How we used mediation to resolve a neighbour dispute in Wakefield
Sometimes, the relationship between neighbours breaks down so badly that they stop speaking to each other.We use mediation to bring them together to talk through their problems and come up with a solution.
We work with people who’re specially training in dealing with difficult discussions between two opposing sides, and we’ve got lots of really good examples of how mediation’s worked. Here’s Andrew and Anita’s story.
Andrew and Anita had been good neighbours for a couple of years. Anita would sometimes cook for Andrew and he’d helped her with DIY around her home.
But things changed when Anita got involved with a bad crowd. She started having lots of noisy and disruptive visitors, and the police were called out a few times.
Andrew and his four year old son no longer felt safe in their own home and moved out to a friend’s flat where they slept on camp beds in the living room. The stress and upheaval was having a huge impact on their wellbeing.
Because Andrew and Anita used to get on so well, we thought it was worth trying to get them to sit down together to talk. So, we referred the case to an independent mediation company. Andrew had the chance to tell Anita how things were affecting him and his son, and they spoke about what needed to happen to make things better for the future.
Within a week of the meeting Andrew and his son moved back home. And he and Anita are working on rebuilding their good neighbourly relationship.