Annex C
Legislation in England and Wales
1. Before 2003 a number of private members' bills were debated in the UK Parliament at Westminster but failed to get further than their third reading due to a lack of parliamentary time. However, the last of these bills - introduced by Stephen Pound MP - was resurrected by the UK Government and, following a consultation exercise in late-1999/early-2000, in effect became Part 8 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 17.
2. Part 8 of the 2003 Act came into force in England in 2005 after certain procedures, such as appeals, were clarified through the High Hedges (Appeals) (England) Regulations 2005. The law makes provisions for local councils to determine complaints about high hedges by the owners/occupiers of domestic property adversely affected by evergreen hedges over two metres high 18. The council is able to charge a fee for this service, to be paid by the complainant. It may also reject the complaint if it considers that insufficient effort has been made to resolve the matter amicably, or that the complaint is frivolous or vexatious.
3. After inspecting the hedge in question, the council may - if it considers the circumstances justify it - issue a "remedial notice" requiring the owner or occupier of the land where the hedge is situated to take action to remedy the problem and to prevent it recurring. Any remedial notice may be enforced through criminal prosecutions and/or by the council entering the land and carrying out the necessary work if the owner or occupier fails to do so.
4. Beyond anecdotal information, we do not have any formal evidence as to the effectiveness of this legislation, although we understand that the UK Government is planning to commence a formal evaluation in 2010.
5. As indicated earlier in this consultation paper, the legislation in place in England and Wales provides one possible model that could be adopted or modified for use in Scotland should we pursue Option 3. Before taking action, however, it would be prudent to await the outcome of the UK Government's evaluation to ensure lessons are learnt from the experiences south of the border in the five years since Part 8 of the 2003 Act entered into force.