Complaint form: High Hedges

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Details contained in this complaint form could be made available to neighbours and other third parties.

Use this form to submit a complaint to the Council about a high hedge, under Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003. It should be completed by the person making the complaint or their representative.

Before completing this form, please read the guidance notes and the leaflet High Hedges: Complaining to the Council

The Council wil contact you following submission of this form to collect the fee due. (£537 from 1st April 2017)

The Council will rely on the information you provide so please make sure it is clear and accurate.

Criteria for making a complaint

About the hedge

Is the hedge - or the portion that is causing problems - made up of a line of 2 or more trees or shrubs?

Is the hedge mostly evergreen or semi-evergreen?

Is the hedge growing to a height of more than 2 metres above ground level?

If there are gaps in the foliage or between the trees or shrubs, is the hedge still capable of obstructing light or views?

Is the hedge growing on land owned by someone else?

Who Can Complain

Is the complainant the owner or occupier (eg. tenant) of the property affected by the hedge?

Is the property residential?

If you have answered 'No' to any of the questions in this section, the legal criteria have not been met and so the Council cannot consider your complaint.

If you are uncertain about the answer to any of these questions, please contact Planning Administration on 02380 285345 (option 1).

Complaint and Hedge Owner

Complainant's contact details

Title*

Forename*

Surname*

Address*

City/Town*

County*

Daytime Telephone No.

Mobile Telephone No.

Email Address*

Is the complainant content for us to contact them by email, at the address provided?

Address of the property affected by the hedge and name of the person living there (if different to above)

Title

Forename

Surname

Address

City/Town

County

Daytime Telephone No.

Mobile Telephone No.

Email Address

Contact details of Agent or other person acting on behalf of the complainant (if any)

Title

Forename

Surname

Address

City

County

Daytime Telephone No.

Mobile Telephone No.

Email Address

Is the complainant content for us to contact them by email, at the address provided?

Hedge owners contact details

Title

Forename

Surname

Address

City/Town

County

Daytime Telephone No.

Mobile Telephone No.

Email Address

Name and address of the person who owns the property where the hedge is situated (if different to above and if known)

Title

Forename

Surname

Address

City/Town

County

Daytime Telephone No.

Mobile Telephone No.

Email Address

Attempts to resolve the complaint

We require copies of at least 3 letters sent to the owner of the hedge over at least a 3 month period, the most recent of which must have been sent after 1st June 2005. Otherwise we may not proceed with your complaint.

Please describe what you have done to try to settle this matter. Give dates and say what the result was. Please provide copies of any letters that you mention in the supporting documents section below.

Have you approached the hedge owner and asked to discuss the problem?

If yes, please give details.

Have you tried formal mediation?

If yes, please give details.

Have you informed the hedge owner of your intention to complain to the Council?

If yes, please give details

Any other relevant infomation

Grounds of complaint

Please refer to the ODPM leaflet High Hedges: Complaining to the Council

Please describe the problems actually experienced as a result of the height of the hedge and say how serious they are. It will save time and help your case if you stick to the facts and provide all relevant information to back up the points you are making.

To help the Council understand your situation, please provide a photo of the hedge and a plan or sketch of both the site where the hedge is growing and the property it is affecting, with the hedge clearly marked on it.

Previous complaints to the council

Has a formal complaint been made to the council before about this hedge?

If you have ticked 'Yes', do you know the date and/or reference number of the Council's decision letter?

Date

Ref.no.

What has changed since the council looked at this?

If nothing has altered, the council may not proceed with your complaint.

Supporting Documents

You will need to submit the following:

A photo of the hedge

A location plan of the hedge and surrounding properties

Copies of correspondence with hedge owner about the hedge

Copies of any othe documents that you may mention

Copies of evidence of entitlement to a reduced fee (if applicable

Copies of evidence of formal mediation and fee paid (if applicable)

Files Uploaded

No records to display

Filename

Declaration

I confirm that I have completed as much of this form as I can and that, to the best of my knowledge, the information provided is accurate. I agree that the Council may check the authenticity of my benefit entitlement (if applicable).

I will send a copy of this form to the hedge owner

Name

Date

Privacy Notice - High Hedge Complaint Form

The data that you submit when completing this form will be processed by the Planning and Building Control Service within New Forest District Council.
The Council's Data Protection Officer is Grainne O'Rourke / Kate Green and they can be contacted at the Council's Offices at Appletree Court, Lyndhurst.
We are collecting this information to obtain details of the hedge, the owner and the complainant so that we can assess the impact of the hedge and to establish whether the hedge should be subject to the High Hedges regime.
We need this information to enable us to process and investigate your complaint and to decide whether or not action should be taken
All of our enforcement officers, planning officers and administrative staff have access to this information. All of those officers recognise that the information is to be treated as confidential
The information will be retained permanently in accordance with the Planning Retention Policy.
We also collect data for planning and other associated applications, planning enforcement complaints and Dangerous Tree complaints as well as pre-application enquiries. Data collected under High Hedge Complaints may be linked to this other data.
The Council's Information Rights Guidance sets out the rights of customers in relation to their personal data
Should you wish to complain about anything arising from this notice, you may do so to the Information Commissioner's Office. Their contact details are:
- Information Commissioner - https://ico.org.uk/
- Telephone helpline - 0303 123 1113
- Email - casework@ico.org.uk
We do not accept anonymous enforcement complaints so you are required to provide the personal details requested on the complaint form. If you fail to provide this information we will not be able to investigate your complaint. Your personal details will remain confidential.
Completing this form will automatically generate a High Hedge complaint. A copy of the completed form will be sent to the person who owns the property where the hedge is growing.

Please confirm you are happy for us to the use the information you provide as described in the privacy statement.*