 | | | | | Ìý |  ÌýÌýInside
Out - West Midlands: Monday Februray 13, 2006 | | Hedge
wars | | Tall
order - high hedges can lead to disputes between neighbours |
To
many they are the scourge of suburbia.
Leylandii, fast-growing trees which
can reach towering heights, have become a common cause of neighbourly disputes
across the Midlands. But a new law has now been passed in a bid to settle
these conifer-related conflicts.
Battle lines
| HEDGE LAWS | | Since
June 2005, people can take complaints about a neighbour's evergreen hedge to their
local council. But the complainant must try to resolve matters privately first. The
local authority's role is to adjudicate on whether the hedge is adversely affecting
the complainants' reasonable enjoyment of their property. The local authority
must take account of all relevant factors and strike a balance between the competing
interests of the complainant, the hedge owner, and the community. Councils
can order a hedge to be cut to two metres, but can't require it to be removed.
Failure to comply can result in a £1,000 fine. |
Inside
Out meets the Gloucestershire man who hopes the new legislation will help him
settle a 10 year battle over a row of leylandii at the rear of his garden.
He
claims the hedge is too high, but his neighbours want the trees for privacy. Will
intervention from the local council settle the dispute?
We also hear from
the Birmingham home owner who pioneered the anti-leylandii movement in Britain. And
we meet the psychologist who explains how a humble hedge can spark a war of words
– and even lead to violence. Links relating to this story:The Â鶹Éç is not responsible for
the content of external websites | | | Free email updates | Keep in touch and receive your free and informative Inside Out updates.
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| Wartime
murder | | Florrie
Porter was just 33-years-old when she died |
Florrie Porter
was stabbed to death on the porch of a Worcestershire village school during the
Second World War.
Despite evidence which suggested her killer could have
been an American soldier, no-one was ever convicted of her murder.
Sixty
years on, Inside Out investigates claims that the identity of FlorrieÂ’s murderer
was deliberately covered up.
We hear from those involved in the original
case and meet author, Elizabeth Ruffin, who is convinced she will finally solve
the macabre mystery.
And we are given an exclusive briefing from police
officers who have recently revisited the case. Links relating to this story:The Â鶹Éç is not responsible
for the content of external websites | Going
for Gold | | Jackie
Davies (rear) in the 2002 British bobsleigh team |
Seven years
ago, Jackie Davies had never even ridden in a bobsleigh.
Now, she is one
of BritainÂ’s best Winter Olympic medal hopes.
How did a West Midlands
Army technician with a background in rugby and athletics become one of BritainÂ’s
fastest women on ice?
Reporter Nicola Rees meets Jackie as she trains for
the biggest race of her short bobsleighing career.
And she pays a visit
to JackieÂ’s family in Birmingham as they prepare to cheer her on in what
could be a gold medal-winning run at the Olympic games. Links relating
to this story:The Â鶹Éç is not responsible
for the content of external websites |
|
