Harrogate Borough Council
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High Hedges
From 1 June 2005 Part 8 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003
came into force and gave Harrogate Borough Council powers to deal
with complaints about high hedges within the Harrogate
district.
What is a high hedge?
A 'High Hedge' is defined as a line of 2 or more evergreen or
semi-evergreen trees or shrubs, which are over 2m in height.
Individual trees or shrubs, groups of trees or woodlands do
NOT come within the scope of this legislation.
We recommend that you read the Department for Communities
and Local Government (DCLG) booklet:
Hedge Height and Light Loss (500kb) - to
help people assess whether an evergreen hedge is blocking too much
daylight and sunlight to neighbouring properties.
Quick Guide
The legislation does not require all hedges to be cut down to
a height of 2 metres.
You do not need to have permission to grow a hedge above 2
metres.
When a hedge grows over 2 metres we do not automatically take
action, unless a justifiable complaint is made.
If you complain to us, it does not follow automatically that
we will order your neighbour to reduce the height of their
hedge. We have to weigh up all the issues and
consider each case on its merits.
The legislation does not cover single or deciduous
trees.
We cannot require a hedge to be removed.
The legislation does not guarantee access to uninterrupted
light.
There is no provision to serve an Anti-social Behaviour Order
(ASBO) in respect of high hedge complaints.
Damage caused by roots is a civil matter which is not covered
by this Act and cannot be dealt with by the Borough Council.
The legislation applies whether the hedge is owned by an
individual or a company.
Our Role
Our role is not to mediate or negotiate between the
complainant and the hedge owner but to adjudicate on whether the
hedge is adversely affecting the complainant's reasonable enjoyment
of their property.
In doing so, we must take account of all relevant factors and
must strike a balance between the competing interests of the
complainant and hedge owner, as well as the interests of the wider
community.
If we consider the circumstances justify it, we will issue a
'remedial notice' to the hedge owner. This will set out what works
should be carried out to the problem hedge, what preventative
action needs to be taken to ensure that it is maintained at a
reasonable height in future and finally, the penalties they will
incur if they fail to comply with the notice.
The notice becomes a charge on the property and legal obligations
under such a notice pass to subsequent owners.
The notice will contain an 'issue date' and a date at least 28
days later will be cited as its 'operative
date'. It will also cite a 'compliance period',
which will be a reasonable period to allow the hedge owner to make
arrangements for the work to be carried out. It
is recommended that hedge cutting does not take place between March
and August, as disturbance of nesting birds may contravene wildlife
protection legislation. Only after the
expiration of the compliance period may the Borough Council
commence proceedings for non-compliance with the notice.
Failure to carry out the works we require is an offence which,
on prosecution, could lead to a fine of up to
£1000. The court may also decide to order
the hedge owner to carry out the required works.
Furthermore, it is also an offence to obstruct an officer of the
council exercising a power under this Act and if it occurs, this
too is punishable by a fine of up £1000.
If the hedge owner still fails to comply (without reasonable
excuse) a further fine of £50 per day that the work remains
uncompleted may be imposed. We may make
arrangements to get the required work carried out and then charge
the hedge owner for all costs involved. These
costs would be registered as a local land charge and consequently
any prospective buyers of the property would be subject to
them.
Both the complainant and the hedge owner have the right of
appeal. Any appeal by the hedge owner against a
remedial notice must be made in writing and sent to the Planning
Inspectorate, within 28 days of the notice being
served. Similarly, the complainant may appeal to
the Inspectorate if we decide not to issue a remedial notice or if
we issue and then subsequently withdraw a
notice. Either party may appeal to the
Inspectorate against a notice on the grounds that it either goes
too far or not far enough.
Making a complaint
First you must have tried and exhausted all other means of
resolving the hedge dispute you will be asked to provide evidence
of this. You will need to record verbal or
written requests made to the hedge owner by the
complainant together with their
responses. In the absence of a response you will
be expected to have contacted
ARCH Mediation for help, Tel: 01423 868782, e-mail: archmediation@harrogate.gov.uk
.
We can reject your complaint if we consider you have not done
everything you reasonably could to settle the matter for
yourself. We can also decline to accept any
complaint we consider to be frivolous or vexatious.
Over the Garden Hedge (1077kb) is published by
the DCLG and offers advice on how people can settle these
disputes for themselves.
High Hedges: complaining to the
council (394kb) is published by
the DCLG and explains what complaints local authorities can
consider and how they will deal with them.
If you are satisfied that your complaint fulfils the criteria,
then you can submit a
complaint. A fee of £320 is payable with
the complaint. To encourage complainants and
hedge owners to settle early we offer a scheme of refunds. No
application fee is payable for those on one or more means tested
benefits.
High
Hedges Complaint Form (31kb) - includes fee and refund details
and guidance notes.
Further Information
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