Shared Hedge

[parkgate]

My neighbour and ourselves share a private drive with a strip of land running along the side of the drive.

 

The drive and strip of land are jointly owned.
 

The strip of land is planted with a high laurel  hedge that gives us privacy.

 

My neighbour however wishes to lower the hedge by trimming it ,but we wish to retain a higher hedge.

 

We have been unable to compromise on this and my neighbour has stated he will cut the hedge anyway and once it is cut obviously this cannot be reversed (apart from allowing for many years of regrowth) and he will have had his own way.

 

Difficult one this ! - but perhaps forum members ,who have provided me with excellent advice in the past ,could throw some light on the legal position or the stance I could take.

 

Kind Regards,

 

[topchippyles]

What is his reason for wanting to cut the hedge lower 

[parkgate]

Thank you for your prompt reply.
 

To give my neighbour a better view but we prefer the privacy.

[Peasgood]

Agree to cut every three years would be a good compromise.

[parkgate]

Thank You.
 

I don’t think the neighbour wishes to compromise - do you know how I stand legally on this - do I have the legal right to stop him cutting?

[Stubby]

20 minutes ago, parkgate said:

Thank You.
 

I don’t think the neighbour wishes to compromise - do you know how I stand legally on this - do I have the legal right to stop him cutting?

Let him cut his side up to the center line .

[Peasgood]

How high is it now and how high is he proposing to reduce it to?

[parkgate]

Stubby thank you for your reply.

 

I should have been clearer - the two properties are on the same side of the drive and the hedge is on the opposite side of the drive so the two properties look out to the hedge across the drive.

 

I am away from home at present - I will post a sketch on my return - by which time it may be too late - sorry for the confusion.

[parkgate]

The hedge is about 12 feet high and he is proposing to go down to about 7 to 8 feet.

[doobin]

You'll get three feet back next season. Laurel is one of those things that creeps higher every year even when cut, as it's prolific growth means that the new unions are often too thick for a jobbing gardener to get through, with the result that he trims it slightly higher every year. If it's not been cut for a few years then it will have gotten a lot higher.

 

8ft high still sounds like a fair bit of privacy to me.

Edited July 14, 2021 by doobin