Bent Council: A catalogue of nuisance

My diaries record a stark landscape of sustained nuisance and harassment by nfh

27th July 2008 « Nasty neighbour
Revised: 2-5-10

Mary Poppins

Published originally in January 2008 (see Feeding the pigeons Litter and filth).
I kept a diary of incidents of overt pigeon-feeding by these two neighbours, with the first entry dated 20-4-2000, and the final entry dated 5-1-2001. These entries covered a total of 99 days:

of these 99 days, large amounts of food was seen lying in front of my home, and which is believed to be have been thrown from the flat occupied by nfh, on a total of 78 days
of these 78 days, I have actually seen food thrown from their flat on a total of 30 days
again from these 78 days, different, newer food was seen in this area on two or more occasions per day on a total of 28 days
of these 28 days, I have actually seen food thrown from their flat on a total of 10 days on two or more occasions per day for each of these 10 days

In this 99-day period, the other neighbour (in the flat beside mine) had food lying on the area in front of his balcony on a total of 39 days, with a total of 3 days on which he threw food out on more than one occasion per day.

From my diary: Laundry equipment operation

published originally in January 2008 (see Awash with unwanted sound Washing machine noise).

Part—1 → This diary has the first entry date of 26-9-2002, and shows the washing machine start a cycle at 7:30 a.m. The first recorded start of a cycle after 9:00 p.m. is 1:10 a.m. on 29-9-2002.
For the first few months, my diary-keeping was sporadic and didn’t begin accurately to reflect the depth of the nuisance caused by their washing machine until April 2003, with entries for several dates up to 9-6-2003 showing discontinuous operation of this equipment for just under five hours per day, entries for several other dates showing discontinuous operation for just under seven hours per day, starting sometimes from early morning, continuing throughout the day, often until after midnight, in both instances for several hours non-stop.
For 10-6-2003, the day nfh and I were to meet the Brent Mediation Service, there are just two entries, indicating cycle start times of 7:20 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. For most of the time between these two entries, I had been out.

Part—2 → Looking at one specific day in each of the four months June–September 2003; the diary shows the complete usage per day on each of these four days with the following start times for each complete cycle—

for 12-6-2003 – 1:30 a.m., 5:30 a.m., 11:24 p.m., 12:30 a.m.
for 12-7-2003 – 9:05 a.m.
for 12-8-2003 – 4:15 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 7:40 p.m., 8:30 p.m.
for 12-9-2003 – 12:40 p.m., 1:50 p.m., 3:20 p.m., 4:25 p.m., 5:35 p.m., 6:35 p.m., 7:40 p.m.

In this 90-day period, there were

3 days with operation of laundry equipment recorded at over 8 hours for each of these 3 days
8 days with operation of laundry equipment recorded at over 6 hours for each of these 8 days, excluding days for which over 8 hours of operation per day have been recorded
15 days with operation of laundry equipment recorded at over 4 hours for each of these 15 days, excluding days for which both over 6 hours and over 8 hours of operation per day have been recorded
6 days with over 4 hours continuous operation of laundry equipment recorded in each of these 6 days
over 58 hours of laundry equipment operation recorded in the hours between 9:00 p.m.–8:00 a.m.
16 days in which no machine operation was recorded

Part—3 → Looking at one specific day in each of the four months October 2003–January 2004, the diary shows the complete usage per day on each of these four days with the following start times for each complete cycle—

for 4-10-2003 – 2:50 a.m., 7:30 a.m., 10:10 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 4:25 p.m., 5;30 p.m., 6:55 p.m.
for 4-11-2003 – 12:50 a.m., 3:30 a.m., 4:30 a.m., 5:30 a.m., 6:30 a.m., 7:30 a.m., 8:50 p.m., 10:00 p.m., 11:00 p.m.
for 4-12-2003 – 6:00 a.m., 7:00 a.m., 9:30 p.m., 10:35 p.m.
for 4-1-2004 – 1:10 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 4:35 p.m., 5:35 p.m., 6:35 p.m.

In this 93-day period, there were

13 days with operation of laundry equipment recorded at over 8 hours for each of these 13 days
25 days with operation of laundry equipment recorded at over 6 hours for each of these 25 days, excluding days for which over 8 hours of operation per day have been recorded
31 days with operation of laundry equipment recorded at over 4 hours for each of these 31 days, excluding days for which both over 6 and over 8 hours of operation per day have been recorded
19 days with over 4 hours continuous operation of laundry equipment recorded in each of these 19 days
over 200 hours of laundry equipment operation recorded in the hours between 9:00 p.m.–8:00 a.m.
2 days in which no machine operation was recorded.

Part—4 → As promised, I took that section of my diary from 6-10-2003–20-1-2004 to the Council’s local ‘housing office’ in Kilburn on 20-1-2004 to provide photocopies of it for the Council employee Olga H(abana?).

In this 93-day period, there were

14 days with operation of laundry equipment recorded at over 8 hours for each of these 14 days
32 days with operation of laundry equipment recorded at over 6 hours for each of these 32 days, excluding days for which over 8 hours of operation per day have been recorded
30 days with operation of laundry equipment recorded at over 4 hours for each of these 30 days, excluding days for which both over 6 and over 8 hours of operation per day have been recorded
27 days with over 4 hours continuous operation of laundry equipment recorded for each of these 27 days,
over 220 hours of laundry equipment operation recorded in the hours between 9:00 p.m.–8:00 a.m.
over 200 hours of laundry equipment operation recorded in the hours between 9:00 p.m.–8:00 a.m. when it could have been operated in the hours 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m., even though the flat of nfh had been occupied throughout that day
2 days in which no laundry equipment operation was recorded.

Although H(abana?) had free access to all pages of this diary while in my home on 14-1-2004, this is the first time the council have seen this laundry equipment diary and, while the council’s ‘neighbour relations team’ was aware I had been keeping this diary since October 2002, at no time did anyone ask to see it until this day, 14-1-2004.

Part—5 → Looking at one specific day in each of the three months April–June 2004, the diary shows the complete usage per day on each of these three days with the following start times for each complete cycle—

for 16-4-2004 – 10:20 a.m., 11:20 a.m., 12:20 p.m., 1:20 p.m., 2:20 p.m., 6:50 p.m., 8:30 p.m.
for 16-5-2004 – 00:45 a.m., 1:45 a.m., 6:25 p.m.
for 16-6-2004 – 7:50 a.m., 8:50 a.m., 9:50 a.m., 10:50 a.m., 7:25 p.m., 8:25 p.m., 9:25 p.m.

In this 63-day period, there were

7 days with operation of laundry equipment recorded at over 8 hours for each of these 7 days
8 days with operation of laundry equipment recorded at over 6 hours for each of these 8 days, excluding days for which over 8 hours of operation per day have been recorded
15 days with operation of laundry equipment recorded at over 4 hours for each of these 15 days, excluding days for which both over 6 hours and over 8 hours of operation per day have been recorded
14 days with over 4 hours continuous laundry equipment operation recorded for each of these 14 days
over 35 hours of laundry equipment operation recorded in the hours between 9:00 p.m.–8:00 a.m.
5 days in which no machine operation was recorded.

Part—6 → Looking at one specific day in June 2005, the diary shows the complete usage with the following start and/or continuation times for each complete cycle—

for 19-6-2005 – 00:00 a.m., 06:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m., 11:00 p.m.

In the 30-day period 19-6-2005–19-7-2005, there were

1 day with operation of laundry equipment recorded at over 8 hours
3 days with operation of laundry equipment recorded at over 6 hours for each of these 3 days, excluding the day for which over 8 hours of operation has been recorded
2 days with operation of laundry equipment recorded at over 4 hours for each of these 2 days, excluding days for which both over 6 hours and over 8 hours of operation per day have been recorded
2 days with over 4 hours continuous laundry equipment operation recorded for each of these 2 days
12 days in which the operation of laundry equipment was recorded in the hours between 9:00 p.m.–8:00 a.m. when it could have been operated in the hours 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m., even though their flat had been occupied throughout that day
over 24 hours of laundry equipment operation recorded in the hours between 9:00 p.m.–8:00 a.m.
13 days in which no machine operation was recorded.

Part—7 → Looking at one specific day in November 2005, the diary shows the complete usage with the following start and/or continuation times for each complete cycle—

for 24-11-2005 – 00:00 a.m., 1:00 a.m., 7:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 6:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m., 9:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m.

In the 31-day period 28-10-2005–28-11-2005, there were

4 days with operation of laundry equipment recorded at over 8 hours in each of these 4 days
4 days with operation of laundry equipment recorded at over 6 hours for each of these 4 days, excluding days for which over 8 hours of operation have been recorded
1 day with operation of laundry equipment recorded at over 4 hours, excluding days for which both over 6 hours and over 8 hours of operation per day have been recorded
7 days with over 4 hours continuous laundry equipment operation recorded for each of these 7 days
14 days in which the operation of laundry equipment was recorded in the hours between 9:00 p.m.–8:00 a.m. when it could have been operated in the hours 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m., even though their flat had been occupied throughout that day
over 28 hours of laundry equipment operation recorded in the hours between 9:00 p.m.–8:00 a.m.
14 days in which no machine operation was recorded.

From my diary: Discharge from overflow pipe

published originally in January 2008 (see Incompetent Brent).

Part—1 → I started to keep a diary of the discharge from this pipe from 31-1-2003. For the first few months, my recording of the discharges were sporadic but it shows this pipe to be a considerable nuisance.
Throughout 2003, discharges have been recorded as follows;
1 day in January, 12 days in February, 2 days in June, 1 day in July, 4 days in September, and 7 days in December. On each of these days, there were one or more separate discharges per day, continuing from a few minutes to one or more days.

Part—2 → In the period 21-4-2004–21-6-2004, this diary shows a discharge of water from this pipe for 56 days, and with no obvious discharge on just 6 days.

Part—3 → Throughout 2004, discharges have been recorded as follows; 3 days in January, 4 days in February, 3 days in March, 13 days in April, 28 days in May, 29 days in June, 28 days in July, 31 days in August, 29 days in September, 31 days in October, 30 days in November, 31 days in December.
On each of these days, there were one or more separate discharges per day, continuing from a few minutes to one or more days.
Because of the increased stress placed on me due to the need accurately and consistently to record both the use of their laundry equipment by nfh and intrusive sounds transmitted through my ceilings, I suspended the recording of these two forms of nuisance on 29-6-2004 with the intention to resume at a later date.

Part—4 → in the period 19-6-2005–19-7-2005, this diary shows a discharge of water from this pipe for 19 days, and with no obvious discharge on just 11 days.
In the period 28-10-2005–28-11-2005, the diary shows a discharge of water from this pipe for 26 days, and with no obvious discharge on just 6 days.

Part—5 → Throughout 2005, discharges have been recorded as follows;
31 days in January, 28 days in February, 22 days in March, 20 days in April, 31 days in May, 23 days in June, 18 days in July, 4 days in August (with recording suspended until 10-10-2005), 19 days in October, 22 days in November, 1 day in December.
On each of these days, there were one or more separate discharges per day, continuing from a few minutes to one or more days.

From my diary: Intrusive sound through ceilings

published originally in January 2008 (see A heavy-footed family).

Part—1 → I had started to record the transmission of intrusive sounds transmitted through my ceilings on 20-6-2004. These sounds ranged from the—

running and jumping of children (this was intrusive in the area above both my kitchen and bedroom, but was particularly intrusive in the area above my living-room)
heavy footfalls of adults (this was intrusive in the area above my living-room, but was particularly intrusive in the area above both my kitchen and bedroom when footfalls occurred with hard-soled footwear)
dragging of heavy objects such as furniture on hard floors (this was particularly intrusive in the area above both my kitchen and bedroom)
dropping weighty objects on hard floors (this was particularly intrusive in the area above both my kitchen and bedroom)

These sounds are incredibly intrusive, can occur at any time in a 24-hour period and are not what could be described as 'background noise'. The intensity of these sounds is such that they may as well have been created within my home itself.
Looking at one specific day, 25-6-2004, this diary shows intrusive sound was transmitted through my ceilings—

with 8 hours in which intrusive sounds were recorded in this 24-hour period
for 2 hours between 9:00 p.m.–8:00 a.m., intrusive sounds were transmitted through my bedroom ceiling

Part—2 → The sound of the heavy footfalls of adults returned in about February 2005, but with relatively few instances throughout a 24-hour period. By April, however, this intrusion grew to the level which existed before 26-7-2004 and became far more intrusive and a nuisance.
In the 31-day period 28-10-2005–28-11-2005, this diary shows there were

20 days in which intrusive sound was transmitted through my ceilings
15 days on which intrusive sounds were transmitted through my bedroom ceiling on between 9:00 p.m.–8:00 a.m.
11 days in which no intrusive sounds were recorded.

From my diary: Loud, intrusive music

published originally in January 2008 (see Loud music nuisance, and Déjà bloody vu—again? Uncaring Brent).
I started recording the instances of music played at a loud, nuisance level from 6-4-2005.
Between 6-4-2005–2-8-2005, loud music was played at an intrusive level at the address of nfh on 34 separate occasions, lasting for between 15–80 minutes. Of these 34 separate occasions, two were on the same day, while a further three were on another day.

A graphic illustration

nfh-0NuisanceGraph
A stark catalogue This chart shows the nuisance presented by nfh and tenant during the period late 1980s to late 2008

From my diary: My own noise-creation

published originally in January 2008 (see Choosing routes available to me A neighbour from hell).
In an effort to convince nfh of her need to show a more considerate pattern of living, I created loud, intrusive noise by hitting a brick wall with a hammer.

Part—1 →I kept a diary of each occasion on which I created this loud, intrusive sound of which I had informed both the Council employee Catherine Taylor and nfh previously (see link above). The diary shows that the first instance of this noise was created on 27-7-2003 at 3:15 p.m., lasting for 10 minutes as my reaction to music played loudly by nfh.
In July 2003, while I did not carry out my threat on all occasions on which I had said I would do so, I created this noise on a total of seven separate occasions lasting for between 5–15 minutes in reaction to—

transmission of intrusive sound through my ceilings—on four occasions
operation of laundry equipment between 21:00–08:00—on one occasion
playing music at a loud, nuisance level—on one occasion
to show that I was serious in my intent—on one occasion.

Part—2 → I told nfh on 4-8-2003 (see Pouring oil on troubled waters A neighbour from hell) that I was suspending the creation of this noise until 5-9-2003 but that it would resume without notice should the situation warrant it. In August 2003, while I did not carry out my threat on all occasions on which I had said I would do so, I created this loud, intrusive noise.
The diary shows that this noise was created on six separate occasions lasting for between 5–30 minutes in reaction to—

playing music at a loud, nuisance level—on three occasions
the operation of laundry equipment between 21:00–08:00—on two occasions
the transmission of intrusive sounds through my ceilings—on one occasion.

Their reaction during this period was greatly to increase the volume of the noise they were creating with their music.

Part—3 → In September 2003, I did not carry out my threat to create loud, intrusive noise although the conditions existed which I had told nfh previously would prompt me to carry out my threat. In October 2003, while I did not carry out my threat on all occasions on which I had said I would do so, I created this loud, intrusive noise on a total of just one occasion lasting for 10 minutes in reaction to playing music at a loud, nuisance level.

Part—4 → In November 2003, while I did not carry out my threat on all occasions on which I had said I would do so, I created this loud, intrusive noise on a total of four occasions lasting for between 1–10 minutes in reaction to playing music at a loud, nuisance level.

Part—5 → In January 2004, while I did not carry out my threat on all occasions on which I had said I would do so, I created this loud, intrusive noise.
The diary shows that this noise was created on four occasions lasting for between 1–30 minutes in reaction to—

the operation of laundry equipment
playing music at a loud, nuisance level on one occasion [by the neighbour in the first-floor flat in the stack next to mine on the left (looking onto the park)]

Because I had agreed with H(abana?) on 14-1-2004 not to create the noise in response to nuisance caused by nfh, no more noise was created on the understanding my complaints will be dealt with. Since about December 2003, nfh appeared to have abandoned the playing of music at a loud, nuisance level, although the transmission through my ceilings of intrusive sounds continued, as did the operation of laundry equipment at unreasonable hours. It was my understanding, however, this agreement did not prevent me from creating the noise in response to the loud music played by the other neighbour.

Part—6 → In March–May 2004, while I did not carry out my threat on all occasions on which I had said I would do so, I created this loud, intrusive noise in response to loud music played by the neighbour in the first-floor flat in the stack next to mine on the left (looking onto the park).
The diary shows that this noise was created on five occasions each lasting for 1 minute or less between the hours of 9:40 a.m.–6:45 p.m., with a total of 52 strikes on the wall. Unlike nfh, this neighbour appeared more amenable to this form of persuasion and didn’t continue with his loud music after more than about 8-10 strikes of the wall, and the final date on which I have had to react in this manner was 7-5-2004.

Loud music nuisance Interfering with my telly Litter and filth A heavy-footed family Misusing their balcony Washing machine noise Soiling my windows A neighbour from hell Hell twice over

A catalogue of nuisance