The High Hedges Act 2013 came into force on 1st April 2014, the definition of a high hedge is a hedge that is:
An affected property must be a domestic property, the definition of which is "any part of a building in Scotland which is occupied, or intended to be occupied, as a separate dwelling", and "a yard, garden, garage or outhouse in Scotland which belongs to such a building or is usually enjoyed with it".
If land ownership is not known the applicant must take all reasonable steps to identify owners, including making enquiries with Registers of Scotland, Companies House.
A High Hedge application is intended to be used as a last resort in a small minority of cases where disputes cannot be resolved by other means. The Act emphasises that potential applicants "must take all reasonable steps to resolve the matters in relation to the high hedge" before making an application.
The Act also enables local authorities to issue their own guidance on pre-application requirements. Consequently, before an application can be validated, the council will require evidence that the applicant has met the following criteria to enable submission of an application:
Please Note: the role of the Council is not to mediate between the parties but to act as an impartial decision maker.
An application form can be downloaded from ePlanning Scotland. Completed application forms should then be submitted by post to:
Planning & Building Standards
Glasgow City Council
231 George Street
GLASGOW G1 1RX
The Council must dismiss an application if it considers: -
The council must inform the applicant of the decision to dismiss the application together with reasons. The council must consider applications on a case by case basis, including whether any changes have occurred in a situation where a Notice was previously not considered appropriate.
An application can be withdrawn at any time before the council makes a decision. If mutual agreement is reached before a decision is made, then the application should be withdrawn.
Once an application has been made valid and is being progressed, the fee will not be refunded.
Please follow the link below to the Scottish Government High Hedges and Supplementary Guidance.