feeling miserable.  We talked of the options we had, which were not good.  It would be difficult to sell given the history of this property.

The neighbours horses were continuing to somehow escape from an extremely well-fenced paddock area onto my land, and I continued to put up with my neighbour walking onto my property to retrieve them without by or leave.  

My phone calls to the council were proving to be more stressful than productive, as it was clear my concerns were falling on deaf ears.   

The excuses as to why the council's enforcement officers couldn't, hadn't or wouldn't, look into the lorry business and it's associated operations was something I had now come to expect from Mr. Canning.  Mr. Canning was quite clearly supporting my neighbours by his deliberate delaying tactics.  I couldn't understand why this would be, especially as several other local people had  complained before we came to live here.  It was quite clear that Blaenpant was being developed for the haulage business and something the council should be taking seriously.  

 July 04

My neighbour, Andrew Thomas, had now taken to driving his JCB, (which Karen Thomas referred to as his 'toy')  up and down the boundary line directly opposite my veranda.  This is where I would enjoy sitting in the sunshine in the early mornings, but not now.    

He would drive this machine up and down up and down the fence line for up to two hours at a time for seemingly no reason whatsoever at different times of the day.   I couldn't fathom this man out at all.  It seemed such a pointless exercise, unless it was to deliberately annoy.    I would be woken at the crack of dawn at the weekends by this same machine or sometimes their tractor,  being aimlessly driven around their yard areas, more it seemed, to create noise than for any purposeful reason.  On a few mornings the tractor would be dragging a slab of concrete up and down their roadway.  Bizarre behaviour indeed.   This, together with their horses regularly ending up on my land, led me to question if in fact my neighbours were being deliberately provocative.  Were they attempting to drive us out in the way they had driven others out before us.

On another occasion when my neighbour was using his 'toy' to uproot trees on his land, one fell across my fence.  I waited a while and when it became clear he wasn't going to remove it from my fence, I asked him politely if he would do so.  He became most unpleasant and shouted   "your side of the fence Trish, your problem".   I told him 'I wouldn't be able to move it and would have to ask someone to do it for me',  and  'as he had pushed the tree over would he please remove it from my fence'.  He did eventually remove the fallen tree, but there was no apology for the damage to my fence.  We now had two large areas of damaged fence which the Thomases were responsible for, but no apology forthcoming.   He mumbled and swore but did remove it. I was determined not to get into any confrontation with them even though it was beginning to feel as though this was something they had planned and very much wanted.   All I wanted was a peaceful existence, to enjoy my home and to be on good terms with my neighbours. which our conveyance should have ensured.

The prospect of a huge shed dwarfing us was also playing on my mind and making me feel low in spirits.   Do we sell. Do we move.  How were we going to sell now.  I was feeling desperately low and worried about our future here.

I couldn't bear the noise any more.  The council clearly were not going to help, and I was feeling under a great deal of pressure. The dream cottage and our plans were disappearing from sight.  Our retirement plans were not going to happen.  I was also feeling very intimidated by the neighbours, especially knowing how they had threatened people and would obviously threaten us if they found out that we too had spoken to the council.   This put me in a state of permanent worry and stress, and I wasn't sleeping well any more. The horses coming onto our land was still a problem, and my fears that they were doing this on purpose were increasing.  They were clearly not neighbours the average person would choose to live next to. 

I'd been away for a few days visiting a friend in Bournemouth, and on my return discovered a huge muck heap had been created within meters of my bedroom window, which was then added to each day with more stable manure being thrown down onto it.  Old feed bags would also be tipped there.  This was going to become a nuisance during the hot weather as it was going to encourage flies and I would no longer be able to open my bedroom window.  Were they doing this on purpose too.   Burning tyres at night was becoming common place and on a couple of occasions I had to rescue my horse from her stable as it filled with acrid smoke.   The shed used as a workshop seemed to be in operation every weekend and was being used by welders now.  Maybe they were hiring it out?  I began to feel now that they were actually intentionally trying to drive us out as they had with the previous owners.   

Karen Thomas had remained perfectly friendly but not so, Andrew Thomas
I was beginning to suspect that Mr. Canning or someone from the council, was telling them that I had been in contact with them.

Walking around the back of our barn one sunny morning, and up towards our top field, my heart sank as I couldn't help but notice that the row of trees at the bottom of the very steep bank bordering part of our land with the neighbours had had rows of barbed wire wrapped around each and every one.  The mere sight of it was aggressive and left me feeling quite sick, wondering if this was a message to me in the same way as the Thomases had intimidated Ann Gifford by tying scrap into the trees near the stables, and had erected fencing around the cottage to intimidate Mr. and Mrs. L.   I do believe the neighbours must know that I have been speaking to the council about them.

Mr. Canning was proving to be difficult to communicate with and had made it perfectly obvious he was not taking my concerns seriously and wasn't going to investigate the neighbours activities.  I didn't know what to do.  It was not an option for me to speak to the neighbours, nor was their unauthorised business my responsibility.  There was only one thing I could do now, and that was to meet with my M.P.




   

May 04.......... Conveyance and Mr. Canning


In the very short time we had been living here, as opposed to feeling happy with our new home, I was feeling unsettled and troubled over the revelations regarding my neighbours and their operations at Blaenpant.  Evenings and weekends were particularly bad having to listen to power hosing, maintenance, changing wheels and tyres.  Saturdays and Sundays were just another work day as far as our neighbours were concerned.

The noise from quarrying was particularly awful.  It seemed that the quarrying was to make room for the shed the Thomases wanted.   As Ann Gifford had said this site was SSSI, surely this shouldn't have been allowed anyway, without permissions from Countryside Council for Wales. ( then became Natural Resources Wales).   Ceri Davies and my local councillor Rhys Davies were reassuring me that this shed was going to be refused, because it was applied for as an 'agricultural shed' and the Thomases were 'not farming'.

I was also being advised that the equine business, being commercial, required planning permissions and  'change of use' as well as the haulage business, but the horses were no problem at all and were the least of our worries.

With our property being so close to theirs the disturbances from these industrial activities were very distressing, and it was also obvious there was going to be no consideration with regard to our quality of life.  Having already spoken to Mr. Brian Canning Enforcement Manager a couple of times, I was hoping things would have gone a bit quieter, but no such luck.    I rang Mr. Canning again.  He said they were entitled to keep one HGV but no more, but that monitoring hadn't been carried out yet due to lack of manpower. I explained that the numbers of lorries could be viewed evenings and at the weekends, from the road, all one had to do was to drive down the road to see them.  An officer could do that on his way home from work - maybe?  The same would apply with regard to the maintenance and other activities that were taking place evenings and weekends,  as it was all highly visible.  It was clear to see.   Mr. Canning said officers did not work outside normal working hours, therefore that would be difficult.  'How difficult would that have been'?  This didn't make any sense to me as we were clearly suffering, and we desperately needed the council's assistance.  I confessed to him that it was very difficult for me being here on my own for much of the time, and I wanted to stay on friendly terms with my neighbours for obvious reasons, but life was becoming intolerable.  I was feeling a little let down as clearly Mr. Canning was aware of the history here. I confided in him that as well as having to put up with noise during the day, the Thomases dogs (three rotties) barked on and off thru the night, disturbing my sleep, which only added to my unease about them, as it appeared unneighbourly. They might be used as guard dogs, but if they disturbed neighbours this was unacceptable.   Below is our conveyance - the same conveyance for our neighbours property - it reads.....................................'not to use the property hereby conveyed or any part thereof for any purpose which may be or grow to be a nuisance or annoyance or obnoxious to the owners or occupiers of the said adjoining properties'.

Conveyance for both holdings.

It appeared the council had still not investigated nor had they attempted to view the neighbours activities from the road, because had they done so I would not still be listening to lorries going out at six in the morning.  I rang Mr. Canning again.  He reiterated they did not have the resources at the moment to carry out a site visit and also informed me that 'Karen Bowen Haulage Services' had an operating centre at Tumble and this where they were working from. This wasn't true and was some revelation!  I reminded him that I was looking out onto a lorry park every day.  To be questioning my honesty at this stage, when the council were ware of the history here, raised huge question marks.  It sounded as though Mr. Canning was merely making excuses instead of dealing with what appeared to me, to be abuses of the system and indeed us.   I advised him of our conveyance which should have protected us - or so I thought.  I began to believe that Mr. Canning was fobbing me off.

The noise from machinery, cutting up metal, loading materials onto lorries, maintenance being carried out from the shed, carried on and the quarrying was a regular activity.   This was awful.  Noise noise noise every day of the week.  What were we living next door to?  I kept telling myself that the local authority would put a stop to it eventually.  The earth bank that Andrew Thomas was building, right opposite our bedroom window, the subject of the apology at Christmas time, was getting ever higher. I noticed concrete mixing lorries entering this area, presumably to lay areas for the parking of more lorries. 

We were continuing with our plans for a cattery and to have the barn converted into holiday accommodation, altho by now I had serious doubts over the holiday accommodation.  We'd had the plans drawn up for the cattery, and had meetings with the tourist board who were going to allow us a grant toward the conversion of our barn.

The maintenance on vehicles continued over entire weekends.  My concerns that the council did not seem to be investigating didn't go away.  They also did not appear to be taking into account how this business impacted upon us.  I didn't know what to do.  I couldn't understand how the neighbours were being allowed to continue when the council were aware of this business.  A JCB constantly rumbling around within meters of us, actually caused reverberations in our cottage, due to us being at a lower level.   My heart would sink most mornings when I heard the lorries start up, as I knew the noise wouldn't stop until evening.  The pleasure of implementing our plans was replaced by worry about our quality of life here.  If our searches had exposed an industrial business at Blaenpant we would never have bought this property. They were clearly developing Blaenpant, but into what?

Eddie suggested that we might speak to the neighbours as he felt they mightn't understand just how disturbing it was for us.  I reminded him of the conversation we'd had with them and their hatred of Ann Gifford and the family before her.  I reminded him what they had done to them because they had complained.  This was not a good idea.  The message they conveyed to us was perfectly clear. They were not people to cross.

We even began thinking about selling, but how difficult would that be and what excuse would we give to potential buyers as to the reasons we too were selling so soon after having bought this very pretty place.   I didn't know what to do.  We did try to carry on with our plans and had a firm to replace the rotting fencing, and employed a contractor to clear the old fruit garden and to arrange tiered areas in readiness for a vegetable plot.

Potential vegetable garden

 F.O.I.


A friend had been advised that under Freedom of Information, which was a pretty new thing, I would be entitled to view the local authorities file on the neighbouring farm.  Having made my request, and having been given an appointment, we went to the council offices where we were shown into a room and a file was duly produced for our perusal.

We were stunned, as on file were many complaints from various local people including the Community Council about our neighbours and their activities.  There were photographs of lorries.  There were internal emails from one officer to another.  There were logs of lorry movements.  Logs of quarrying and power hosing.  Letters about maintenance on vehicles - in fact all the disturbances I had conveyed to Brian Canning, others had already informed the council of.  There were letters from the family who had lived here for twenty six years, who had sold to Ann Gifford, letters from Mr. B a retired engineer, and from Mrs. R.  and Mr. M/ R  and a local councillor.    The letters from Mr. L were particularly worrying, as he wrote informing the council about some very serious threats made to him.  That he'd been approached very aggressively and  threatened, that the Thomases had also said they would change his right of way to make life very difficult if he didn't stop with his complaints to the council.   This all fitted in with why Ann Gifford was in such a hurry to sell and move.  Why then were the council not addressing my concerns as they clearly already knew the farm was being used for haulage and were aware of threats and intimidation.  What's more, why were they seemingly denying that my concerns were not warranted, nor in fact even true.

An even more disturbing e.mail we discovered was from my neighbour Karen Thomas to one of the enforcement officers.   She was informing him that she had rung Lewes District Council (dept. that licenced taxis) and had told them that Eddie was using his taxi in Carmarthen??  This was dated April 2004, very recent.  A outlandish lie. This was unbelievable and so shocking.  Why would my neighbour who was being so friendly to me lie about Eddie to another authority?  Why? Surely Mr. Canning hadn't told her about my phone calls to him!  This was exceedingly disturbing!

I asked for a copy of this file and the council obliged.  I decided to contact the people who had written these letters.  When I rang Mrs. L she told me they had lived here for twenty six years, happily, but since the hauliers had bought Blaenpant, their lives had been ruined.  They'd had many rows with them over their activities.  She said that they allowed their dogs to bark throughout the night, that the council were being obstructive, and their  lives had been made hell by these people. They sold to Ann Gifford, and had been honest in telling her that the neighbours had a few lorries.  I then rang Mr. B another concerned resident, who lived nearby.  He told me that our neighbours were dreadful people, ( something I was now aware of ) that they were bullies, that they had driven others out, and even more frightening, that he had also been seriously threatened by our neighbours over his complaints, when he was approached by them on a petrol forecourt.  Andrew Thomas had pushed his face up to his and told him to stop making complaints or else......... He told me they would park their vehicle at the top of his drive and stare down at their home to intimidate!  This was horrifying news, especially as I was living here on my own. There was a clear pattern of intimidating behaviour emerging,  and were we to be next?

Threats and intimidation seemed to be the accepted practice of the Thomases when neighbours complained to the council about their activities - the same activities the council were fully aware of.  The same activities that were causing misery and distress to others who were unfortunate to be neighbours. The same activities they clearly shouldn't have been conducting from a 'farm' without planning permissions.

When I had been putting my concerns to Brian Canning about the problems I was facing, little did I know then that I had not been the first, and that he was already aware of the many other complaints from previous owners. 

Why wasn't Mr. Canning taking my concerns seriously - why wasn't he addressing the obvious haulage business and the many other activities associated with it? As we had to apply for planning permission for our cattery, why weren't the council requesting planning permissions for the two businesses at Blaenpant.

April/May 04..............Contacting the Council



Being on my own with Eddie working and living in Sussex, plus the constant noise from Blaenpant's haulage business activities, I was left feeling a little vulnerable.  The daily commotion emanating from next door was beginning to affect my desire to spend time outside. I have always been a person who preferred being outside more than in, and I had many tasks that needed tending to. I have always loved gardening and with the weather improving I was looking forward to creating an area for growing vegetables.  I was feeling very let down by Ms. Gifford, as she clearly knew the very reasons which had forced her to sell up were going to affect us in the same way.  I knew by now that I (as others before me) would find this daily disturbance to my life intolerable if it was to become permanent.  If this particular industrial type of business was allowed to continue, this was going to affect every aspect of our daily lives and would be miserable.   We had bought a cottage in the countryside for peace and enjoyment - to enjoy - not to be listening to, and looking out onto, industrial operations.   Our pre-purchase searches showed Blaenpant to be a farm, there was no disclosure of an industrial business.  Our seller had told us the owners of Blaenpant did not farm but were horse breeders.  That was true at least, there was no sign of any farming, only an equine business and a haulage business!.   One would only expect this type of industrial activity on an industrial park. The noise from the neighbours would most certainly affect our plans for the barn conversion into two holiday lets.    As the days drew out, the noise went on for longer periods.

The neighbours horses, of which there were many, were somehow still managing to escape from their paddock onto my land time and again.  I felt this was odd as the paddock which separated our two properties was extremely well fenced with solid post and rail which looked to be new.  After it happening once, one would expect the broken fence or whatever the problem was, would be immediately rectified.  It clearly wasn't, and the Thomases, as I will now call them, would just walk onto my property to collect them, without knocking on my door or calling out to me!  This was an added worry, because having been around horses for a number of years, to allow horses to keep escaping is irresponsible and not the norm.  It also concerned me that the Thomases appeared to be taking advantage of someone living on their own by not addressing the problem with their fencing.  Something was telling me that this might be deliberate, but I couldn't fathom out why this would be.  I was beginning to feel a little paranoid regarding this, as to locate and repair an area of broken fence would be a simple excercise.  I remember one night in particular, it was late, I was in bed, alone in the cottage, when I heard voices outside.  It was the neighbours from next door, again, collecting their horses.  This was feeling pretty alarming now, especially as they knew I was on my own, and would know this would be scary for most people, hearing strange voices on their property, particularly at night.

Friends were keeping me company and helping with the outside chores which would have been far more enjoyable if it was minus the din from next door.  The old, supposed, disused quarry, now seemed to be the focus of the neighbours activities, with rock being cleared away in earnest.  A JCB with a pecker was being used at the weekends and the din was unbearable. Their lorries would be loaded up and driven away.

However, with friends and the council's own planning officer advising me to contact the local authority, I thought maybe it was time to speak to them.  I rang Brian Canning, the Enforcement Manager and asked if this could be off the record.   I informed him that I had been told by two officers, one from Carmarthen Council and another from Countryside Council for Wales, that due to this haulage business next door, two families had been forced to move away from here, and I didn't wish to be the third.   I explained that the impact from this business upon this property was impossible to live with, and it was not surprising problems had occurred here.  As there were at least eight lorries operating from the farm, and other activities associated with the haulage business, it was seriously impacting upon our quality of life too.  By this time I'd heard more about Blaenpant and that what they were doing was wrong. I'd also heard that if someone uses a farm for anything other than agriculture, they must apply for 'change of use'.   All of this was new to me.
I believed that as the council were aware of the history of the problems here, they would act upon this information.  Mr. Canning said they did not have permission to be running a haulage business, and that he would certainly look into it.  I felt relieved that I had passed on my concerns and I could relax in the knowledge the council would now deal with it.  It was out of my hands.  I did not want to make enemies of my neighbours, and I did not want to confront them, as the two previous owners of our cottage had done. I was on my own and aware of what they had suffered.   I believed the council would now take on the responsibility.   It was not for me to become embroiled in a neighbours unauthorised business, this was for the council to resolve.

 

A few weeks had passed, nothing had changed, and I'd heard nothing from the council.  I spoke to Brian Canning again, telling him I was concerned about my neighbour knowing I had complained, so I hoped my phone calls would be in the strictest confidence.  He said they would have to monitor Blaenpant but hadn't found the time as yet. I'm remembering our conversation with the Thomases and their subtle (or not so subtle) warnings about 'complaining' and my feeling of unease was growing.

Not a good outlook

To add to my worries the Thomases had put in their application for a shed, and when I looked at the plans it was directly opposite and within forty meters of our small cottage!  The size would be overbearing and would tower over us.  I contacted Ceri Davies regarding this application, to be advised again by him, 'not to worry', 'they will not get permission'.  He was the officer responsible for this area and he would most certainly not be recommending this for approval!  He went on to say that in his opinion, they were getting inside information as they had applied for the largest shed possible they would be entitled to, that is, if they were given permission. Mr. Davies was adamant they would not get permission as they were not agricultural, and this was an agricultural shed, that his appraisal had covered every aspect in it's refusal.  I expressed my deep concerns, and that I really didn't want to have to put in an objection.   He put my mind at rest when he added that 'even if they put a flock of sheep on their land it would not make any difference as the council knew what they were doing'.  Thank god!

The plans were now being drawn up for the cattery and we were pressing ahead with that side of things. Still trying to be positive believing that the council would in time resolve our seemingly  growing problem.  I also decided to contact my local councillor Mr. Rhys Davies for if nothing else, moral support.

Late March 04................Not again

We were having the plans drawn up for the cattery and had arranged meetings with Business Eye and Prime Cymru relative to a possible grant for the barn conversion.  I was feeling quite excited about our new projects.    I hadn't unpacked properly yet as I wanted to get our plans under way first, there would be plenty of time for that.

Eddie was coming back every second weekend, but the disturbances from our neighbours wasn't abating, and he could hear for himself the commotion. One particular weekend, upon returning home, the neighbours who were working around their stable area, waved us down.  We drove down onto their yard, and they took us into their portacabin which had been set up as an office, evident from the computer, desk, filing cabinets and much other office paraphernalia. This was clearly the office for their haulage and equine business with several lorries visible with KBHS livery plus others of a different description alongside them.  There were several horses in the stables, a converted agricultural building, and several more living out in their field across from us.

They introduced themselves as Karen and Andrew.  Karen came across as very friendly and confident. Karen told us that they ran a few lorries and that she used to drive one of their trucks when she first started her business  Andrew came across as quite an intimidating, angry and overpowering character with an obvious fiery temper.  Although it was a friendly exchange between us, it became obvious that the purpose of this introduction was to inform us of their thorough dislike of Ann Gifford and the former occupiers of our property.  The previous owner to Ms. Gifford had lived here for twenty six years.  Having said that they bred horses and that Andrews hobby was 'lorries', (were all these lorries Andrew's hobby I asked myself?)  the conversation quickly changed again to revolve around the dislike of both former owners of our property. There seemed to be a purpose in their need to make us aware of the problems they had had with them. Hardly a conversation on a first meeting with ones neighbours.   Ms. Gifford, (according to them) had been a 'complainer'.  'She had constantly complained about their lorries according to them, and the noise they were making'.  'She would drive in and out several times a day, and it aggravated Andrew' - to the point he began swearing when telling us about it. (She was a home visiting chiropodist).  I was shocked that these people would be that observant as to notice how many times their neighbour went out, and even more alarmed that it should make them so angry.  'What business was it of theirs how many times Anne Gifford went out' and how was it interfering with them'?  This was disconcerting! Andrew told us that he was furious with Ann Gifford on one particular  occasion when she asked him to please stop the noise as it was not only a Sunday but also 'Mother's Day'!. This apparently, really made him see red.  He described in very colourful language,  how he had told her in no uncertain terms to 'f......off, mind her own business, what he did on his own land was no business of hers, if she didn't like it to f....... move etc etc'.  (Oh God!)  Inwardly I was feeling very uncomfortable at listening to this and questioning in my mind just what had taken place here, and what was the real reason Ann Gifford had sold up so soon after having moved in?   It raced through my mind that she had sold up so quickly because of them, the neighbours! (Ann Gifford was here for eight months before putting this property back on the market)
I explained that Ann Gifford had told us that she had been forced to sell this cottage as she had broken up with her partner shortly after moving here and couldn't afford the upkeep on her own. They both laughed, and said that was not true, it was because she didn't like them and what they were doing!  According to them, she had moved here with her daughter. 

Latest view from my bedroom window - Andrews Hobbies?

They then got onto the subject of Mr. and Mrs. A who had lived here for twenty six years, who sold to Ann Gifford.   Apparently they complained as well.  They hated them as well.  There were many rows between the two couples as well.  It was pointed out to us by Karen Bowen that because of her hatred of them she had erected the 6ft. high fence around the cottage so as to not be able to see them or hear them!  By the time we left their office (portacabin) I was feeling exceedingly concerned at their attitude and intimidation of two families.  I felt this meeting was orchestrated to be a warning to us, to make us afraid of them.  I came away feeling just that - very wary of them. I believed they were sending us a very clear message, and we were left with the feeling that A.Thomas had the propensity to be an extremely nasty character who one would not want to cross!

Karen Bowen's high fence

One very early morning,  I looked out of the window as I heard a lot of whinnying, to discover horses running around on my land. Minnie was getting very upset at strange horses being in her space.  
The fencing where they had clearly entered through was completely flattened to the ground.  I rang my neighbour to ask if these were her horses.  She said they were and that she would come down straight away and collect them.  I asked her if they had escaped onto our property before. I was surprised when she simply answered nonchalantly, yes, with no apology for the lack of explanation at that time, nor any apology for the wrecked fencing. I remembered our conversation about the previous owners 'complaining' and the retaliation that followed, so felt it was best not to mention the damage to my fencing. 

Blaenpant Coloureds

We had to deal with the septic tank now as it was causing us major problems.  Karen had informed me that Ann Gifford knew the tank needed replacing as it was being emptied every month.  She had offered to write a letter saying as much, so that in the event of us having to pursue any legal actions over this matter, this might be helpful.

Having contacted Ann Gifford to explain the problems we were experiencing with the septic tank, I mentioned during this conversation how upset I was at the noise here, that a lorry business was operating from next door, and was not something I had been prepared for nor had she mentioned this to us.   Her only comment regarding this, was that 'they shouldn't be running lorries from there as the site was a SSSI site', which I later discovered to be a Site of Special Scientific Interest!

I had tried to put aside my worries and fears and get on with our plans for the cattery and barn conversion, when I had another visitor out of the blue.  This lady was a rep from  'The Country Landowners Association'. (CLA). She had called to ask if we would like to join her organisation as she had heard we had recently bought this holding.   I dithered a bit and said I would consider it.  She went on to say that it might be prudent if we did because of the problems the people next to us had been causing with previous owners!!.  It would seem that everyone and his dog knew of the troubles here except us!! What had we moved into???

I really didn't want to speak to the council, but obviously as they were aware of the problems that my neighbours had caused to others, and because they knew of the types of activities they were into, I felt they would be sympathetic and would help us with the situation we were facing.  I decided to take Mr. Davies's advice and sooner rather than later speak to Mr. Canning.......................

Late February 04.  What next..................


I wanted to discuss our plans for the cattery with the council and asked if a planning officer would visit. I also wanted to know if there would be any objections from the council with regard to the barn we intended to convert for two holiday lets.   C. Davies (planning officer) duly visited.  It was an informative meeting, he liked the barn and advised we would be required to re-roof it with slate if we went ahead.  During his visit, he asked us how we got on with our neighbours!  I was a little taken aback as to why he was asking, as I found it rather an odd question.  I said that I hadn't actually met them properly yet, but they seemed friendly and we would wave to each other as we went in and out.  He said "did you know there have been a lot of problems here"?  Of course I didn't as I wouldn't have gone ahead with the purchase had I known.  Clearly this is why he was asking.  I found this to be really worrying, as it served to confirm my creeping suspicions that our neighbours dislike of our seller had led her to move, and she had probably lied to us regarding her reasons for selling.  It also made me aware that the noise and disturbance I was experiencing could be the very reason why there had been problems here.  This was not something one would wish to hear having only recently bought your dream home.
Mr. Davies went on to say that the neighbours were intending to put in permission for an agricultural shed, that it was huge, but that I shouldn't worry about it as they most definitely wouldn't get it.  I asked where it would situated, but Mr. Davies was adamant that they would not get permission as he was the planning officer who would be carrying out the appraisal if they put in for planning and he would not be recommending approval!! He said "we know what they are doing and they are not agricultural".  I agreed there was no farming only horses and lorries and told him about the noise.   He said I might consider contacting Mr. Brian Canning the Enforcement Manager and talk to him about it.

From haylage bales to these containers.  View from my windows.

A friend of mine and her daughter had been staying with me for a couple of weeks.  Upon arriving home from a shopping spree, Minnie (my mare) was very fretful.   Naturally I went to her to calm her down and to find out what was wrong.  It was then I noticed hoof prints everywhere and the land had been churned up from what was most certainly, more than one pony.  There clearly had been an incident with ponies on my land but what had happened was a mystery.  I fully expected a phone message or note explaining something, but there was nothing.   Someone must have collected them and taken them away but left no indication of what had taken place.   This concerned me hugely, as it left me with a worry as to who owned these ponies and what kind of person would walk onto someone elses property and leave no apology or explanation as to what had taken place.   My friend said she was concerned too about this incident and also about the industrial noises coming from the farm next door, and that it really shouldn't be happening.  In fact, most people visiting would now pass comment about the industrial noises, the constant clearing of rock from the old, supposed disused quarry, and why it was happening from what was allegedly a 'farm'. 
In view of the ongoing noise from lorries and maintenance of them, friends were saying I should ring the local authority.  This was not something I wanted to do, and I tried to remain optimistic that all would improve over time.

Trying to stay positive.

In the far corner of one of our fields there was a very small area designated and labelled a SSSI site.  My curiosity led me to ring Countryside Council for Wales who designate such areas, to enquire about it.   I spoke to Mr. Nigel Stringer who said when he was passing he would call in and see me, which he did a couple of weeks later.  I was even more perturbed about my neighbours after his visit,  as whilst he was here, he too made a point in asking me how I got on with my neighbours.  I told him the same as I told C. Davies.  Nigel Stringer went further in what he was prepared to say.   He said there had been much bad feeling between these two holdings.  He was aware the last owner who sold to us had only been here a very short while, (a few months in fact) and that the owners before her, who had lived here for twenty six years had had many rows with the new owners of the neighbouring holding over their activities.   He said they were conservationists, and that this too, conflicted with the owners of the neighbouring Blaenpant, who were not.  This was really disturbing and alarm bells were now going off.   It would seem that in the two and a half years these people had owned Blaenpant,  two families from this property had sold up and left following some nasty confrontations.  Are we going to be third time lucky.....?

Calm before the storm

How distressing to find out in these few weeks I had been living here, from both Ceri Davies and Nigel Stringer that the owners of Blaenpant had been in conflict with my two predecessors who had both sold up.  That my neighbour disliked my seller to such a degree he had tied scrap metal into trees to intimidate her - unexplained horses have run amok on my land and my fencing had been trampled from mystery invaders!  How are we going to fare with our neighbours?

 January 04..............Oh so noisy

I had only been living here for a few weeks and the noise from the neighbouring holding didn't appear to be abating. I was also being woken up at 6.00 a.m. every morning by the sound of cars arriving, voices, doors slamming, engines being started, brake reversing noises, and the reverberations within our cottage of heavy duty lorries leaving the area directly opposite our bedroom was unpleasant.

They rattled out each and every morning disturbing their dogs (three rotties) who were situated within a few meters from us in some kind of caged area, who would then obviously bark.  

Maybe it was just going to be temporary - let's hope so.    I did find this quite troubling, as we had been informed by the seller of this property and the local authority  (Carmarthen Council)  that Blaenpant was a farm where they bred horses, but so far the only sounds I was experiencing were from industrial machinery and HGVs.   If the farm was being used for breeding of horses, I was puzzled to understand why there was always such a noisy disturbance from what appeared to be generators and plant machinery.  It would seem that the council were quite wrong that Blaenpant was a farm, as there were no signs of any farming activity. The only activities I was aware of were the large numbers of horses in the fields and an obvious lorry business.   Friends were telling me this wasn't right, as surely a farm cannot be used for industrial operations, and where was the consideration for neighbours. When A. Thomas one of the partners of the haulage business, returned home in the afternoons from driving his truck, the industrial machines, (JCBs) which were kept at this farm, along with several other items of plant, came into operation.  The noise from these machines was painful to hear.  The earth shook as they moved around as they were so huge.  I couldn't see what was going on as the 'earth bank' was high and getting higher.  The sounds suggested that materials were being being cleared from the site.  The constant daily sound of rock being dragged down from the quarry and loaded onto backs of lorries was unmistakable.

The weekends were intolerable.  The JCB would start up at around 7.00.a.m. but I was awake anyway as the trucks that went out at 6.00a.m. had become my alarm clock..  This machine was in constant use the entire weekend.  When the other lorry drivers came back around lunchtime on Saturdays,  they would set about power hosing their lorries.  This would go on for the entire Saturday afternoon and into Sunday,  also very noisy and extremely upsetting to listen to.   It was no pleasure being outside.  I would try to ignore the disturbances but it was impossible. 

The  old dutch barn on their yard,  was also in constant use, from either maintenance being carried out on lorries, or being used by welders both Saturdays and Sundays from as early as 7.00a.m thru to early evening.  I kept telling myself that this couldn't go on indefinitely as it was a farm and one shouldn't be carrying out these types industrial activities without permissions on a farm!   I believed that our conveyance, which clearly stated that neither of these two properties could cause obnoxious nuisance to the other, would have protected us from such activities.

As the weeks passed I was beginning to feel very uncomfortable and worried about the goings on on the property adjacent, as this was to be our retirement home, with income and interests. This noise, if it were to continue would blight our property, its value, and it would destroy the peace we believed we were buying into.  Eddie said to give it time, it's probably only temporary, after all we've only been here for a few weeks and too early to get overly concerned.  I also wanted to remain on good terms with our neighbours.

It was now very cold and as the old Rayburn wasn't working at all it meant we had no heating.  We employed an engineer to convert the old Rayburn from solid fuel into oil.  He also installed more radiators which were essential to keep this stone cottage warm.  Now we had heat.  Fantastic!  However, we had another problem.  The septic tank didn't appear to be operating now even though on the conveyancing papers Mrs. Gifford had ticked that it was.  Looking on the positive side, spring was around the corner and things could only improve.  I had to keep telling myself that the disturbance from the neighbouring property would be resolved.


Eddie came up at the weekends, and I was desperate to remove the eyesore which was the rusty old garage doors that our seller, Anne Gifford,  had tied into the trees, supposedly put there to prevent her dogs from running onto the neighbours land.  It was difficult to say the least, as the bank was very steep and they were huge.  They were also very difficult to manoeuvre.  It took us a fair while to cut them down.  We had all but finished when our neighbour Andrew Thomas appeared and said, "so you've taken down my garage doors then".  I was surprised at his comments and explained to  him that Ann Gifford had advised us they were hers and she had put them there to safeguard her dogs.   When I asked him if he wanted them he just laughed and said 'no'.  He then enlightened us to the fact that he had put them there because he 'couldn't stand her'.  He delighted in letting us know that he wanted to punish her for complaining about him and his partner.  I really didn't want to hear that and so didn't venture into any further conversation on the subject.  We had only just moved in and in effect we were being told that not only had Ann Gifford lied to us about this eyesore, but clearly there was bad blood between her and the neighbours.

Time to ask the Planning Officer to visit to discuss our plans for the cattery and our barn conversion.....

Moving in.............

15th. December 2003.............moving in

 Neighbouring land - taken in 2001 - SSSI - Special Area of Conservation

The day we moved into Pantycastell Fach.    Chaos.  We had hired a removal company, thank goodness and my family were very much on hand too.   By the end of the day, the rooms downstairs were full to brimming with boxes, and we were all exhausted.   I felt so happy.  At last we had a home that was everything we had always wanted.   We also had exciting plans.   We wanted to have a small cattery in order that we could maintain our connection with animals and people. Our love of animals was in part the motivation to have a cattery, to have an income, to keep us active and motivated for as many years as we wished.  

First of many bonfires

Eddie was to continue working in Sussex in order that we would have the funds to not only set up the cattery business but also to convert the very sturdy and attractive barn as it would lend itself perfectly into two small holiday lets.  It would also help repay the relatively small loan we had taken out, as we wanted to use our own funds to get things going.  He was going to come up every weekend and I would have friends come to stay during the other times.  I would also be kept busy getting advice, obtaining drawings, planning permissions and sorting out grants and so on.  Certainly enough to keep me very busy.

The cottage was situated at the extreme lower end of the neighbours paddock within a couple of meters from it's boundary. The neighbours paddock was quite narrow being approximately forty meters wide,  the opposite of the paddock to our cottage opened out onto a small disused quarry.  At the top end of the paddock was a house an old disused cowshed, a farm building now used as stables and a dutch barn. The quarry, along with the entire neighbouring holding was located on a Special Area of Conservation, for which any owner of said holding had to gain permission from what used to be the Countryside Council for Wales, but is now Natural Resources Wales.  This means special permissions have to be given for any developments or operations as these sites are highly protected under European Law.  Alongside the rear of our cottage there was an unusually high, close board fence, (the type you'd see in gardens), which only ran the length of our dwelling. I had presumed either the person we had bought from or the previous owner had erected it for privacy.  It had the effect of separating our cottage from the paddock.  (I was later to discover why this fence had been erected and by whom).  I had a few small reservations regarding the cottage being so close to the boundary, having viewed another property with Leylandii growing exceedingly close to the windows.  But minus the Leylandii and not being able to fathom any other negative reasons why this would ever be an issue, dismissed them especially as the neighbours house was quite some distance away from us and I certainly wasn't contemplating there would be any problems.

Sally

Our cottage was in a relatively remote setting with our neighbour's house being some 100 meters away.    As our cottage was surrounded by fields and could be easily accessed from many directions, I felt a little vulnerable living here on my own, as in the past I had always been used to having neighbours close by.   A friend agreed to stay with me for a while until I became more comfortable about being on my own, especially at night.  The heating was not working as the pretty ancient Rayburn was completely clogged with soot, and clearly hadn't been used for a long time.  We did have a multi fuel burner situated in the sitting room, which was our only means of keeping warm.  We bought coal and kept it burning  day and night. The cottage gardens had not been tended to for a long while and had been left to become very overgrown.  There was a lot of work to be done.   It was the week before Christmas and Lorraine and I decided to spend time outside to get on with doing some tidying up.  As the days went by it was impossible to ignore the obvious continuous noise coming from the area which was directly opposite our cottage where the old quarry was situated.  Having bought a smallholding, in the countryside, it came as a bit of a shock to find ourselves listening to what appeared to us to be industrial noises coming from, what we believed to be a 'farm'. Having kept my horse at livery and having spent a lot of years in the countryside I was aware of the types of noise one would expect from farming practices.  These noises were very loud intrusive noises from plant machinery, generators, and what appeared to be breaking of rock and then being loaded onto lorries. The noise was disturbing enough not want to be outside for very long.   My friend Lorraine commented to me how very noisy it was here, and I commented back that 'hopefully it wasn't going to be the norm, and that hopefully it would stop soon'.

Millie the dog and Hilly the lamb

 
Christmas Eve, (two weeks after moving in) the phone rang. It was my neighbour. He was ringing to explain that the noise we were suffering was due to the work he was carrying out in having to create a very high earth bank, using a JCB.    It was necessary he said, in order that his horses could not escape into the field??  As I felt relatively relieved that he had at least acknowledged that the noise was interfering with our peace and quality of life, I didn't not question him on the validity of his strange explanation, but I was rather bemused as to his reasoning, given that he had a block of stables, a fully fenced paddock, and the other horses of which there were many, were across the way on the other land he owned.   Their horses that were living out were for breeding and selling on, with a very comprehensive website giving bloodlines also showing photos of youngsters coming up for sale.  They also had a few stabled horses in the yard adjacent to their house.  The earth bank he was referring to was to the rear of their property in the vicinity of the old quarry, approximately 40 meters away, directly opposite us!
I couldn't help but wonder what would horses be doing in this area?  Although his reasoning for creating this 'earth bank' did not make any sense at all, it was not for me to question. I just hoped that the noise would stop as soon as he had finished creating his bank!      It didnt!!

Start of a nightmare.............thirteen years ago!

Planning

I along with most members of the public who have never had any involvement with the planning system as such,  always believed that  planning regulations and policies in this country were fair, impartial open and honest, being in place for members of the public who wish to develop their properties with justification and also to protect those whose lives and homes might be blighted by unauthorised developments by those who wish to abuse the planning system, it's regulations and so on..........My story has everything to do with planning.  It is a story that needs to be told hence I am starting my own blog at 73 years of age having suffered thirteen years of utter misery.  Carmarthenshire County Council forced me into a battle I did not foresee nor wanted. I was 60 years old when we embarked upon this horrendous journey.

August 2003

We had sold our property, and I now had to find another.   I looked on several websites that sold rural properties with land.  I  came across a cottage with six acres.  The photo of the cottage on the estate agents website didn't look too impressive, as the photos had been taken on a rainy day making the property look drab, but it was around the right price for our intended use, and so I made an appointment to view it.

Upon arriving at the wooden five bar gate to the property, I was struck by how much the entrance to the property resembled the nursery school my mother took me to when I would have been around three years old.  My mother had to ring an enormous bell, well it looked enormous to a three year old. We entered through a wrought iron gate and walked down a long but pretty drive bordered with grass trees and bushes.  The drive from the five bar gate down to the cottage we were now viewing was approx 50meters long, had centre grass and verges. At intervals in the verges there were a number of differing shrubs and trees.  The bottom of the driveway opened up into a much wider area for parking.  Beyond this area you could see the six acres of pasture divided into three separate fields.  This would be perfect for Minnie (my beautiful mare) our four pet woollies and the hens I intended to get. It was quite amazing.  It gave me a feeling of belonging.  It felt right.  We hadn't even seen inside the cottage itself yet, but I was already in love with it.  I remember thinking to myself, this was too good to be true.   Everything seemed to be perfect.  There had to be a blip.   No there was not. Ms. Anne Gifford. the then owner, was waiting to show us around. The cottage was not disappointing, it was everything I had longed it to be.   Pretty, homely, interesting, a cottage that most people would love to have.  It was as pretty inside as it was out. Lots of character, and a warm feeling. I knew that the property had not been on the market for long, with a potential buyer recently dropping out of their purchase. We never did find out the reason for this.  I recall asking Ms. Gifford what type of farming was carried out on on the neighbouring holding - and was advised they didn't farm, but they did breed horses.  I felt may be the reason for the other potential purchaser dropping out might have had something to do with farming activities, but clearly this was not so.   I felt totally comfortable with horses being around as we loved horses and one of the reasons for moving to Wales was to be able to keep my lovely horse with me. Smallholdings in Sussex were way out of our financial reach and we had friends here in Wales.
During our conversations with the seller it transpired that she had not long purchased this cottage herself.  In fact she had owned the property for less than a year.   I asked her why she was selling so soon after moving in.  She informed us that she had moved in with her partner and having split up she could not afford the upkeep on her own.  She told us how extremely upset she was at having to give up this cottage as she loved it here.  Not surprising as it was so pretty.   She showed us the barn which she had utilised and arranged in such a way for it to be used for her two horses and her dogs.   Within a meter of the far end of the barn there was the boundary sitting between this land and the neighbours paddock.  There was quite a steep bank, where one or two neglected trees were still struggling to grow but tied into the trees with baling twine, (commonly used for tying together hay bales), were two white rusting, old, battered and dented, double garage doors.  A massive eyesore!.  I remember thinking if we have this property, these will be the first things to go.  I remember asking her why they were there.  She told us that she had put them there to prevent her dogs from running up the bank and onto the neighbours land.  I'm not sure that I believed her explanation as it seemed extreme but who was I to question the behaviour of another, albeit these rusting heaps of metal would certainly not have stopped two excitable dogs from finding a way around them if they had wanted to wander onto to unknown and exciting new pastures.   I remember feeling that this lady was edgy and nervous, not at all relaxed.  I put it down to the fact that she really did not want to sell, but was being forced into it owing to her circumstances. Having viewed the cottage and garden, I realised there was a lot of work to be done outside, as the land and surrounding areas had been very neglected.  It would be an absolute pleasure to improve the garden areas during the spring and summer months, with the remainder of the winter (supposing the purchase went through smoothly) taken up with huge bonfires when clearing the mountains of rotting wooden fence posts and the like, clearly visible..   Everything we had dreamt of.  Great.
We spoke to the agent, and told him to go ahead.  We wanted it.

I was so excited.  We were about to move into our new home - a pretty smallholding in Carmarthenshire South Wales.  My beautiful horse being one of the main reasons we wanted a home with land.  We have a love of animals, and as well as my horse and her four woolly friends Sally, Coco, Twinks and Hilly the sheep, along with three gorgeous dogs and two adorable cats.  Our plans were to apply to Carmarthen Council to build a cattery and as we'd inherited a solid barn as well, we wanted to make enquiries about turning that into a couple of holiday lets. We moved in lock stock and barrel just before Christmas 2003.  As our smallholding is in a particularly rural area with the smallholding adjacent to us being a 'farm' as indicated on our searches, we were expecting a relatively quiet and peaceful Christmas.  But all was not so.  Living in a town over the Christmas period would have been quieter than living in this very pretty location.

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