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Enjoying the sun today but also enjoying the 5th day of bonfires all day from the delightful neighbours building Stalag 17 . Why is it builders think they can save money on skips and burn everything . Well these dear souls hopefully will be getting a visit from environmental health soon , and i believe it can be a 5k fine !!
do you guys have the same problems ? i am fine with bonfires after dark or evenings but not on sunny days
I do sympathise, we do not seem to suffer the bonfire syndrome but more the level of stinky BBQ with the smell of burning meat and fat burning, not pleasant night after night when you are trying to enjoy a nice G&T in the sun with your better half.Quote:
Originally Posted by hifinutt
The other pain in the arse is a neighbour at the rear of us who decided that it would be a nice idea to spend the best 3 days of the year jet washing his drive and footpaths incessantly for 10 hours each day. I think he got the message when I pointed out that if he managed his trees and overgrown hedges better he might not get a mass of green building up, he admitted his wife had told him to sort the foliage out and warned him not to jet wash when it was good weather, he still carried on though saying he had nearly finished. :doh::steam:
I have a massive bonfire 4 or 5 times every year, it's the only practical way to get rid of the garden refuse. I always wait until the wind is coming from the North, so that the smoke blows across the fields and away from neighbours.
its all about being considerate . I try to have them in the evening when its dull .Today we had de shouting over fences at the builders and then the fire brigade turned up. That stopped them !!!
We have neighbours around us who have a fire at least once a week...In the colder months it's ok, we just shut the back door and windows, but in the summer months...when it's mad hot and we want to keep the doors open to stay cool...is murder....We get a smoked filled house...so we have to shut the doors and sweat it out...We have a couple of large fans, but they struggle to keep the place cool....It's a bugger..These days, there is no real need to burn anything...Question..what happened to councils telling us we had to stop this sort of thing, to be environment friendly, as it is destroying the atmosphere??
As for barbecues, I don't find them too bad....once the initail fire has burned and the material is just red/white hot embers, which is only for a short time, we don't mind the smell of the animal flesh being cooked...
Reporting them might fix it, though it would be more fun to burn an old tyre next time the wind's blowing their way :D That should start a conversationQuote:
Originally Posted by mad-moon
When I had the allotment I had a fire going most nights. It's an Englishman's God-given right to have a fire anytime he damn well chooses. Although I was well away from any houses.
Glastonbury used to be great for fires. Each evening we'd go on a raiding party to nick other people's wood, while keeping a close eye on our own. When was time to go home, it was the first stop at a motorway services that made you realise how much you stank of smoke.
I bet they don't have fires any more, I'm sure the health & safety nannies will have put a stop to it.
Can you not report them to environmental health for nuisance ?Quote:
Originally Posted by mad-moon
And then you're into a whole 'feud with the neighbours' thing and that never ends well. Put up with it or move are the real options. Assuming having a friendly word with them about it is already a non option.
Last Summer...a guy over the back from me, had a fire going all night long...he had it in a steel fire pit type thing...I rang the fire brigade, who came out looked it over and refused to extinguish it, because it was in said fire pit and not a risk to anyone else....I did report this guy to the council and never seen a fire in his garden since. I've reported a couple more, but up to now, there is still garden fires..Quote:
Originally Posted by hifinutt
Well that's it isn't it..."well away from any houses"...but when you're lying in bed...being choked with smoke and fumes all night long...it gets a bit much...Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
Totally agree it is out of order in your situation, don't get me wrong. I was just reminiscing.Quote:
Originally Posted by mad-moon
This is very surprising , air pollution is a major topic , congestion charges are coming in everywhere , i am surprised there is not more political will to stop itQuote:
Originally Posted by mad-moon
Yes this can be a problem , but can`t you do it anonymously ? or get others to complain . i am lucky i have a very feisty lady neighbour who has kids with asthma... God help the builders who defy her and continue with bonfires !!Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
Well I'm having a bonfire next week. I have stuff to get rid of!
Take it to the local tip...!Quote:
Originally Posted by walpurgis
Take it to the local tip...!Quote:
Originally Posted by walpurgis
Nails it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe
That reminds me, I haven't had my bonfire yet. I think Wednesday is probably best.
That's absolutely brilliant, particularly the 'screaming banshees when any mention of sex or sausages'
:rofl:
well our dear builders started their daily bonfires for a week , bearing in mind there are many hundreds children in schools nearby , its not on . anyway 3 complaints to environmental health did the trick [ with pics] they have given me a diary to fill in if they start again !! most normal builders would use a skip but not these guys !!!
Taking stuff to the skip isn't as simple as just chucking it in a skip anymore.
WE ARE A RECYCLING CENTRE, is what you get out of the inmates. Then you have to sort through your rubbish if there is anything mixed. Can't through the black bag in.....in case you are trying to sneek an empty beans tin in there.
More political correctness.
I agree with recycling, but when 3 - 4 of the inmates are stood around talking and laughing and you are pulling your pluck out.........bring back fly tipping. No not really, but make it easier for users.
In Dagenham , I am a unpaid refuce sorter ! I have 3 wheely bins and must be a good boy and use then correctly , Also if the bin lid is SLIGHTY open they won't collect it as it is OVERLOADED ,
I pay £100 per month council tax :rolleyes: and for the last 2 years the council slap on a extra £70 for social care
170 quid a month council tax ? thats a lot , but the same here with wheelie bins , they are very fussy about them
The £70 extra is included in the £100 a month , Basically to empty my bins ,Quote:
Originally Posted by hifinutt
Come down to Devon, we pay £235/mnth for a standard 4 bed detached, in band F, and we have to sort into 4 re-cycle bins, you can have a 5th green one for garden waste but then you have to pay £48/year for the privilege.Quote:
Originally Posted by hifinutt
If you take anything to the re-cycle tip that remotely looks like building waste, then it is £5 per bag, and anything that looks like it might have been near/off a car or is vaguely mechanical is thrown back at you. So basically anything that cannot get money for they will not handle and you have to store it forever in your garden.:steam:
Ruddy nora :eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by AJSki2fly
It is a 4-bed detached house, so something like £240 a month is to be expected.Quote:
Originally Posted by Audio Al
I assume your property is single occupancy, so you will be benefiting from a 25% discount.
Well more than one , Me and all my hifi :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Barry
Well actually no, I have a spouse and I am not officially at retirement age.Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry
Originally a 4 bed house 10 years ago in the same post code and in Band F was just under £1200/annum for rates. So working it out the cost now is £2350 which equates to an increase of 6.91% per annum compounded, which is somewhat higher than the quoted annual inflation rates over the past 10 years, which has on average been below 3%. So on that basis we should not be paying more than £1610/annum or £161/mnth. so I would like to know what additional service I am getting for an extra £740 a year? :steam: However the East Devon District council did sell up there very nice offices in Sidmouth for redevelopment into some swanky gated properties a few years ago, and last year moved into a very posh new building in Honiton that cost a fortune, and of course the senior execs are still on 6 figure salaries I believe.
My comment about single occupancy was in reply to Al's post.Quote:
Originally Posted by AJSki2fly
Around here, you would be paying around £190 - £200 per month, depending if you pay additional Parish supplement, so it does look as if you are paying over the odds.
Yes but you've got to pay for provision for the increasing number of very old people who are living longer due to medical science but many having a low quality of life. Also the gold plated pensions of public sector staff which cost a fortune in a low interest rate environment plus (again) increased live expectancy.Quote:
Originally Posted by AJSki2fly
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Don’t talk to me about F***ing pensions, I over funded two for 20 years to provide for me and the better half when we reached 60, and guess what we were ripped off like millions of others by the greedy pensions and financial companies who found a loop hole in the pension trustee laws which effectively allowed them to raid the funds on virtually any excuse. Basically legalised robbery in my view. I could go on but won’t as I don’t want another heart attack.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lawrence001
Was that an endowment product? They were shocking, can you prove misselling as that can sometimes get you some money back?Quote:
Originally Posted by AJSki2fly
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My endowment policy was supposed to pay off the house, with some left over, after 25 years, What it actually bought was a secondhand motorbike :(
But it was Steve McQueen's motorbike from the Great Escape for £1m :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony
Sorry shouldn't joke about such things.
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There's not much else you can do.
I got talked into an endowment mortgage by a very attractive young lady. Thankfully the sale fell through and I changed it to a repayment for the one I did buy.
Hi Lawrence,Quote:
Originally Posted by Lawrence001
Not endowment, one was an Executive Pension scheme from when I had a small IT company, luckily I had frozen that one, but it only had £46K in it, the other was a private pension scheme that reached £250K and then within 1 year Standard Life took over half of it, due to management cost and losses on the markets, strange because the market had averaged 8%/year for the past 4 years. I think it was Prudential Life that started it all off, and a group individuals took it to the high court, and the high court judge said that in this case the Law was an Arse and he had to side on the insurance companies side. the government then spent the next 2 years changing the pension laws to stop it happening again.
Interesting albeit shocking, do you happen to know the name of the case so I can look it up please?Quote:
Originally Posted by AJSki2fly
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Funny how a bonfire thread has become a financial thread ! Still very interesting, we know all about Devon council tax as we pay that fully on top of our own
I had an endowment mortgage. When it matured it had made a massive surplus.
Probably depends on when you started the policy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry
I think it all turned to crap in the early eighties, we took out ours in 1983. When we realised it wasn't going to deliver as promised, I switched to a repayment mortgage (actually didn't cost that much more), and kept the endowment side going. I think we may also have got a couple of thousand from the PPI folks.
Lol, if only that were true, I'd be on that deal faster than a speeding Bullitt :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Lawrence001