To be honest I have really come to the end of my patience with this. I opened this blog in 2012 and here we are in 2018 and this harassment continues. Yes, I have no choice but to see it as such now as 22 years of alleged 'anonymous' complaints not being upheld and...oh, another,
This is my response to Head of Estate Management Mr Paul Bannerman and Mr Marvyn Rees, Mayor of Bristol. Bristol City Council is being found wanting in the way its officers act in many areas and if local management has no control then senior officials need to get involved and take action:
Copies to: Mr Paul Bannerman
Mr Terry Hooper
Head
of Estate Management 203 Ashton Drive
Mr
Marvyn Ree, Ashton Vale
Mayor
of Bristol
Bristol
BS3 2PY
16th February, 2018
Re.Persistent Council Harassment
I have, today, received yet another letter regarding my
garden from Ms. Lisa Joyner. This must
stop.
When I first moved to 85 Risdale Road in 1995 I could not even
find the property as the garden (which was 50 ft x 70 feet) was thick with
bramble that covered the entire road outside the property and was taller than
me. I was assured that these brambles
would be removed before I moved in. On the day I was moving in the brambles
were still present and causing the removal men problems. At the same time the
postman delivered a letter addressed to me from the Council informing me that my
garden was a nuisance and I was in breach of my tenancy agreement by not
maintaining it. I spoke to the then local Sion House office and was told that
this was no error and, despite explaining the situation, I was told my garden
needed to be maintained.
Eventually, it took two months to clear brambles and weeds
during which time I had more letters from the Council regarding my garden. This
continued following ‘anonymous complaints’ that I do not believe were ever
made. I had one visit after another from
Council officers and 99% of these were unannounced. There was found to be no
problem with my garden. Lots of photographs were taken.
When I made a complaint of harassment by a neighbour across
the road from me two of your council officers witnessed the harassment taking
place while they were parking their cars –one was even the target of a racist
remark. I signed the report she wrote up
so there was a witness. One council
officer even photographed some harassment taking place. After a year I asked what was being done and
was told “we only have a rather vague report” of what you report –no record of
the reports written in front of me by three different council officers. Even
with evidence of problems since then –one neighbour admitting what he was doing
to council officers- nothing was ever done “He’s private property not council
property”. So I report a problem –nothing done.
Someone admitting to harassment and threatening language complains about
nothing –I get council officers all over my case.
Every time it is the garden because, I assume, it is the
easiest thing to think of. Winter during bad weather or while gardening is
taking place so things look less than tidy seem to be popular times.
On one occasion I had just won a “country garden” prize and
was talking to the people concerned when one of your officers turned up to
discuss the “state of my garden” –he decided there was no problem. By 2003 I
had invested hundreds of pounds in natural mulch, plants and fruit trees and
bushes and I was still getting visits and letters about “the state of my
garden”.
In 2004, because of the new demolishing/building scheme I
had to move to this current address which, again, was overgrown and took a
month to clear. Far from the “good soil”
the housing officer told me was here I discovered that there was less than 2
inches of clay covering building rubble buried here –this I have demonstrated
and shown to Council officers repeatedly over the years, including Mr Bannerman. The rear garden is less than one inch of
covering over what was the old concrete drive and parking area that belonged to
the old shops at the rear as well as old garages. Again, I was moving in and
carrying a box when one of your council officers turned up and said that I
needed to sort the garden out as it was in a mess. I pointed out that I was, in fact, just
moving in but was still warned about my tenancy agreement obligations and my
responsibilities.
Since that time I have had –and these occasions are well
documented and Mr. Bannerman has addressed some of these and I have his written
apology regarding two council officers who visited and their behaviour- a letter, phone call or out-of-the-blue visit
from council officers regarding “the state of my garden” following “anonymous
complaints” on a monthly basis –the only quiet period was after Mr Bannerman’s
visit and that lasted three months.
Last year Ms Joyner, who telephoned, was told that my
solicitor would be present to sort out this matter after she arranged to call
around and visit me “about the state of the garden”. I made sure that a message
was left so that she would be aware of the solicitor’s presence. She never
turned up. No phone call, no follow-up
letter.
I then (a month or so later) received a phone call from
another housing officer about an “anonymous complaint” about my garden. This officer –no idea of her name- checked
the records and notes and told me that, yes, there appeared to be a history of
complaints that turned out to be unjustified.
She then told me that she would visit the neighbour in question (visit an
“anonymous” neighbour?) and if there was no problem then she would not call
around but simply warn the person involved about malicious complaints. She never called around which seems to
indicate that these were far from anonymous.
However, this is a quiet area and people talking can be heard quite a
distance and on the day she was going to check with alleged neighbour I was out
gardening from 9am-4pm and I heard and saw no one. So I just assume the visit
took place.
There was no visit to this address so no problem. I did make it clear that my solicitor had all
the letters and documents pertaining to the previous 20 years of council
visits. As far as he is concerned this is quite clearly council harassment.
Based on the visits and an average of 4-5 photos being taken each time by
council officers he estimated that the council had taken between 160-200
photographs of the Risdale Road
and this property. These were all taken
without asking my permission and on two occasions when I stated that any
photographs taken were without my permission.
I made it very clear that in future my solicitor would be
seeking action for evidence of any anonymous letters or phone calls as he did
not believe that they existed and, to be honest, neither do I. No evidence –no
discussion with council officers.
A month after that last phone call I received a letter from
Ms. Joyner and now a “council patch inspection” (so no need to prove there was
a complaint) had shown I had brambles out of control. No one visited this
property for an inspection and as there is a high fence and hedge I cannot see
how any inspection took place. However,
I immediately went into the garden and took photographs that show the bramble,
tree branches and other debris from my gardening that week –the photos were
date/time stamped.
There is only one patch of bramble which is in a corner,
wedge between two high fences and is roughly 6 feet long by 4 feet high and 2
feet thick. This has hedgehogs and also
shrews at the base and dunnocks (hedge sparrows) and wren in the upper part.
Anyone looking into the garden would see the gardening implements and work
carried out. I do not believe any
inspection took place as my window looks right out onto the gate so no one is
getting in or out without being seen and over that period we had cctv because
of thefts from the garden and no one other than postmen and myself are recorded
entering or leaving.
A letter and the photographs were sent to Ms Joyner and
there was no response. I did, however, receive a duplicate of her November
letter.
We have just had a break from one storm after another and
sub zero temperatures –being in a valley outside the city means we get hit
hard. I have repaired the fence after it
has been blown over on six occasions since the beginning of December. So, when
I received another letter from Ms Joyner today, while working in the garden, and
it was about my garden, angry does not cover my feelings.
As I have made clear many times to the council and its
officers, I am bipolar and I have advanced fibromyalgia as well as other health
issues. I have gardened since I was a
child and gardening helps me fight the depression as well as handle the pain
from the fibromyalgia. I do not have a
lawn (for reasons discussed many times before and nothing to do with me) but I
have flowering trees and bushes –including fruit bearers. By training I am a naturalist –my garden has
breeding hedgehogs, it has shrews, it has various insects that are quite
uncommon. My old compost bin has become a bumble bee hive and there are wild
bees nesting under another spot. Including hawks, there are 21 types of bird
visiting this garden and that is including the dunnocks, robin and wrens that
are resident here.
This means that I am helping conserve several listed,
endangered species of mammal and insects as well as birds. This conservation and other garden work I regularly report on at another blog so if necessary I can easily pull photographs and evidence from there.
I enjoy gardening which is a year long process not
just a “do-it-quick” once a year and that is it. On two occasions council
officers turned up about my not maintaining the garden when I was surrounded by
heaps of clippings, cut branches, garden tools and was wearing gardening gloves
and wellington boots –one even said: “If I can interrupt you for a few
minutes—“! On another occasion I was raking up cuttings. I leave any conclusions on these officers’
competence up to you.
It is also odd that the council receives these alleged
‘anonymous’ complaints every single
time that I am gardening. This
leaves two conclusions: (1) there are no complaints and someone at the council
just happens to send these letters out or call around (I have no idea why) while
I am gardening. (2) Complaints are made
while the garden is being worked on because it looks “untidy”. The council has never proven that it has
received a complaint in 21 years despite my constantly asking for evidence. It was two council officers who formally complained to me that I had
flower pots in my garden that “are a safety issue” and against regulations. Mr
Bannerman has a record of this including their statements that I had caused
£3000 worth of damage to a garden fence –the garden fence that cost me £350 to put up and which I, then my
solicitor’s clerk, photographed the same day showing no damage.
And so it continued every year.
In October, 2017, I was trimming back some branches when a
council officer walked up and told me there was a complaint about my garden. I
was standing there with with hedge trimmers, branch cutter and heaps of
clippings and asked him when this complaint was made. He was the fourth council officer
to respond “Oh, about three months ago” so on each occasion it took “about
three months” to follow-up on a “serious” (?) complaint. He looked around and found nothing
wrong. More photos.
Two days later I had another officer call around for the
same reason and I told him someone had called two days before. “I’ve not seen
any record of that” he told me and inspected the garden –no problem.
Now, I do not come from the generation that sues over
everything. My solicitor says that I should. I prefer to talk to council
officials and get the matter sorted out.
However, after 22 years of doing just this over and over again to so
many council officers, department heads and more it just seems to lead to more
and more visits -this is just harassment.
I have a blog that posts specifically on this matter and that has had
75,000 views –including two solicitors offering to handle legal action for
free. This blog was created so that there could be no accusation that my
complaints were being made up later on. It is a public blog.
Putting all of this into some form of perspective: about
three years ago I had to send a letter to the Mayor’s office and other
officials because my kitchen was continuously flooding and every time I
reported the matter I was told “We don’t have any repair on the system” and
then nothing. Endless cycle. I even sent
photographs of the rotten pipes and damage the water had caused. Suddenly,
those letters started action and all the rotting pipes were replaced –apologies
and the usual “we can’t find anything on the system about the problem”.
I have a quite deep furrow outside my front gate (where the
council resurfaced over pipes and wires) that I and others have tripped over –after
a year still no action by the council. Ignoring the previous address on this
matter, since 2004 my refuse wheelie bin, recycling bins have been taken by
crews and never returned. Collections of waste have been made but not at this
address –a month and a half is the record so far. Online forms completed, discussed the problem
with Ann Newman, I have had managers from the waste company turn up and
apologise and bin after bin –wheelie, kitchen waste and recycling-
replaced. This only happens with this property and the neighbours
have had no problems. Council action
–nothing.
I could go on but it seems that repairs and problems I
report are totally ignored –despite surveyor after surveyor calling around (two
at the request of Mr Bannerman) your head of surveying told me in writing that
no surveyors had ever called at this address and yet they have and some
problems (minor) dealt with because of those visits. Can you see how this looks to anyone –why this
address and me, paranoia does not even enter into it as everything is recorded.
Yet, despite nothing else being “on the system”, from 1995
-2018 I get letter after letter, phone call after phone call, out of the blue
visits regarding “the state” of my garden on a monthly basis. I have even been
told that the record has a note “Is not a formal garden style but maintained”
is on the system. So..why?
Even I can clearly see that this seems to be
harassment. The only other conclusion
would be a personal grudge against me or downright incompetence. I have stated in writing as well as
face-to-face that the council is quite welcome to scrape away the little bit of
soil in the back garden and resurface the concrete already there (which I’m
told is around two feet thick) through which the bramble grows. No soil then
the untidy garden complaints can stop. I
can move to container gardening. I have even stated similar regarding the front
garden. Problem solved front and back
and no more ‘anonymous’ complaints.
I cannot dig out bramble coming through from the other side
of my fences I can only snip this off as it appears. Last year I did major garden
work and not only dug out and cut back bushes (drastically) but also carried
out major cutting back of trees in the front and back. This included as much of the bramble as I
could get at coming from the other side of my fences. Winter after or during
storms is not the time to complain about the state of a garden.
I do not complain about my neighbours having large fires
burning rubble against their stone wall during summer with smoke filling my
house nor other things they get up to. I
do not complain about my other neighbour’s kids smashing the fence and throwing
things into my garden. I do not complain
about the other neighbours music blaring up til 5 am that shakes the windows
nor of the clouds of pot smoke filling the garden/house at times (two are
private property and despite statements the council does nothing but will act –allegedly- on complaints against me from one
of them). I do not complain about my
neighbours cats (three) that dig up, defecate and urinate in my garden and that
have killed off my flower beds (cats do what cats do). My neighbours at the rear (council tenants) put
up high concrete fencing and bramble comes through this –the other neighbour
knocks over any fencing I try to put up to replace the decayed fencing –council
knows about this tells me “that’s criminal damage”: does nothing.
It seems that even the gardens in this small area full of
junk, overgrown and full of dogs mess do not concern the council. I am,
apparently, the source of all “gardening evil” in Ashton Vale. Perhaps I need to go around with a note pad
and report (anonymously) every untidy garden I find and I can think of five
right now –that will keep Ms Joyner happy I am sure.
Ms Joyner wishes to call around on the 23rd
February about my garden. No. This month
I am busy with medical appointments.
However, my solicitor is quite willing to attend any future appointment
she wishes to make, however, as with any other future caller on this matter, I
shall make sure there is photographic proof of her visit and I will be
recording any conversation.
I will not even apologise for rambling somewhat because,
after 22 years I have reached the end of my patience. This has to stop now
because I will take my solicitors advice regarding legal action and naming
specific council officials and I will also be contacting ex colleagues to
ensure maximum publicity on the matter.
I have been patient for over two decades but being open and fair appears
to only encourage further harassment and this is harassment.
A copy of this letter will be posted online. https://councilharassment.blogspot.co.uk/
I am 61 years old this year and my health problems increase
and it seems that I cannot even go into my garden anymore. Again: stop
this.
Signed
T.Hooper
ps.Photographs of the garden on the date of the "patch inspection" are on the blog.
That's it.
Oddly, I expect an escalation in problems rather than an end to them so keep popping by and thank you for all the support!
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