Any used the high hedge act to get neighbours to trim leylandii?

Oh and as a private homeowner, if you have the means you can take the cuttings down the local tip for free.  A large part of the cost of a garderner / tree surgeon will be because they have to pay to dispose of the cuttings

I have a little mini trailer with a cage (old erde 101) that if I really do have too much garden waste I can fill up and take down there

That would reduce the costs significantly

Well I think you’ve now explained why it would cost so much… sounds like a lot of labour and hassle to me, plus added disposal costs. Good on you for keeping on top of it all yourself, you sound like a good neighbour.

@DT78, as someone who used to deliver the post to your address semi-regularly until the end of ’17, I bet you have plenty of cuttings to get rid of from the hedge around your front gate alone!

as a hedge they are pretty good at doing the sort of thing you want a hedge to do.

Act as a hiding place for a Tesco’s bag full of slightly grotty yet disappointing porn?

Small world !  lol, its not that bad!  approx 18 hours a year on hedge cutting and 9 Full wheelie bins of mulched waste (they really weigh a lot, hard to move).  For what is a pretty bloody big hedge.    I’ve not mentioned the bigger ones in the back garden 🙂

I can definitely see it costing £, just unless it is truely huge “thousands” is a little bit of an exaggeration.

I did used to get regular threatening letters from the council about cutting it back to the boundary as a local busy body used to complain once or twice a year about them and the council then has a duty to respond.  The hedges must have been this size for many decades…. anyway it never used to come to anything as there is plenty of room on the pavement and its clear the hedge is well maintained

Presumable now the council have completely messed up the junction with a zebra crossing / speed bump / bike lane they have something else to complain about.  That or maybe they’ve been put in a care home somewhere….

Hedges are probably due their second cut of the year so probably should think about getting the ladder out again!

Neighbours always come over and take the mick, so its community building doing it yourself 🙂

@n0b0dy0ftheg0at if you ever noticed a big of a chunk missing from the above the gate to the side, that was when one fun year I discovered the pleasure of a wasp nest.  The resulting dive off the ladder with the trimmer took a big chunk out I’ve never been able to get back square!

As for porn, sadly not, but we do get the odd dog poo bag shoved in it.  Thats pretty disgusting.  But better than it just being chucked on the front lawn

(There’s no such thing as the high hedge act.  This is not legal advice)

You asked about enforcement.  If you win, a remedial notice is served on the neighbour.  The council determines the content – but they can cover action now (to remedy the problem) and action in future (to stop it happening again).   They can’t require the removal of the hedge, only cutting it back to 2m.

This would be a local land charge (i.e. bind future purchasers of the land, and therefore will be reported on by future prospective buyers’ solicitors).  It is a criminal offence to violate one of these notices.  Would violation be enforced?  Who knows. It is also possible for the council to enforce a notice to enter the land and do the work themselves if the property owner doesn’t comply.    Does that happen?  Who knows.

Can any of that put your neighbour in financial difficulty?  Yes.  If they don’t comply (e.g. because they can’t afford  it) and they are prosecuted it the penalty is … a fine.  And the obligation to sort the hedge would persist, so that expense would remain.

You mention the 2m height, but I want to make sure you realise that isn’t a height limit for the hedge, but for listening to your complaint.  The test – which can only be applied to a hedge over 2m tall – is whether it your “reasonable enjoyment” of you neighbouring property is being “adversely affected” i.e. a hedge under 2m is not caught even if it affects your enjoyment in that way, and a 5m tall hedge is not caught unless it affects your enjoyment in that way.  Nothing in your post meets the test, although I realise your unstated reasons might well do so. But “it’s tall and I don’t like it” doesn’t suffice.

Finally – FWIW I get why you asked here, but anecdotes (other than ones about neighbours hating each other) are unlikely to be helpful.  Practice (like the fees…) might vary wildly between council areas.

IME Laurel is just as bad. It needs more care to keep it looking right; pruning rather than trimming with hedge cutters and it’s just as vigorous. It can end up looking very thin at the base if you’re not careful. Blackbirds and Thrushes like it for cover and nesting but it doesn’t provide much for the environment. IMHO of course.

Surely if the neighbour isn’t interested because it doesn’t effect them then seek their permission to chop them.
But do remember that the trees aren’t yours and you should make sure all the chopped tree is returned to them.

I’ll bet a price for cutting and leaving in situ is more palatable to you.

Hang on a sec.

When I spoke to the neighbour 5 years ago

Was this the last time you spoke to them? Maybe try again… are you on good terms?

Could be they’ll say something like “oh yeah, damn things block all the light but we just can’t afford to get rid of them… hey, want to go halves? We’ll share the giant compost heap and grow roses together instead!”  and everyone will live happily ever after.

Also:

I’m not sure poisonimg a row of tall trees that could fall on our house is the brightest idea.

If they’re 6m tall and minimum 10m away then they’re not going to fall on your house. At worst you’ll have an interestingly deep and prickly lawn.

Here’s what it’s like. It’s actually quite away above the house so closer to 10m high (the smaller tree in the foreground is 4-5m tall).

Thanks for the replies everyone. I will of course be going round to speak to the neighbour over the fence (he’s i a different street and due to the massive hedge we don’t see each other to have nice neighbourly chats) before taking ot further.

The branches must encroach your property by a good meter at least though. That’s not really on either, same as blocking the light.

There is no stand-alone legislation covering high hedges; the legal position is covered by Part 8 of the Anti Social Behaviour Act 2003.

That and the right to light legislation should be your start point to understand the legals before any friendly neighbourly chat.

his garden is brambles and weeds over 6ft high,

It sounds like an opportunity for one of those YTers that do free garden clearances for videos.

@DT78 My memory is awful these days, I can vaguely picture the damage above your head-height quite solid gate, but it might simply be my mind’s eye creating it from your description! 😉

Must have been quite the shock, finding a wasp nest while hedge trimming, at least it sounds like you didn’t try to remove one of your limbs! 😮

We moved in 11 years ago and the henge to the neighbours over the back was about 3m tall

Perhaps the time for a chat was 10 years ago when it was still at a manageable height without involving tree surgeons!? 🤔