Pregnant hairdresser, 32, is engulfed in row with neighbors who have built a fence in a shared back garden that ‘blocks access to her grandparents who paid £600 for the cost of it’
A pregnant hairdresser has tangled with her neighbors after they put up a barrier in their shared backyard.
Mother-to-be Lorraine Smith, 32, from Oxgang, Edinburgh, lives next door to her elderly grandparents with whom she regularly stays and cares for, and has access to their home through their connecting back garden and gate.
She says her neighbors promised both Lorraine and her grandparents, who contributed £600 towards the £1,200 cost, that it would take up just three feet of land in the community garden.
But the newly built fence has made her unable to access their home as normal through the gate and makes it difficult for her grandparents to use the stairs.
Lorraine, who is only a month away from giving birth to her first child, explains that the impediment means she can’t get her buggy into the back green and it blocks the entrance for her older relatives.
Pregnant hairdresser Lorraine Smith, 32, from Oxgang, Edinburgh, has been caught up in a fight with her neighbors after they built a fence in their shared back garden
Mother-to-be Lorraine lives next door to her elderly grandparents with whom she regularly stays and cares for, and has access to their home through their connecting backyard and gate. Her grandparents contributed £600 to its £1,200 cost
After approaching the neighbors about the newly built fence, Lorraine says her complaints have fallen on deaf ears and her grandparents have just been told to “deal with it.”
Speak against edinburgh livesaid the part-time hairdresser, ‘The neighbors have not lived here for a year, but my grandmother, who is 78, has lived there since she was 15.
‘Being an old coal mine house, the back garden is communal and so are the steps at the back of the property.
“When they moved in last August they were told it was a communal garden and split in two, so anything they wanted to build had to be put in a letter to my grandparents.”
She further explained that she entered the house on Feb. 23 to see the joiner building the fence.
“They said they wanted their own privacy and couldn’t understand why it was a communal space after all,” Lorraine said.
“My grandparents said that was fine, but now their access is completely restricted.
‘When the joiner was building it, I knocked on their door, but oddly enough no one was inside.
“Later that night I knocked again and they told me I was just looking for a fight and that the fence was built for me to make do with.”
Lorraine has taken photos of the narrow passage between the back door and the stairs, and says it’s not wide enough for a pram or for her grandfather, who regularly takes his dog to the park, to get out.
Lorraine continued, “They literally took half the stairway with the gate and built their own stairway, which makes no sense. They also charged my grandparents £600 for the fence.
The family was promised that it would only take up one meter of their land in the communal garden, but the newly built fence means she cannot access their house through the gate as usual and makes it difficult for her grandparents to use the steps
“I get advice from a lawyer and they draft a letter informing the family that the fence should be moved further onto their porch or torn down.
“My grandma is in tears because of the whole situation and it’s so sickening because they’ve lived with her all her life. I tried to talk to the neighbors again, but they slammed the door in my face.
“They asked why I would need access to the garden with a pram, but that’s none of their business and it saves me having to walk all the way around to access the park.”
A spokesperson for Edinburgh City Council told the publication: ‘We are aware of this incident and are investigating it.’
