Technical Seminar Summary
Northwoods, in partnership with
This half-day seminar, which attracted local authority planners and enforcement officers, tree officers, consultants and arboriculture contractors, was a response to the new and complex piece of legislation, Part 8 of the 2003 Anti-Social Behaviour Act.
The seminar was presented by John Price, Senior Arboriculturist at Milton Keynes Council, working step-by-step through a complaint process, how to evaluate a high hedge claim and the pitfalls to watch out for.
As expected with new legislation, there were many questions about how to deal with a high hedge dispute, the roles of those involved, and the level of consultation required on behalf of the local authority and residents.
Amongst the 60+ delegates, few local authorities have received more than one or two high hedge complaints since the law was introduced at the start of the summer. For this reason, the seminar provided an excellent forum for discussion raising the overall level of awareness and providing some sound advice from those with more experience.
As a follow-up to the discussions at the seminar, Northwoods have compiled a brief FAQ guide:
Frequently Asked Questions
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· What should I do when I receive an enquiry about making a high hedge complaint? The ODPM has provided 2 letter and 1 form templates to help you process an enquiry or complaint. Please refer to pages 81, 82 and 83 of the ODPM High Hedges Complaints: Prevention and Cure document. · What if an enquiry involves multiple complainants, multiple hedges and multiple owners? Some enquiries are bound to me more complicated than others. Page 67 of the ODPM booklet gives a series of examples of how to deal with uncommon or complex cases. · What are my Rights of Entry when carrying out and enquiry and enforcement? Councils may authorise their officers to enter the land where the hedge is situated in order to obtain information that will help them decide. The hedge should always be viewed from both sides when undertaking an inspection. Further information on Entry to Land and if police presence is required is covered on page 79 of the ODPM booklet. · What is a hedge? Yes, that old chestnut! Technically, the definition of whether a particular hedge can be the subject of a complaint under the Act is as follows: · If the hedge or the portion that is causing problems is made up of a line of two or more trees or shrubs · If its is mostly evergreen or semi-evergreen · If it is more than 2 metres above ground level · Even if there are gaps in the foliage or between the trees, if the hedge is still capable of obstructing light or views At a practical level, there is likely to be a level of discretion required to make a decision. |
Resources
| The ODPM High Hedges Complaints: Prevention and Cure booklet is available to download by clicking on the PDF icon (Adobe Acrobat is required to view this file). |
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ODPM High Hedges |
| Download John Price's High Hedges presentation by clicking on the PowerPoint icon. Please be aware, the presentation is 926kb and will take several minutes to download over a standard phoneline. |
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Alternatively, visit the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister website directly.
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