High Hedge Legislation

Legislation

Under Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, the Council has powers to deal with complaints about high hedges.

Disputes

If you have a dispute with your neighbour to do with the height of a hedge then we do have powers to intervene. However, involving us should be a last resort and only if you really cannot agree a solution with your neighbour.

We can refuse to intervene if we think you haven’t done everything you reasonably could to settle your dispute.

The process and the steps that you should consider before coming to us are outlined in the leaflet High hedges: complaining to the Council, which can be downloaded from the Communities and Local Government website. If you have taken reasonable steps to resolve the dispute yourself AND can answer ‘yes’ to ALL the points listed below, we will consider your complaint:

• Is the hedge growing on land owned by someone else?
• Is the hedge – or the portion that is causing problems – made up of a line of 2 or more trees or shrubs?
• Is it mostly evergreen or semi-evergreen?
• Is it more than 2 metres tall?
• Even though there might be gaps in the foliage or between the trees or shrubs, is the hedge still capable of obstructing light or views?

Before you complain to the Council you might want to approach Rushmoor Mediation Service for assistance with resolving your dispute.  They can be contacted by telephone on 07825 999026 or by email to rushmoormediation@gmail.com  

If you do want to complain to us please use the High Hedge Complaint Form which can be downloaded from the Downloads area to the right of this page, but please read the leaflet and guidance notes before completing the form.

Charges

We charge £400 for this service, split into two parts:

• £50 for us to validate the complaint - this is non-refundable
• £350 if we investigate the complaint