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Mansion owner wins battle to keep leyandii at Inverness home


By Louise Glen

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An Inverness mansion owner has won a legal battle to keep 32ft leylandii trees and spruce trees, after Highland Council failed to specify which plants had to be chopped back.

Alessandra Dellantonio, who owns a listed 19th century home on Island Bank Road, was told to remove the trees after her neighbour Janice Gordon claimed her home was being plunged into darkness by the plants.

Miss Gordon went to Highland Council and successfully used high hedge legislation to have an order issued that would see the the trees lopped to just seven foot.

The council said the trees were causing an "unacceptable reduction" of light and should be reduced in height.

However, Mrs Dellantonio appealed the ruling with the Scottish Government, saying the council had not made it clear what tress were to be removed.

She also claimed cutting down the would also impact local wildlife such as roe deer, pine martens, tawny owls and buzzards.

The government said the trees were causing Miss Gordon a loss of amenity but overturned the council ruling after deciding it made a mistake when issuing a high hedge notice by failing to identify which trees had to come down.

In a letter to the government, Mrs Dellantonio said: "The council are aware that requiring these trees to be reduced to seven feet will likely cause the trees to die.

'If the council's true intent is to simply reduce the height of the trees, then that should at most, be done in a gradual fashion to preserve and protect the trees. Accordingly the notice should be quashed."

A letter on the behalf of Miss Gordon said: "Most would call this a hedge. Had they subsequently been managed at a height of a few metres there would have been lasting mutual benefit to both properties, but they have not and have grown to a height of 33 feet or so, towering over my client's property, only a few metres from the building.

"No sound argument has been presented that the High Hedge Notice should not be confirmed."

Allison Coard, of the Scottish Government, quashed the council verdict and ruled the trees did not have to be lopped because of an error.

She said: "I have concluded above that there is a hedge under the terms of the act and that it is resulting in a consequent loss of amenity such as to justify the issue of a notice and the consequent reduction in the hedge height.

"However in this case I have found the council's notice does not define the hedge or provide the necessary clarity of the trees to be reduced in height.

"Consequently I find the notice does not comply with the terms of the Act. I have carefully considered whether the notice could be varied to rectify the identified deficiencies.

"However I find there is a lack of sufficient information to enable me to do so and I consider the extent of the changes required would in effect require a new notice.

"Consequently I find no alternative but to quash the high hedge notice."

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