Neighbour riding horses in adjoining field and overlooking

[Whatsinaname]

Hi, first time poster here.
We recently moved to a more rural property which is sandwiched between two farms. The field to the rear and right is owned by one of these farms. We knew this when purchasing and were happy with as it was used for grazing by their flock.

The problem which has arisen is that the neighbour has now bought a horse and set up an exercise area in the field directly behind our garden, in fact, using our rear fence (about 2 metres high) as one of the boundaries of the area at times.

Because of the topography of the site, the land is somewhat higher in the field than in our plot and so when they are standing at the back of the exercise area, they can see into our house. The worst of it is that when they are riding the horse by the fence at the front of the area. This is only a little away from the rear of our house where the bedrooms and bathrooms are (it's a bungalow), which is about 5 metres from the boundary. This makes it a more than a little awkward when wanting to open a window in the bathroom when having a shower for instance.

Am I right in thinking this is an invasion of privacy and constitutes a nuisance? I think we have a reasonable expectation that people wouldn't be standing in the field for a good few hours a day looking directly at our house or riding a horse right by the fence. The land use has changed to recreational, so I would think they should have gotten planning permission for that as well? I have asked them to move the area but all they have done is site it a few metres back for a few days before returning it to the original location.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

[des8]

Presumably the farm land is agricultural land which is defined in Section 336 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as:

“horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming, the breeding and keeping of livestock (including any creature kept for the production of food, wool, skins or fur, or for the purpose of its use in the farming of land), the use of land as grazing land, meadow land, osier land, market gardens and nursery grounds, and the use of land for woodlands where that use is ancillary to the farming of land for other agricultural purposes.

So it would seem they need planning permission for change of use to "equestrian".


" standing in the field for a good few hours a day looking directly at our house"
Have they nothing better to do, or are they looking at something else eg the horse?

If you find the action offensive it may be classed as harassment

tagging islandgirl

[islandgirl]

Planning permission is needed as I understand for a change to equestrian which does not count as agricultural. You could report to planning though obviously you will make an enemy of the neighbour as they will be certain to guess who reported. The neighbour will apply for retrospective permission. You can then raise your objections. I understand that you are uncomfortable with the position of the exercise area but find it hard to see a legal nuisance. You could perhaps suggest a better position as part of the planning process.