← All guides · Rules & paperwork · Updated October 2026

When a neighbour leylandii goes over 2 metres.

Fence lines and boundaries are the currency of village life. In Wingham a lot of them are hedges. Occasionally a hedge on one side of the line grows to a point where the person on the other side loses light, view or the use of half their garden. There is a legal route to resolving that, but it is deliberately structured to make people try the neighbourly option first.

What the Act covers

Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 (sections 65 to 84) covers "high hedges". The legal definition is specific:

• A line of two or more trees or shrubs;
• Wholly or predominantly evergreen or semi-evergreen (so leylandii yes, deciduous beech no);
• Forming a barrier over 2 metres high above ground level;
• Adversely affecting the reasonable enjoyment of a neighbour's residential property.

Individual trees are outside the Act, however inconvenient they are: a single mature oak on the boundary is not a high hedge. Deciduous species (beech, hornbeam, hawthorn) are also outside; the Act was written specifically because leylandii, cypress and other evergreen conifers were the main problem in the 1990s.

The neighbourly step you have to take first

Before Dover District Council will accept a complaint, you have to show you have made "every reasonable effort" to resolve it with your neighbour informally. In practice that means:

• Talk to your neighbour. Face-to-face, calm, specific about what the problem is.
• Follow up in writing. A polite letter or email that summarises the conversation and what you asked for. Keep a copy.
• Consider mediation. Local community mediation services can help, sometimes at low cost. The council expects you to keep a record of your attempts.
• Give it time. Rushing to the council within two weeks of the first conversation looks bad.

If the neighbour refuses to engage or refuses to reduce the hedge, you have grounds to escalate. Bring the letters, dates and any mediation attempts to the council with the formal complaint.

The formal complaint

Dover District Council is the local authority for Wingham. You submit a formal high-hedges complaint through their contact route (01304 821199 for the main council switchboard, or the environmental services page on the DDC website). There is a fee, which Dover sets and publishes on its own hedges and high hedges page, so check that page for the current figure before you apply. Councils may reject complaints that do not meet the legal definition, for example a hedge under 2 metres or one that is not evergreen.

The council acts as an impartial third party. They will:

• Visit the site;
• Measure the hedge and assess its impact using the standard "action hedge height" calculation set out in government guidance;
• Consider the amenity value on both sides;
• Issue a remedial notice if they conclude the hedge is unreasonably affecting your enjoyment.

What a remedial notice looks like

The notice tells the hedge owner to reduce the hedge to a specified height by a specified date. Not below 2 metres: the Act specifically protects the owner's right to a reasonable evergreen screen up to 2 metres. Compliance is monitored by the council.

Ignoring a remedial notice is a criminal offence. On conviction the fine is up to £1,000, and the council can enter the property and do the work at the owner's expense on top.

The right of common-law cut-back

Separately from the High Hedges Act, you have the common-law right to cut branches and roots that cross the boundary into your property, back to the boundary line. That right applies to any hedge, evergreen or not. Two things to know:

• The cut material legally belongs to the neighbour. Offer it back over the fence. Do not lob it into their garden without asking.
• You cannot cut beyond the boundary line, and you cannot cause unnecessary damage to the parent plant.

Common-law cut-back doesn't reduce the height of the hedge; it only tidies your side. If height is the problem, you still need the neighbourly conversation or the formal route.

Conservation area and TPO overlays

If the hedge or any tree in it is in the Wingham Conservation Area with stems over 75mm, or under a TPO, those rules apply on top. Cutting your side of a TPO tree back to the boundary without consent is still an offence. Check first.

Sources: Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 Part 8 ss.65-84; Government guidance High hedges: complaining to the council; Dover District Council, hedges and high hedges page (checked 12 October 2026); Dover District Council contact 01304 821199.