Can the Council take any action on controlling high hedges?
Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, gives local authorities powers to deal with complaints about high hedges and came into operation in England on 1 June 2005. From that date, provided you have tried and exhausted all other avenues for resolving your hedge dispute, you will be able to take your complaint about a neighbour’s evergreen or semi-evergreen hedge to the District Council. The role of the Council is not to mediate or negotiate between the complainant and the hedge owner but to adjudicate on whether – in the words of the Act – the hedge is adversely affecting the complainant’s reasonable enjoyment of their property. In doing so, the Council 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 they consider the circumstances justify it, the Council will issue a formal notice to the hedge owner which will set out what they must do to the
