Householder near Sheffield ordered to trim 25-metre hedge – which left neighbours “in shadow”

Jon Rose’s 25-metre high Leylandii conifer “cast a full shadow” across one exasperated neighbour’s garden, blocking sunlight to solar panels on their garage.

While other homeowners bordering Mr Rose’s Eckington property say the unruly shrub shows signs of damaging a paved area and risks “significant costly structural damage” to their garage.

Last week council officials ruled Mr Rose’s hedges do “adversely affect the enjoyment” of adjoining properties on Southgate Court and Station Road.

In a warning letter to Mr Rose, North East Derbyshire District Council says the encroaching trees must now be pruned within six months - with failure to do so resulting in prosecution or a fine.

Council papers show Richard and Sheila Cory, who live next door to Mr Rose’s Station Road property, originally wrote a letter of complaint about the trees in 2013.

In the letter the couple wrote: “For much of the year they cast a full shadow across our garden and in the winter months they block the light of the sun when it is low in the sky from our kitchen.

“It disturbs me to think that maybe you are resisting the idea of cutting them down - I think you simply need to be a good neighbour and completely fell all of them.”

However eight years later no action has been taken despite daily verbal reminders.

Documents show Mr Rose told a tree expert they were soaking up a water course which would otherwise cause flooding in the gardens.

However neighbour Richard Corey challenged this claim in a formal letter in January - requesting “documentary evidence”.

In April, after asking North East Derbyshire District Council to step in, Mr Corey, 67, a retired mining geologist, said: “They dominate everything. They’re higher than the house now, about 20-25 metres high. It’s ridiculous – we would like them removed.”

While wife Sheila, a 67-year-old retired district nurse, said: “It blocks our light.”

Planning officers say Mr Rose’s two conifer bushes must be trimmed to no more than 2.1 metres and 5.3 metres - and maintained at no more than 3.1 metres and 6.3 metres.

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