Disputes between neighbours occur regularly and can have a devastating effect on the lives of those involved not to mention the financial costs that follow.
This has again been highlighted in a recent case in the Court of Appeal where Lord Justice Mummery said there are too many "calamitous neighbour disputes" in the courts.
He highlighted the use of mediation to settle such problems by saying in the particular case with which he was dealing "an attempt at mediation should be made right at the beginning of the dispute and certainly well before things turn nasty and become expensive.
By the time neighbours get to court it is often too late for court based alternative dispute resolution and mediation schemes to have much impact. Litigation hardens attitudes. Costs become an additional aggravating issue.
Almost by its own momentum this case that cried out for compromise moves onwards and upwards to a conclusion that is disastrous for one of the parties, possibly for both".
These comments should be applied to all such disputes.
Mediation is a much better way to bring the parties together at an early stage with a view to sorting out what are often personal difficulties rather than legal issues.
Because the parties find the dispute so personal and emotional solicitors have difficulty in persuading parties not to go to court.
The parties feel that any kind of compromise means giving in. Even if the matter ends in court with a marvellous victory all that party has done is to infuriate the person who lives next door.
We at Sarginsons Hughes & Masser do not want our clients to become embroiled in protracted and costly legal cases.
Our advice is often to move home before things turn into a dispute. Clearly this is not advice our clients will want to hear but it is not easy to sell your home once a disclosable dispute has become manifest.
Alternatively we would always suggest mediation. Parties to a dispute and their advisors should always focus on settling matters in a way acceptable to both sides without expending disproportionate sums of money in legal costs. Mediation can be a key stone in meeting in these objectives.