Tree protection and high hedges

Your complaint may be delayed if you do not complete the form properly or provide the requested information. Make sure you read the high hedges guidance the Government has created.

If you are unsure how to answer any of the questions, please contact your area Development Management office by email:

• Corby area: [email protected]
• East Northamptonshire area: [email protected]
• Kettering area: [email protected]
• Wellingborough area: [email protected]

Hedge

We'll ask questions to establish details about the hedge. If you answer 'no' to any of the questions in this section, the criteria will not have been met and we can't consider your complaint.

Who

You must be the owner or occupier of the property affected by a high hedge to make a formal complaint to the council. If you're a tenant or a leaseholder, you can still make a complaint - but you should let the owner (landlord or management company) know what you're doing.

If you answer 'no' to any of the questions in this section, the criteria will not have been met and we can't consider your complaint.

Property

The property does not have to be wholly residential but must include some living accommodation otherwise we can't consider the complaint.

If you answer 'no' to any of the questions in this section, the criteria will not have been met and we can't consider your complaint.

Parties involved

We need certain names and addresses because there are some documents that we are required, by law, to send to the owner and occupier of the land on which the hedge grows. These include our decision on the complaint:

• Acting on someone's behalf - If you're acting on behalf of the complainant, advise us if you are a professional adviser, relative, friend or other representative. You will then be our main contact on all matters relating to this complaint. We will direct all queries and correspondence to you

• Complainant - Even if someone else is submitting the complaint on someone else's behalf, we still need the complainant's details

• Address of the property affected - We'll need the address affected by the hedge and the name of the person living there (if someone different) as we will visit the property to see the effect of the hedge

• Address where the hedge is growing - We'll need this address and the name of the person living there if known. This is normally the person you have talked to when you tried to agree on a solution to your hedge problems. If the site where the hedge is growing doesn't have a postal address, describe clearly where it is (e.g. 'Land to rear of 12 to 18 High Street' or 'Park adjoining Main Road'). We will contact these people for their comments and to arrange to visit

• Hedge property owner - We also need the name and address of the person who owns the property where the hedge is situated (if different to the above and if known). If you are in any doubt about who owns the property where the hedge is situated, you can check with the Land Registry. You can phone them on 0300 006 0411. There is a small charge for this service.

Complaint grounds

It will help if you provide as much factual information as you can. A copy of this form will be sent to the person who owns the site where the hedge is growing (and to the person living there if they are different people). Concentrate on the hedge and the disadvantages you experience because it is too tall.

We can't consider problems that are not connected with the hedge height (e.g. roots of the hedge pushing up a path). Nor can we consider things that are not directly about the hedge in question (e.g. other people keeping their hedges trimmed to a lower height or that the worry is making you ill).

Plans and photos

Provide photographs of the hedge and a plan showing the location of the hedge and surrounding properties. When drawing your plan, make sure that you:

• mark and name surrounding roads
• sketch in buildings, including adjoining properties
• add house numbers or names
• mark clearly the position of the hedge and how far it extends
• mark which way North is

Include copies of any professional reports that you may have had prepared.

If you are complaining about the hedge blocking light, please mark which way is North on your plan and provide relevant measurements (e.g. size of the garden, the distance between the hedge and any windows affected). All measurements must be in metres (m).

Previous complaints

We only need to know about formal complaints made to us, made under the high hedges part of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003. You don't need to tell us about telephone calls or other informal contact you've had with us about your hedge problems.

Attempts to resolve

Please keep the descriptions brief but say how you made the approach (e.g. face-to-face, phone or letter) and what the result was.

Example 1

• 12 March 2005 - phoned to ask if we could discuss hedge
• 19 March 2005 - met but we couldn't agree on a solution
• 15 April 2005 - mediators visited
• 29 April 2005 - met neighbours and mediators. But still couldn't find an answer we were both happy with
• 14 May 2005 - wrote to inform neighbour would be complaining to the council

Example 2

• 12 March 2005 - wrote to ask if we could discuss hedge. 2 weeks later there was still no reply
• 9 April 2005 - wrote to ask if would speak to the mediator. 2 weeks later there was still no reply
• 7 May 2005 - wrote to inform neighbour would be complaining to the council

Example 3

• 12 March 2005 - saw neighbour in their garden and asked if we could discuss hedge
• 19 March 2005 - Neighbour came round on 19 March. Saw the effect of the hedge for themselves. Sympathetic but unwilling to reduce the hedge as much as we wanted - neighbours willing to try mediation but discovered that neighbour mediation was not available in our area. We live too far from the nearest service
• 23 April 2005 - saw neighbour again and told them that, if we couldn't agree on a solution, we would make a formal complaint to the council. Left it for a couple of weeks then confirmed in writing that we would be going ahead with the complaint

It is unnecessary to send copies of all correspondence with your neighbour about the hedge if the dispute is long-running. You need only provide evidence of your latest attempts to settle it.

Posting supporting evidence

If you are completing the online form but will be posting supporting documents to us separately, put a reference number or title on them (e.g. hedge complaint, 12 High Street) along with the form reference number so that we can match them up with your complaint.