We’re locked in bitter 3yr battle over 10ft hedge in neighbours’ garden – they put cruel ‘don’t touch’ signs in our yard
A BITTER hedge battle has finally ended now a couple has been granted permission to chop it down.
Jim and Hilary Gossman have been feuding with Keith and Isobel Black for three years in Jordanhill, Glasgow, over a single tree.
The Gossmans have argued that the bush bust-up has turned their lives into misery.
They said: “Our back garden and side of our home is devoid of natural light.
“The fact is, they have allowed their hedges, trees and undergrowth to grow out of control and they refuse to maintain it.”
Mr and Mrs Gossman claim the tree has plunged their garden into darkness while the Black’s insist it’s needed for their privacy.
The neighbours were on friendly terms before 2021, when the issue was first raised, but quickly came to blows.
Since it was mentioned, the households have been quarrelling and they have barely spoken to each other about anything else.
On one occasion, the Blacks popped up a sign facing their fuming neighbours warning them that the hedge was not to be trimmed.
In their outrage, the Gossmans went to Glasgow City Council under high hedge laws in a desperate bid to bring quash the issue.
To their delight, the bush had been ruled as having a “significant negative impact” on the family.
Mr and Mrs Black were horrified when they were ordered to trim all their trees to 10ft or remove them altogether.
They immediately appealed to the Scottish Government who amended the request so that only one tree had to be cut back.
The family told the government: “We do not believe our privacy has been considered or taken into account in this assessment and we feel that the order to cut all of these trees to 3m is excessive.
“Some of these trees are quite far back from their property.
“Our property and garden are situated so much lower than the surrounding properties that overlook us.
They argued that if all of the trees were reduced to a height of 3m their privacy would be “severely” compromised.
The Blacks continued: “The trees at the boundary fence between our two properties offer us some privacy from their kitchen and hall windows which look directly into the back of our house and garden.
“There are also squirrels that nest and live their lives in our trees and there are birds that build their nests every year.”
The Gossmans maintained they had always been civil with their neighbours and complained that the warning sign was unnecessary.
Mrs Gossman said: “In the past three years since his visit, it can be counted on one hand the number of interactions we have had with them.
“The interactions that did occur were when I went to politely ask them to remove the sign they erected in their garden that faced into my driveway and drew unwanted attention to our home.
“Prior to the incident in June 2021, we had a perfectly normal neighbourly relationship with Keith and Isobel.”
Government reporter Malcolm Mahony agreed that removing the tree, or at least chopping it back, would be a big difference the the amount of light in the Gossman’s garden.
He said: “Reducing the height of this tree, or removing it, would allow light to enter the rear garden, making an appreciable difference.”