Battle of Buchylvie: council to hew humungous hedge

Residents in the village of Buchylvie, near Stirling, won their battle in June this year when government officials ordered that the excessively tall leylandii hedge in a garden in Buchlyvie be cut down following complaints from locals that it left them in darkness.

Owner of the hedge, Catriona MacGregor, as well as her neighbours, appealed to the government to resolve the dispute using the new act.

Officials issued a 12,500 word ruling stating that the “forest” of trees in the small garden should be drastically reduced because it spoiled the neighbours’ ability to enjoy their homes.

Ms MacGregor planted the hedge in 1983.

At first, she maintained its height at eight feet. However, she stopped trimming it – resulting in about 40 trees growing to 40 feet.

Her neighbours were left in the shade, with one having to turn the lights on in broad daylight.

After a failed attempt at mediation, residents looked to legislation to solve the problem.

Stirling Council issued ten notices requiring the hedge to be scaled back.

Ms MacGregor claimed she suffered from angina and hypertension as a result of worrying about her gigantic hedge and said it was essential for nesting birds; that it afforded her privacy and that it was not in fact a hedge but a bulwark against the wind.

But Scottish government reporter Mike Croft ordered that a section of the hedge to be cut down to about six feet and that the rest should not exceed nine feet – even though this could kill the plants.

A neighbour whose house is beside Ms MacGregor’s said in June: “It’s been going on for 20 or 30 years, everyone has been up in arms about it, every household was united.

“But until the new act came into force, there was nothing we could do about it. We lose three or four hours of sunlight a day, the ground gets very arid and it grows nothing.

“It’s a bit ridiculous it’s had to come to this, but she’s refused to talk about it. We just hope now that this all has come to an end, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

“There’s no way she’ll pay to have it done, it’ll have to come down to Stirling Council.”

This particular case has accounted for over 25 per cent of all appeals across Scotland made to ministers since the inception of the High Hedges (Scotland) Act 2013.

But Ms MacGregor has ignored the ruling, which means the hedge will be chopped for her and she will be served a bill likely in the thousands of pounds.

It is thought this is the first case requiring council intervention in reducing the height of hedges since the act came into force.

Neighbour Johnnie Simpson, worst affected of the villagers, said Ms MacGregor has made no effort to comply with the council’s notice.

He said: “I thought it was done and dusted, but it’s just dragging on and dragging on. The council just seems to be dragging its heels.

“The law was passed, the timeframe was given but she just hasn’t done anything about it. Meanwhile our houses are getting darker and darker.

“I play golf with a tree surgeon and he said there wouldn’t be much change out of £10,000 for the work, so it’s not going to be cheap and it’s not an easy job, but it’s affecting everybody. Now, we’re just hoping it will be sorted in time for next summer. That’s all I want for Christmas.”

A Scottish government spokesman said: “Where a hedge owner does not comply with the terms of a high hedge notice, a local authority may carry out the work themselves and charge the expenses incurred to the hedge owner.

“Local authorities are not required to inform the Scottish government about any action taken, therefore we are not aware of any other cases in which the local authority has taken action in this respect.”