Homeowner ordered to cut down 36ft trees after neighbour claimed they made her life a misery | 03I801X | 2024-04-27 06:08:01
A WOMAN who claimed her broadband was being disrupted by her neighbour's 36ft trees has won a battle to have them lopped.
Irene Pilley insisted her life was being made a misery by a row of cherry laurel and rhododendron owned by her neighbour Brian Devlin in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire.
She claimed the trees starved her house and garden of sunlight and wires for her phone and internet were tangled in branches.
Pilley turned to East Dunbartonshire Council last year under high hedge laws after talks failed to resolve the issues.
But the council rejected the move and said there was no impact on light levels or amenity of the property.
She appealed to the Scottish Government in a bid to overrule the council.
The original decision has now been quashed and the trees will have to be reduced to 12ft.
A reporter said reducing the trees would allow Pilley to enjoy her house and garden while still affording Devlin his privacy.
An application on her behalf outlined a string of complaints behind her bid.
It said: "Reduced light in both house and grounds. Limited use of garden due to lack of light and sun.
"Entanglement and associated problems of all external wires, broadband and phone cables being elevated as trees grow causing interference with service."
Refusing to issue a high hedge notice, the council said: "Given the location of the hedge in relation to the applicant's garden it will not have a significant impact on light levels or amenity generally."
Government reporter Amanda Chisholm said: "Taking into account the negative effect of the high hedge on the appellant's enjoyment of her property, and all other relevant factors, I conclude that action should be taken in relation to the high hedge.
"In reaching a view, it is necessary to strike an appropriate balance between reducing the hedge's impact on the appellant's reasonable enjoyment and its amenity value to the hedge owner, including the level of privacy that he can reasonably expect to enjoy."
She concluded: "I therefore issue the attached high hedge notice, specifying the initial action that the hedge owner must take and also the action to be taken to prevent future recurrence."
More >> https://ift.tt/zFNn8vy Source: MAG NEWS