Are you being a nuisance?

Falling out with your neighbours in rural areas is not uncommon. Farming activities are more than likely to cause smell, mud, noise, traffic problems or other disruption at some stage. However, if the impact of your farming operations on your neighbours is severe enough to amount to a nuisance, you could find yourself in a legal dispute and possibly having to defend a court claim which could be both expensive and time consuming.

“There are three types of nuisances: private, public and statutory”, says Johanne Spittle, Director, Litigation & Dispute Resolution at Ware & Kay York, Wetherby and Malton. A private nuisance is caused when you do something (or don’t do something) on your land which you are entitled to do but which impacts on or extends onto your neighbour’s land. There are many situations where disputes can arise. Traffic problems are often a fertile source of conflict; for example if you were to open your farm to the public, such as by opening a farm shop or holding events, and this creates parking problems for your neighbours such as blocked access roads, this could be an actionable nuisance.

Similarly, noise nuisance is a common cause of dispute, for example where farm machinery such as combines are working early in the morning and late at night under floodlights or driving past residential properties; noise nuisance may also arise when large numbers of animals are kept such as pig or chicken farms or where bird scarers are used. Encroachment onto land, for example by mud and debris is also a common cause of complaint.

In simple terms, a public nuisance arises where there is an interference with a public right such as the obstruction of a public highway. A statutory nuisance arises where the interference is prohibited by statute or it is prejudicial to health such as loud agricultural machinery; dust; fumes or gases etc or other matters complained about prejudices health or is considered a nuisance.

How do you avoid a nuisance claim? The best approach is to try to prevent complaints in the first place; this might be by taking steps to mitigate nuisance such as cleaning mud from shared roads after concentrated activity; planting trees to reduce noise pollution; limiting activities to certain times of the day and trying to avoid unnecessary noise such as by turning off idling farm machinery. You should make sure that you comply with the terms of any licenses or permits and follow guidance on best practice as this can be helpful evidence of good farming practices if you do end up in court proceedings.

Don’t ignore any complaints from neighbours; just because you have a license or authority to do what you are doing does not mean that you will avoid a nuisance claim. Keep a record of any complaint you receive and of what steps you have taken to address it and proactively engage with your neighbours: building and maintaining positive relationships is key to avoiding disputes.

And finally, seek advice as early as possible, ideally before any nuisance claim has been brought as it may be that you can nip the dispute in the bud!

For more information please contact Johanne Spittle on York 01904 71600, Wetherby 01937 583210 or Malton 01653 692247 or email johanne.spittle@warekay.co.uk