A couple embroiled in a three-decade neighbour row over towering trees have had their appeal thrown out.
James and Fiona Campbell had been locked in conflict with Eamonn O’Connell and Brenda Holohan since 1994 over vegetation at the neighbouring farmhouse near the village of Craigearn, close to Kemnay in Aberdeenshire.
The Campbells argued the greenery cast their rural home into shadow and submitted a high hedge complaint to the local authority seeking action.
However, Aberdeenshire Council determined the foliage did not constitute a substantial obstruction to light entering their property.
Dissatisfied with this outcome, the couple escalated their fight to Holyrood, requesting a senior Government official review the decision.
That appeal has now been rejected, bringing the lengthy neighbourly feud to a close.
Correspondence between the two households stretching back to 1994 revealed the depth of the Campbells’ anxieties about the vegetation.
In a letter from 2020, they expressed particular alarm about a “gigantic” tree measuring 25 metres in height planted adjacent to their property.
The row broke out in the remote Aberdeenshire village
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The couple described how the tree “sways from top to bottom” during storms and strong winds, warning it “could put their lives in danger”.
Should it topple towards their home, they feared it would “wipe out” their dog kennel and studio outbuildings whilst devastating their garden.”
At worst, it is life-threatening with the potential to cause death to us or any person at our property or our two dogs and two cats,” they wrote.
Additional worries centred on a common ash tree planted merely three metres from the boundary wall, which they believed would extract moisture from the soil and cause structural cracking.
The row was taken all the way to Holyrood
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The Campbells also voiced concerns about a beech tree they claimed could eventually reach 35 metres tall, warning that seedlings would sprout and develop extensive root systems.
They reported being plagued by “massive” seedlings appearing across their garden, driveway and paved surfaces.
Removing these saplings caused them “significant nuisance, time-consuming maintenance, cost and distress,” they stated.
Beyond this, overhanging branches allegedly blocked their drains and gutters with fallen leaves.
James and Fiona Campbell have been locked in the feud in the village
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The couple further complained that a “mass amount” of moss and lichen had accumulated on their garden walls as a consequence of the trees.
They also contended that one tree had grown so substantially it now obscured a 30mph road sign, which they described as a “health and safety hazard” and an “accident waiting to happen”.
Following a site visit to Craigearn, government reporter Sarah Foster ruled in favour of Aberdeenshire Council’s original assessment.
She observed that at least three trees had been felled since the council’s September decision, with “quite significant” clearance works having taken place.
Nevertheless, Ms Foster concluded the hedges “do not have an adverse effect upon the enjoyment of the domestic property that its occupants could reasonably expect to have”.
She determined they did not cause a “significant loss of light to the house or garden”.
The reporter acknowledged the boundary between the two properties remained contested but stated this was “not material” to her decision.
Ms Foster added that other trees on the site did not qualify as a high hedge under the relevant legislation and therefore fell outside its scope.