Neighbours in decade-long row over 34 foot hedge: now they call the government in
Neighbours in an idyllic highland village have been locked in a bitter decade-long argument over a 48 foot long hedge - which has now grown to be 34 feet high. After failing to come to an agreement over trimming the hedge, they have called in the Scottish Government.
Malcolm and Margaret McLeod are from Wadhurst in East Sussex. They bought a semi-detached house in Ballachulish in 1991 as a holiday home. The home that's attached to theirs belongs to Karen and Duncan MacRae (both aged 51), who also own the hedge and a Cypress tree in their garden.
The argument
According to the Daily Mail, for the first decade or so, there were no problems with the garden, but in 2003 the MacRaes planted the hedge, which merged with the tree. The McLeod's said the hedge was then left to grow until it blocked both the light and the scenery.
They spoke to their neighbours, who insisted that the tree was a wedding present from Duncan's late mother (originally planted by his late father) - and as a result they were not prepared to tamper with it.
The Telegraph reported that at that point, the McLeods called in the council, who insisted the MacRaes reduce the hedge to 8 feet. However, the McRaes appealed to the Scottish Government, saying they needed to have a higher hedge to stop the McLeods looking straight into their garden from their raised conservatory - and stressing the sentimental value of the tree.
The Scottish Government will make a decision at a later date.
Your rights
Neighbour disputes over hedges are horribly common. Legally the issue became clearer in 2005 in England (2014 in Scotland), when legislation was introduced to protect people against the negative impact of high hedges or rows of trees on a neighbour's property.
If the hedge is big enough to act as a barrier to light, and to affect your reasonable enjoyment of your property, you can use the legislation to get the council involved. You have a duty to ask your neighbour to do something about it first (twice), then you can apply for the council to investigate.
It will speak to everyone concerned and decide if the hedge needs to be trimmed back to 2 metres in height.
Unfortunately, this isn't always an end to the matter, because both parties can appeal. Even if they don't appeal, they may simply not trim the hedge, in which case it can take weeks for the council to investigate, contact the hedge owner, and in the worst case, carry out the work themselves.
But however drawn out the process is, it's essential not to take matters into your own hands. Trimming someone else's hedges without permission can qualify as criminal damage. There have been instances when police have been called, and in one case a repeat offender was given a prison sentence.
