Hoping one of you lovely lot might clarify the rules for me - I’m unsure of the guidelines because both my husband and I have interpreted them slightly differently.
We get (got) on with our immediate neighbour (the house on right of diagram) until a chat about half an hour ago when the subject of the boundary was raised.
We have lived in our house for 16 years. the gardens are at the front of the properties and around our garden - both sides and front (other than the gate obvs) we have 2m night conifers. In the diagram we are the house on the left.
The conifer hedges were all ready well established and had been on for at least 8 years at that point (previous owner confirmed)..
When we moved in, we had conversations with both sides about the maintainence of their sides, both said they’d always done their side and were happy to continue to do so. We were happy with that as we aren’t gardeners, we cut our sides (and the front) as little as we need to and keep them moderately tidy.
There was no other wall or fence on the right side other than the confiders which has only become a problem since next door moved and the new owner had a dog. They put up a short wire fence running alongside their path on their side, which strictly speaking is on our boundary /land. We were fine with this.
However, she hates the conifers and has made comments since moving in (Dec 2019) about them blocking the view.
From our point of view - previous owners of our house put in a giant patio door where our lounge window would have been - which is fantastic for light and the views to the garden but means that should the conifers be removed (or trimmed back harshly) anyone walking up her path or stood in front of her front door has a completely umimpeded view into my lounge. And she’s nosy, has lots of visitors and I don’t want them watching me while I’m sat on the sofa. Without that barrier the room would become unusable with the curtains open.I've never needed nets or blinds before and I don’t intend installing them now.
The problem is that she’s cut back the hedge on her side this year and last year on the hottest days of the years and they are dying. So she gets to look at brown twigs and not much else. She’s also complained about having disposed of the clippings (which I’ve politely declined to accept back).
She’s now decided they are not too tall (sitting about 2m) and has said if we won’t cut them to 1m-1.5m she will go to the council to either have them force us to remove them or cut them.
DH and I weren’t adverse to replacing with a wall/fence IF the section closest to her house was replaced with a similar height 2m, to protect our privacy. I know as it’s gets closer to the path at the front which is the public highway, we’d need to restrict the height to 1m, although the conifers have always been 2m even at the front.
Anyone ever dealt with similar issue and have any advice?? We’ve not had any issues with any neighbours before and don’t start a war but I won’t be bullied!
AIBU not to cut the hedges low enough for her to be able to se into my garden or lounge?