Hi everyone, yes it's Thursday and yes I've missed last Friday's FF@F and Tuesday's Tutu Tuesday. It's been an interesting week since we got the notification we'd won our court case to keep our Jacaranda tree.
Some thoughts hubby and I have had since are why did it have to get so far as to end up in the Land & Enviornment court? Why couldn't the very stubborn and angry owner of the two rentals next door not see what damage he was doing to us mentally? That he was paying out huge amounts to a legal firm who should have advised him to take our final offer (which, by the way, was very very generous).
On Hubby's final offer he quoted this passage from the bible at the beginning of his correspondence. We are now wondering if that made him even more angry. Stupid man!
"Love for Enemies" Luke 6:27-30 (NIV version"But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you, If someone slaps you on the one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not with hold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back"
No, instead, he let his anger rule him and he got his day in court and before the judge, twice, to be told no and to be told he had 2 deadlines to meet due the rulings handed down. Has he met the first one yet? No! Have we advised him we are still waiting and he has less than 5 days before he looses even that opportunity to have some work done on his concrete driveway? Yes! We have reminded him that he signed a legal document more than a year ago, in the presence of the mediators, that he agreed to the cost and the type of new fence
we organised to be built. He's now disputing that too.
We've sent him a letter with a copy of his signed agreement, a copy of the quote and said if he's not willing to honor his part that he agreed to, then we are going ahead with our new fence. We will pay for it in full our selves and we no longer want any contact with him going forward. That fence has been paid for in full by us for a year just waiting to be built, all we were going to do was invoice him for his half.
Bare in mind, 18yrs ago he willfully damaged said fence so we've also quote to him from the Dividing Fences Act 1991-Sect 8 '
"An adjoining owner is liable for up to the whole cost of the fencing work required to restore a dividing fence that has been damaged or destroyed by a negligent or deliberate act of the owner or of a person who has entered the land concerned with the express or implied consent of the owner."
Keeping this in mind,
he is actually liable to pay for the
whole new fence himself which hubby recons he's not looked in to and realised! We have documentation with our solicitor back then on when he pulled the fence down and moved it himself just after we bought and moved in. When he put it back up it became so wonky and has fallen apart since. We didn't fight him then but it's only one of a long list of things he's done since we moved here. Asking us to remove our Jacaranda, which was here when we moved in, was the final straw that broke us down, hence we said ok, go ahead, we will see you in court! He lost and he's still arguing? Aggggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Whilst all this was happening, my hubby has had to bite his tongue, be very diplomatic and calm with all his correspondence and verbal dealings.
Not any more. He lost it on Monday when he received yet another email saying "no no no no no not going to agree to the fence, I should be allowed to put in two quotes as well" Hells Bells!!!!!! He's already agreed to a quote, the style of the new fence and now he says no? So not taking it anymore said hubby and he went to town. Hubby has told him, in not so kind words, that he will no longer take any notice of him and he's washed his hands of the relationship, what little there was left. Our new fence WILL BE BUILT starting 4th April barring any unforseen events such as the weather! Both the tenants living there are quite happy that a new fence is going in and have no problems with when it happens.
To say it's still causing a bit of stress is an understatement but we know we've done nothing wrong, we have the law on our side and we are pushing ahead. Our property will look so much better once the fence is in. PLUS next door will no longer be able to look in on us and into our back windows. We will have more privacy than we've ever had and the colourbond fence will also cut down the noise of the vehicles going up and down their driveway which is right next to both our bedrooms!
So yeah, that's what the last week has been like here at the the Hampson's Hovel as we affectionately call our little house. Now I'm turning back to my craft desk to finish what I hope will be a very welcomed creation for all my crafty readers!
Til next time, remember,
Live, love and laugh often!
