What is the high hedge legislation?
Part 8 of The Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 came into operation on
1st June 2005 - since then Braintree District Council has been
empowered to decide high hedge complaints.
This is very much a last resort and the complainant will need to
prove that they have exhausted all other avenues and have even
attempted mediation in most cases before making a formal complaint
to the Council. Braintree District Council does not get
involved during these early stages.
Once a complaint has been accepted the Council's role is solely
to adjudicate and to strike a balance between the competing
interest of the complainant and the hedge owner and the interest of
the wider community.
What is the complaints process?
The hedge must meet the criteria of high hedge as specified by
the legislation.
The complainant must be able to demonstrate that they have tried
to discuss the problem through meetings, telephone conversation,
letters and/or mediation (we are able to supply a SEAMS mediation
information leaflet on request) before the complaint is made.
A
Complaint form is available with accompanying
Guidance Notes and
customer contract
The fee must be submitted. This is £600 non refundable fee
paid by the person who is complaining about the hedge.
The whole process takes 12 weeks. The first few weeks are
to allow the hedge owner to look at the full details of the
complaint, to comment and for the complainant to respond to these
comments. Following this the hedge is inspected by a
Council Officer and measurements are taken. The report is
then issued a few weeks later.
Should the decision be in favour of the complainant the Council
will issue a remedial notice requiring the hedge to be reduced in
height - the requirement to maintain the height of the hedge at the
specified height will remain with the hedge for its lifetime.
Should the decision be in favour of the hedge owner, there is no
refund of the fee to the complainant and there are no restrictions
placed on the hedge.
Should the owner of the hedge not comply with a remedial notice
within the specified time it would result in Court Action and a
fine. In extreme cases the Council would carry out the works
and recharge the expense of this to the owner.
What is a high hedge?
Anyone who lives near a hedge will likely have an opinion on
whether it is too high or too low. But under the terms of the
high hedges legislation, in order to qualify as 'high hedge' the
hedge must be:
* 2 or more evergreen trees. This can include privet
which only loses its leaves in the coldest of winters in this
area. But does not include beech or hornbeam. If there
are gaps in the hedge it can still be considered but the gaps will
increase the amount of light able to penetrate the hedge and so it
will not be as strong a case.
* The hedge must affect a residential property. (A
business could not make a high hedge complaint, though a high hedge
could be growing on land owned by a business and could be affecting
a residential property.)
Did you know?
A council cannot...
* Require a high hedge to be reduced to under 2m in
height
* Specify works which will cause the death of the high
hedge
* Require the high hedge to be grubbed out
* Consider the affect of the roots of the high hedge on
the property
* Consider the affect of a high hedge on a
conservatory
* Consider the affect of a high hedge on a green house,
shed or outbuilding
So you need some more information?
There are some very good leaflets issued by Communities &
Local Govt
(www.communities.gov.uk)
Over the garden
hedge
High hedges: complaining to the Council
Should either the complainant or the hedge grower be
dissatisfied with the outcome of the Council’s decision there is a
right of appeal.