A man has been told by a council he would need to fork out almost £4,000 to investigate a dispute over his neighbour’s hedgerow.
Daniel Laws, from Bournemouth in Dorset, said he had asked his neighbour to trim back the 16ft-high hedge after claiming it blocked sunlight from reaching his garden.
The 46-year-old, who has lived in the property since 2017, however claims his request was “ignored”.
He then decided to contact Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council in hopes of resolving the dispute.
However, Mr Laws says he has “effectively been priced out” after the local authority quoted him £3,800 to look into the matter.
“They won’t even read the form if you don’t pay the insane fee. They’ve priced anyone out complaining about a hedge,” Mr Laws said, according to The Sun.
“How else can you justify nearly £4,000 to process a form to resolve a dispute between neighbours.”
Mr Laws has lodged a complaint to the council but claims he is yet to get a response.
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Daniel Laws is embroiled in a dispute with his neighbour in Bournemouth, Dorset, over the hedgerow
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He added: “I’ve effectively been priced out of asking for any help and it just feels grossly unfair.
“I’ve complained to the council but not heard anything back.”
According to Government guidance, councils can in some cases order for hedges to be cut back.
This is however seen as a last resort, with residents encouraged to try and resolve the issue informally first.
Mr Laws says he was quoted £3,800 by the council to investigate the hedgerow dispute (file photo)
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Local authorities can look into situations where for example a hedge is more than two metres tall or blocking light.
A spokesman for Liberal Democrat-led BCP Council said: “The fee covers the cost of investigation.
“BCP council works on a full cost recovery model for fees and charges.
“Fees have been calculated on full cost recovery of officer time.
“An allowance has been included for specialist contractor costs to undertake an arboriculture assessment or provide backfill for capacity, which is being used for High Hedges rather than standard service offers.
“As these costs generally range from £2,000-£3,000, a median has been applied to the fee structure to reduce this component of the fee.”