Neighbour (busybody) has threatened to report me for leaving my wheelie
bin on the street.
I note that various people round the country have had fixed fines.

What legislation allows this - is it just a general all purpose 'no
obstruction' law or one specifically for bins?

If obstruction, would I be able to argue my point with "I keep it next
to a dirty great tree in the middle of the pavement - to be obstructed
by my bin, you would have to walk through the tree".




(Bin kept where it is to annoy said nosy neighbour above - row of
terraced houses, always put away for 3 years, complaint received after
left out once! Now I leave it out on purpose!)

"Bin kept where it is to annoy said nosy neighbour above - row of terraced houses, always
put away for 3 years, complaint received after left out once! Now I leave it out on purpose!"

Sad, petty, and small-minded.

Try to get out more.

Albert wrote:
Neighbour (busybody) has threatened to report me for leaving my
wheelie bin on the street.
I note that various people round the country have had fixed fines.

What legislation allows this - is it just a general all purpose 'no
obstruction' law or one specifically for bins?

If obstruction, would I be able to argue my point with "I keep it next
to a dirty great tree in the middle of the pavement - to be obstructed
by my bin, you would have to walk through the tree".




(Bin kept where it is to annoy said nosy neighbour above - row of
terraced houses, always put away for 3 years, complaint received after
left out once! Now I leave it out on purpose!)

Contact the local council's refuse department and ask them the question -
they will tell you exactly what you can and cannot do with the bin.

Tanner-'op

Bystander wrote:
"Bin kept where it is to annoy said nosy neighbour above - row of
terraced houses, always put away for 3 years, complaint received after
left out once! Now I leave it out on purpose!"

Sad, petty, and small-minded.

Try to get out more.

Oh, Mr magistrate, sir, where you might have actually been usefull,
rather than pontificating was to answer the question...oh, sorry ask
your CLERK what the answer is ...


"What legislation allows this - is it just a general all purpose 'no
obstruction' law or one specifically for bins? "

I thank you, and bow respectfully as I exit your prescence..

On Aug 20, 3:00 pm, "Anthony R. Gold" wrote:
On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:40:06 +0100, Bystander
wrote:

"Bin kept where it is to annoy said nosy neighbour above - row of terraced houses, always
put away for 3 years, complaint received after left out once! Now I leave it out on purpose!"

Sad, petty, and small-minded.

Try to get out more.

This post is abusive or hurtful to others.

I'm sorry(*) to say that I think I have to agree. Although I have
some sympathy with Bystander's position, I think he could have phrased
it in a less hurtful manner.

(*) because Bystander contributes quite a lot to this group - both
with posts, and by being a moderator.

"Albert" wrote in message
...
Neighbour (busybody) has threatened to report me for leaving my wheelie
bin on the street.
I note that various people round the country have had fixed fines.

What legislation allows this - is it just a general all purpose 'no
obstruction' law or one specifically for bins?

Probably the offence of obstructing the highway.

Here's a relevant precedent which says that you can be guilty of obstruction
even if pedestrians could find a way around your obstruction.

East Hertfordshire DC v Isobel Hospice Trading Ltd
EHDC brought a complaint against I under the Highways Act 1980 s.149 seeking
the removal of a 1100 litre wheeled bin which had been kept on the highway
outside I's shop. The magistrates dismissed the complaint. Their decision
was upheld on appeal by the Crown Court which, in the light of the fact that
there was no complaint that anybody had been physically inconvenienced,
found that (1) the presence of the wheeled bin on the highway did not
constitute a nuisance, and (2) if the presence of the wheeled bin did amount
to a nuisance, the court's intervention was not justified, since the
nuisance was of a "piffling nature". EHDC appealed.
Held, allowing the appeal, that (1) for the purpose of deciding whether the
wheeled bin constituted a nuisance, it was necessary to determine (a)
whether the bin amounted to an obstruction, and (b) if it did amount to an
obstruction, whether it was permanent or temporary in nature. Since the bin
obstructed part of the highway, it constituted an obstruction, and the fact
that people could pass and repass by using other parts of the highway was
irrelevant. Furthermore, the authorities revealed that obstructions which
were neither de minimis nor ancillary to passage and repassage on a highway
were not likely to be reasonable, and that obstructions of a more transitory
nature than the obstruction in the instant case had been held to constitute
a nuisance, and (2) once a nuisance had been established, the magistrates
had, by virtue of s.149(4) of the Act, a discretion when deciding whether or
not to authorise the removal of the relevant object. While the magistrates
might decide not to make a removal order on various grounds, hardship being
an example, they could not decline to make an order on the de minimis
ground, since that would be inconsistent with a finding that a nuisance had
been committed in the first place, it being a prerequisite to such a finding
that the relevant obstruction was more than de minimis.
Court: (QBD) Queen's Bench Division
Judge: Jack Beatson, Q.C.
Judgment date: August 29, 2000


If obstruction, would I be able to argue my point with "I keep it next to
a dirty great tree in the middle of the pavement - to be obstructed by my
bin, you would have to walk through the tree".

As above - yes, you could argue it and no, it probably wouldn't persuade the
court.



(Bin kept where it is to annoy said nosy neighbour above - row of terraced
houses, always put away for 3 years, complaint received after left out
once! Now I leave it out on purpose!)

Let's hope you don't fall ill and need your neighbour's help, eh.

On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:45:07 +0100, Albert
wrote:

Neighbour (busybody) has threatened to report me for leaving my wheelie
bin on the street.
I note that various people round the country have had fixed fines.

What legislation allows this - is it just a general all purpose 'no
obstruction' law or one specifically for bins?

If obstruction, would I be able to argue my point with "I keep it next
to a dirty great tree in the middle of the pavement - to be obstructed
by my bin, you would have to walk through the tree".




(Bin kept where it is to annoy said nosy neighbour above - row of
terraced houses, always put away for 3 years, complaint received after
left out once! Now I leave it out on purpose!)

As has been asked in the other place.

I understand that you don't want to wheel the bin through the house as
you live in a terrace - understandable.

Have you asked the council for their advise - where do they say you
should keep it?

Where did you used to keep your "ashbin"/"rubbish bin" - how was that
collected and emptied?

Sad, petty, and small-minded.

Try to get out more.

"Although I have
some sympathy with Bystander's position, I think he could have phrased
it in a less hurtful manner".

How about:-

I regret to say that your stated intention to annoy your neighbour by leaving your bin out
falls some way short of the behaviour that might reasonably be expected of a sentient
adult.

I respectfully suggest that you might, with advantage to yourself and to your
neighbourhood, consider the advantage that might accrue to you by the acquisition of a
sense of proportion.

The sense of proportion to which I refer may best be acquired by your choosing to engage
in normal social intercourse with grown-up people. Such people may well be found living in
or near your street.

Best wishes,

Bystander

In message , at 18:50:05 on
Wed, 20 Aug 2008, greg remarked:
I understand that you don't want to wheel the bin through the house as
you live in a terrace - understandable.

A terrace with no front garden perhaps (although some terraces near me
with small front gardens look somewhat overwhelmed now the council wants
everyone to have three - soon maybe four - bins).

Have you asked the council for their advise - where do they say you
should keep it?

Some councils allow the use of black plastic bags in those
circumstances.
--
Roland Perry

I humbly and respectfully note your rebuke. I shall waste no time in acting upon it.