The council’s notice related to a row of Leylandii trees extending to 20 metres in length and seven metres high. But there were also two separate cypress trees of 10 metres in height either end of the hedge which, although separate, extended its effect by another five metres in length. The reporter found that the positioning of the trees in a row, the relative distance between them and their height above two metres and resultant substantial overshadowing, loss of light and detriment to the way the adjoining neighbour used their sitting out area and vegetable plot in their garden, met the tests of the High Hedges Act, 2013.
The reporter went on to conclude in favour of the appellant that the high hedge notice should include the two cypress trees and varied it to require the reduction of the Leylandii element to 2.5m and the cypress trees to 5m, lower than the level the council had required in their original notice due to concerns over overshadowing and loss of light.
Reporter: Chhaya Patel: Written representations
