Neighbour's children trespassing and climbing onto our roof

Part of this post is to vent and debrief, but also to gather ideas in how I should approach this situation.

We own a low set property. Our neighbours situated behind us have pretty free access to out property as there is no dividing fence. Their 3 kids (roughly 2, 4, 6 year olds?) are frequently entering our property without permission. We have to keep kindly asking them to leave on a regular basis. The eldest usually makes a few snide comments and leaves, but is soon back in our yard. No damage yet, but they play with our kids equipment and I often have power tools around the area that I sometimes forget to put away. One of the kids is ALWAYS stark naked so it's an unpleasant sight. We've spoken to the parents who seem OK and have apologised, but there is no visible change in these kids behaviours. They are still outside largely unsupervised.

The biggest concern is that while we were out, our other neighbour found the older kids running around on our roof and pulling on the antennae cords. When he asked if they're supposed to be up there the 6 year old apparently said "yes we are". Again no damage done, but I'm very concerned for the safety of these kids. I spoke to the father about the roof incident and he apologized, but then proceeded to talk about his long working hours and how his was had been sick which the kids "took advantage of". A week later, they were out in the back largely unsupervised again.

Now the obvious response is to build a fence. The neighbours promised this >6 months ago and offered to pay for it all, but nothing has been done. I've been telling him that we should pay for half. I've been trying to send him messages about this since, but have been getting very empty replies such as "Hello, thank you for the information" and nothing else. I'm thinking of trying to issue a 'notice to fence' and just get on with getting the fence built. Anything can be done about the trespassing in the meantime? Especially with the risk to their kids, the indecent exposure (naked kid).

Comments

    • Serve that anyway because chances is that whatever the parents promise you they'd do will just turn out to be empty promises.

      Once you've served the notice, the clock starts ticking should you want to proceed with the next step in the enforcement process.

      PS. I know you said you're waiting for a formal quote but if you can get that in before the meeting, I'd suggest serving that notice in person, at the meeting.

      • Serves the notice today. Managed to get the quote before the meeting. sounds like they won't be able to contribute for the next 6 months due to financial reasons. I offered to pay for it all now and have them pay us 50% back later. If they sign off on the notice, at least I should have some legal reassurance I'll get the money back at some stage.

  • 2.1m colorbond fence. PAy for it yourself if you have to.

  • As others have said:
    1. Notice to fence
    2. Report to child protective services

    Optional extra which might be worth considering:
    3. Take out an insurance policy that would cover you in case one of the feral kids gets hurt on your property.

  • +1

    It's about the right time to start feeding your lawn.

    Several large bags of manure to scatter along the boundary should yield a quick win and won't set you back too much.

  • Buy the kids an xbox/PS4 and three controllers.

  • +1

    Make friends with the kids. Pay them money initially to come and visit you. After a month, tell them you don't have any money. They will stop visiting you.

  • Try talking to Shazza and Davo, offer weed make them your friends

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