my garden borders a piece of ground that belongs to the local council. I have a wooden fence as the boundary which I own and just the other side of the fence is a hawthorne hedge which the council own. Since I moved to this house 4 years ago the council have never cut the hedge and it is getting quite over grown, I did it the first couple of years but as I have health problems I am finding impossible to do.

I have been contacting the council for the last year to try to get them to cut the hedge. Last summer they said they couldn't do it as there may be birds nesting in it and would do it in the autumn.
Lots of phone calls and nagging later they did send a man round who cut some of the hedge but not all as he said he couldn't manage it. I have been ringing them regularly since trying to get the rest of the hedge cut but no joy. I am now starting to get rather annoyed as at this rate they will soon tell me they can't cut it because the birds are nesting again. how can I get the council to take responsibility for this hedge and start cutting it? it is getting taller and now over hanging my fence quite a lot. Can I ask the council to come into my garden and cut the bits that are hanging over and into my garden as the bit they did cut they only did the top which left a lot of branches sticking out sideways and it looks a mess?

I would email them rather than phone and say that you have tried in several occasions without any commitment to keep the hedge under control and so you are asking one more time for them to come and fit it and also continue to maintain it.

Say if they don't respond with 7 days them you will be getting somebody into cut it and you will be passing the bill to them to pay.

thanks will do that. Does anyone know if they are responsible for cutting the hedge that over hangs my garden as well? It is hanging over by up to 2 feet in places and is too difficult for me to manage. I am happy for them to come into my garden to do it as long as I am there.

They should maintain both sides and put in the email that you are more than happy to provide access to your garden so they can cut it.

Get in touch with your local councillor. They will be able to fight for you.
Quite a few of my customers have done that when they had the same problem.
Lea :-)

To be honest threatening them with getting someone to do the work then sending them the bill wont achieve much, they simply wont pay :-)

I would contact your local councillor to fight for you . They may be able to pull a few more strings for you.

Fred's mum , an email stating the facts is not threatening , it is just stating that there is something wrong and no responses have been forth coming and so the OP is going to get the work done and she will forward the bill.

To get things done sometimes needs straight forward dialogue when a softly softly approach for years has proved fruitless.

Councils will take things more seriously when they get communications like this as it will just get the issue escalated and they will get something done about it.

> so the OP is going to get the work done and she will forward the bill.

There may be reasons why the council is not obiliged to pay the bill - therefore the OP would have to pay it. The contract with the hedge cutter would be with the OP, not the council and he would expect his money from her. It's perhaps wise to check with the local councillor before embarking on a possibly expensive venture :)

Thanks for all your input an email did have a quick response but I am not sure I am any the wiser regarding their plans to cut the hedge. A chap rang  me and said he had been asked to call me but that seems to be about it. He didn't know anything about the maintenance of hedges or whether they would be cut. If I tried asking him about anything  he got defensive. I did ask about the council cutting the hedge in my garden and he said that they don't do that it is down to the householder to cut that. When I asked how a 5ft nothing disabled woman in my 50s was supposed to cut a 9 foot hedge he had no answer.

I did try saying that if my hedge was over hanging a neighbours garden and making a nuisance I was sure the council would get me to take responsibility but he just sdaid I was jumping to conclusions.

I will try contacting my councillor and see if he can help

You can find good advice about when and how to cut hedges on the DEFRA site - this is the advice that most councils adopt.

Do you have a Parish Council?  These smaller bodies are often easier to deal with, and they tend to know their local areas better.  They also have pretty good contacts with the local council so can often get results for you OR point you to the right person.

Failing that I'd suggest you put your case in a letter: telephone first but then follow up in writing.  You can also visit your local MP's surgery if you feel that the council are avoiding their responsibility.  Do double check your facts though about what you can reasonably expect the council to do - try rummaging around on their website as they'll usually provide pretty up to date information about hedge and roadside maintenance (and cutting schedules). 

>When I asked how a 5ft nothing disabled woman in my 50s was supposed to cut a 9 foot hedge he had no answer.

That's the sort of job householders used to pay my son to do for them.

> That's the sort of job householders used to pay my son to do for them.

Does he live anywhere near south cheshire?

No, sorry! But I'm sure you'd be able to find a gardener in your local phone book willing to do it for you.

I have the same problem, not with the council but a neighbour, his hedge is mostly trees that stand 16 feet plus, we were told by the council that we can cut off anything on our side of the boundary and prune back the roots so they do not damage our property but we have to return the off cuts over the boundary so that they are returned to their owner. My OH pointed out that he was well over 80 and his days of climbing up trees of that hight and then tossing the rubbish 16 foot in the air was beyond him, the reply, pay someone to do it then. We can't afford so with have to put up with next doors trees tapping on our roof.

Try your local paper. I always found that there is a young newspaper reporter at every paper that needs to have a story to get their name in print. Does the other side overhang a pedestrian walkway, if so hawthorn could catch someone especially someone that has limited vision.

Everytime I was getting nowhere with a problem I always gave them enough phone calls before I then contacted the local papers, they do not like it!!!

Actually youve misinterpreted what I said ljs. I didnt mean threatening as in an intimidating way. Please re read my original post. You can say/threaten/imply you will get the work done then charge the council but it doesnt mean they will pay up or reimburse the costs. Wouldnt want the op to go down that route and end up out of pocket. Hope thats clarified it for you

My grandad was registered disabled and he used to get certain 'perks' from the council. They did all his gardening- grass cutting hedge trimming etc and also, binmen collected the bin from the house rather than him taking out to the pavement. Perhaps you should make a point of mentioning your disability when you speak to your councillor.

That is fine be careful on the way you use words :-)

Note as well I never said that the OP should carry on with the action, it is a way of getting people to listen when a lone gentle voice is ignored.

I still say get in touch with your local councillor. Thats what they are there for.
Talk to them and they will be able to fight your cause. You should NOT be paying for the top or other side, unfortuatly you will have to pay someone to do the inside but you should not have to pay anyone to do the the outside.
Regards
Lea :)

Sometimes local councillors are not going to be on your side, or will be willing to help.

It doesn't do any harm to be a bit proactive in trying to sort problems out on your own. I think people are afraid sometimes to rock the boat but sometimes but you will be surprised just being a little bit assertive can make a difference.

Worth a try though, I have had customers battling themselves for ages, tried everything, got a proactive Councillor involved and the hedge was cut. You do need one that is proactive though. Unfortunatly I have found that the elderly are not listened to :( :( I have even called people for my customers before now to get things done, a they will listen to me but not to my 98 year old totally with it customer!!!!!
Lea :)

Yes agree worth a try :-)

I have a number of huge trees in my garden. I'm not allowed to trim or lop them because they come under tree protection orders. We also have some very large holly trees. Our house borders the council owned playing field. Last year the council workers turned up in the park and started lopping branches off my trees and holly. They didn't ask permission and when my dad spoke to them he got a shrug. We have a local person who comes every year to cut our holly as he uses it for wreaths and was coming later that week to get some. My dad called him and he came along to collect what the council had cut. At the same time another person appears having been told by he could have my holly, presumably for a nice tip as the council workers were not happy when our person turned up to claim the holly! I never yet got to the bottom of it all but I was just waiting for the tree protection office at the council to start about the trees being lopped as I doubt they were ever asked.

Thats fine. Be careful the way you read them :-)