What is the progress with the high hedges bill?
I have been contacted by many constituents about the High Hedges Bill, and I would like to update you on the current situation. My colleague, Steven Pound MP, was drawn in the annual ballot for Private Members Bills last autumn and decided to take up the High Hedges Bill. The bill had cross party support and should have been successful. The first reading on the floor of the House was a formality and it then moved on to the Second Reading. Although welcomed by all sides of the House there were some objections made by one Member, Christopher Chope, the MP for Christchurch. He spoke against the bill at length and it nearly fell at the Second Reading. However, the bill passed through this reading and also the Committee stage, returning to the House for its Third Reading on the 20th June. This time Christopher Chope MP was successful in talking the bill out of time. He stated that the bill to give householders the right to after mediation and an objective analysis by the local council requi
