Backyard Poultry Forum

I'm not the only one she harasses. Other people in the area have problems with her too.

No, she can't hear him at night (he doesn't make any noise at night anyway). No, she can't hear him in the morning. He's inside the house until at least 9.30am every day. He normally crows around lunchtime & sometimes again around 4pm. I've kept records & he normally crows up to around 10-15 times over a 10 minute period. On noisy days (he seems to respond to noise in the area), he might crow mid-morning as well. Some days he doesn't crow at all. We are surrounded by dogs. There is a lot of building still going on in the area but (& I quote from a letter she sent me):



Now...I should point out that the "other neighbours" she mentions are probably, in all likelihood, her relatives who live 3 doors & a road away from us - she got them to complain to the Council as well (I was told by the laws officer that a woman had phoned up because "I've heard my friend has laid a noise complaint, so I'm making one in support"). We have 6 adjoining neighbours. I have approached all of them (including my nasty neighbour...who has reassured me in the past, on multiple occasions *to my face* that my roo was fine - I suspect she is a bit of a coward). Every single one said they are happy for my roo to be there. I also approached other, non-adjoinging properties. One person who lives closer than my neighbours' relatives looked at me with shock - she had no idea I had a roo as she'd never heard him. And of everyone I spoke to, only 2 people are away during a work day (so it's not like they only hear him on the weekend). So other people in the neighbourhood are *not* finding it intrusive...& I think she might be surprised just how many people I have spoken to in the area.

Yes, she can see into my yard if she decides to have a sticky (some of her windows upstairs overlook part of my backyard but not the coops as they're on the other side of the house). Apparently I am a barnyard, I cause mouse, mozzie & fly problems (they found a dead mouse on their property this year...we live opposite a lake & extensive parkland...maybe *that* has something to do with your mice & mozzies, no? As for flies...pfft...you live in Aussie & there are flies in summer. Get over it already). She claims I'm cruel to my chooks because I keep him indoors at night. I can't win!

I am not unreasonable...if my roo was causing a genuine problem & other people were finding the noise to be an issue, then I would accept it & rehome him. I totally understand that roos in the burbs can cause problems. But this woman has a history of bizarre behaviour towards us & others in the area & the roo situation is just part of a whole ongoing saga. She is someone who likes to maintain a facade of wealth & happiness & being an upstanding, popular member of the community. In reality, she is rude & obnoxious for no apparent reason (& no one particularly likes her). She has accused me of all sorts of odd things. I've been threatened & harassed. And her behaviour just beggars belief (everything from coming on to the property uninvited on multiple occasions to going through my green waste, accusing me of spreading thistle seeds over her nature strip, & attempting to intimidate our water tank installer...among other things). I doubt she realises it but I have kept all her letters (she likes to write letters) & have witnesses for virtually every single event except for the time she went through my green waste. With her last letter, I decided to finally tell her enough was enough (normally I ignore her...don't feed the troll & all that) but she'd gone too far this time. As well as addressing all her points (politely), I listed everything she'd done. I told her to pull her head in, effectively. The nasty gram I got in return was rather vile...I was called crazy, a liar & she threatened legal action if she ever found out I was slandering her. A coward's response when they realise they've been caught out. The Council have copies of everything she has sent me (& what I wrote to her).

So the upshot is, she continues to annoy the Council so they have decided to be seen to do something (yes, they even said as much to me).

Interestingly, one of my other neighbours walked past this evening while I was out the front. He was shocked it had been declined. He said his impression was that the feedback form sent out by the Council indicated not to return anything unless they had an objection. So they had just left it. I wonder if this is the problem? I wonder if no one has sent back a letter of support...they've only received her objection, so they've declined it? Of course, until the Council actually tell me why they've declined it, I won't know for sure.

Mariel...as an aside...Casey have fines for flying kites in a park. It's so stupid.

I guess the options are:
- 1. Reapply (but this option is likely to involve significant and ongoing emotional cost without any promise of a good outcome)
- 2. Decide to enjoy the chickens you have and have nothing more to do with the council
- 3. Consider whether or not you are still happy to live where you are (i.e. in that council area) or if the whole experience has been so awful that you'd like to move. I am not saying that you should move house, just that it is something to consider or reject.

I would totally understand if you went with Option 1. - But these people are not rational and do not even abide by their own rules. It doesn't sound as if they can be influenced. However, councils (and neighbours) come and go and things may be different in the future.

I'd be doing the thing that was best for my (mental) health at this point. But you don't have to decide exactly what that is today though, or tomorrow.