Frustrated Clowne grandparents fined for trimming high hedge to 'let light into their home and garden'

Christine and Eric Caley, both 73, have been living in their house in Clowne for 45 years.

But for the last two decades they have been struggling to get enough light to their home due to an overgrown and untidy hedge, which separates their property from the Barlborough Road Cemetery.

Mrs Caley said: “We did have light in our lovely home when we first moved in. But now we can’t even see through the windows and the darkness in the house is depressing. It doesn’t help my husband who is very ill.”

Mr Caley suffers from Wergners Granulomatosis and issues with memory loss.

Mrs Caley continued: “Homeowners on Monies End have trimmed and pruned this eyesore. We have all received letters requesting that nobody touches the council’s precious hedge.”

Last year, in frustration, Mr Caley arranged to cut the hedge. But although other neighbours did not face consequences for trimming, Mrs Caley was contacted by the parish council and asked to pay almost £1,000.

She added: “A council contractor removed the hedge cuttings and I have received a bill from a law firm requesting £950 which I apparently owe.”

In the letter from the solicitor it states that ‘there is no such provision in the law that provides an automatic right to light’.

Steven Singleton, clerk to the Clowne Parish Council said: “The Cemetery is jointly managed by Clowne Parish Council and Barlborough Parish Council and has been operating as the Parish Cemetery for nearly 50 years.

“The Joint Burial Committee takes great pride in how the cemetery is maintained. The boundary hedge runs for several hundred metres around the perimeter of the cemetery and is cut and maintained annually by the Committee under contract.

“We have had no other issues regarding the boundary.

“Mrs Caley unilaterally and without permission decided to employ a contractor to enter our land and reduced the height of the boundary hedge by about three foot or thereabouts along a 50-metre section and dumped the cuttings on the cemetery drive.

“[This] resulted in the Joint Burial Committee having to pay for a contractor to urgently remove the substantial cuttings.

“I asked Mrs Caley at the time to stop cutting the hedge down but they continued.

“The Joint Burial Committee has taken legal action against Mrs Caley for recovery of the cost of disposing of the cuttings which cost taxpayers several hundred pound.

“The Joint Burial Committee previously removed 10 ornamental trees from the main drive of the cemetery at the request of Mrs Caley; this was quite upsetting for the community at the time, but we have always tried to be a good neighbour.

“We advised Mrs Caley at the time that such works to hedges can only lawfully be done after the bird nesting season however they disregarded this and removed the hedge anyway.

“The law is very specific in respect of right to light and we do not believe we have contravened any rules; Mrs Caley said they wanted the hedge lowered so they could enjoy views across the nearby fields.”