Another Leylandii issue
Rekusu
Posts: 125
What ho one and all,
My neighbour has some very, very tall boundary leylandii and Cyprus trees that cast an unacceptable shade into our garden. Ten years ago when we bought the house, we paid for them to be reduced in height but of course, they have grown back.
Had a meeting with him and a tree guy this morning and the neighbour is adamant that he will only be happy with around 2m or less taken off; the tree guy says he cannot do that as the branches are too fragile for him to safely get high enough. Additionally, if I am paying (again) 2m is not worth it. These trees are way above the roof ridge height, taking off 4m or more would make no difference to the neighbours privacy.
I chatted with the tree guy regarding the legislation (Anti Social Behaviour 2003 Act - Hedge Height and light loss) because it seems to me, that I could take the matter further (arbitration / council / etc.) The tree guy feels that this legislation really only covers light loss to house/window and I would not get anywhere with regards to garden light loss. Additionally, our house is new, and the trees are probably 40+ years old. He says that legally, the trees would probably have priority!
Has anyone reading this forum had experience of pursuing a legal route to force a neighbour to reduce the height of leylandii for garden light loss?
Toodle pip and thanks
Rex
Posts
Thankfully no experience of the problem. Your best route is probably an informal chat with your local council. They should be able to give an indication as to whether any attempted action would be more likely to fail than succeed.
It can also be argued that the trees were there when you purchased your house and you should have been aware of the potential problem. If the neighbour only allowed limited cutting last time there's no reason to expect more this time.
Last edited: 03 September 2016 14:19:17
It's such a contentious subject unfortunately. I think there is a legal height limit now, but if it's enforced, the inevitable bad feeling may cause even more problems. Are there any other neighbours who are affected, or is it just you? Strength in numbers etc. - might be useful.
I think I'd do what KT53 suggests - a chat with someone at the council.
The 'right to light' thing is misleading too, I'm afraid. It rarely has any effect as it doesn't exist in reality - not up here anyway.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thanks for the replies. I realise any action will only create a 'neighbour dispute' and that is not a route that I really want to take. But then, these neighbours had a similar issue with the neighbours on their other side, and not having them at the top of my Christmas card list would hardly break my heart! Actually, the real problem is with him, his wife is OK and would probably see reason.
I have already chatted with the local council and basically, they do not want to know (now that is a surprise!) They field this issue out to a local 'mediation' service and if that is unsuccessful, then the council charge £500 (non-refundable) to process the problem with no guarantee of which side of the fence the decision would fall.
As for cutting to lower than last time, the previous cut is quite obvious since it is a 'stump' from which the new branches have grown upwards over the last ten years. I am only proposing that the height is reduced to that or slightly above. And that height is still around 5m above the 2m legal height limit. The neighbour also said that he was concerned that last time, the trimming was so serve that he thought the trees would die. Well I almost died laughing!
Basically, he is not interested and will offer zilch. But if you saw his garden, you would totally understand.
I really feel for you - and has been said - I'm also lucky that I've never been in this situation.
Councils have a lot to answer to.
Not sure what else you can do, other than an 'accident' with a chainsaw at the base of 'em...
Could you get a local MP involved? Shame the council into doing something?
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Found this online. May be of help with procedures to follow to get the council to intervene - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/9411/highhedgescomplaining.pdf
Again, thanks. It is not a major issue, just very annoying and if you saw the height of these leylandii and cyprus, I think you would agree they are unnecessarily heigh for the average garden.
If on the other hand, they were old oaks, I would probably not feel the same way, but then oaks would not be planted every 5 feet apart.
Thanks for the leaflet link, have saved it. I also found another pdf file on a gov. site that has a worksheet for calculating the height. If I understand it correctly, these trees should be around 9m high (which is about ridge height or higher for most 2 story houses.) These are well above ridge height and I would be happy for them to be ridge height so not asking too much (in my opinion.)
As for asking our MP, good idea but "You're havin' a laff mate!" Our guy is a pompous, overweight 'Sir' sitting on god knows how many important committees so is unlikely to want to get involved with leylandii trees. He is hardly the down to earth, grass roots constituency MP.
The legislation covers a continuous run of trees, I think the definition is 3 or more but you can read up on that. The height is 6ft. The 'problem' being that if you have to go down the legal route there is a fee to pay to the local authority to even entertain reviewing the case. It varies but I believe it is in the £500 -£700 range so it's actually fairly prohibitive to many people. If you can resolve it in a less formal and more friendly manner it is by far the best way. I was lucky that I was able to do this although I did pick up the tree surgeons costs which was my side of the negotiation.
It's a horrible situation Dave. Glad you resolved yours.
The height sounds ridiculous Rekusu. Know what you mean about MPs too
If only people would stop and think before they plant something....
Is the neighbour thoughtless - or are they just unable to keep them under control themselves? I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt here.
If the wife is more approachable, perhaps you could have a quiet word with her. Even tell her you're getting the council involved and say a friend has 'told you' it's likely they'll find in your favour because of the height. A little white lie might do the trick....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I reckon if you bought the house when the trees were in situ, you have no case to get them cut down Buyer beware and all that. If you cannot reach a friendly agreement with your neighbours, then it is stalemate. You will probably have to learn to live with them or move.