Light at the end of the tunnel! Neighbours win FIVE-YEAR battle with pizzeria boss and force him to lop his 33ft Leylandii trees that left their home in darkness and ‘ruined their lives’
A pizzeria boss will have to lop down his 33ft Leylandii trees after his neighbours won a five-year-battle to get rid of them.
Yacine Titi, 42, has been told to chop the trees which his neighbours, Stewart and Linda Shankland, said left their property in darkness and made their lives a misery.
The Shanklands complained to council bosses after Mr Titi said he would not cut down the trees they said towered over their property at 33ft.
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The view that Stewart and Linda Shankland have from their property due to the large trees
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Yacine Titi (pictured) said the trees are popular in the upmarket village of Thorntonhall, Lanarkshire, and claimed they provide a barrier between his £500,000 house and a railway line
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The Shankland’s property is at the bottom of this aerial view and Mr Titi’s house is at the top
Mr Titi said the trees are popular in the upmarket village of Thorntonhall, Lanarkshire, and claimed they provide a barrier between his £500,000 house and a railway line.ADVERTISING
The Shanklands used high hedge legislation to force Mr Titi to take action after mediation failed and the council approved their request and ordered a section be removed and others cut down to 12ft.
Mr Titi appealed to the Scottish Government in a bid to stop the axe falling but officials have now backed the council and ordered them to be lopped.
But the 42-year-old won a partial reprieve after a government reporter – who considers planning appeals – set a maximum height of 15ft for sections of the hedge.
Mr Titi had earlier told how attempts at settling the dispute had failed.
He said: ‘We have been extremely forthcoming in reaching a conclusion to this matter from the onset. We agree the trees are unruly (which generally those type of trees are).
‘The trees discussed have been there since we moved into the property in 2013 and are very mature. These trees are very popular in Thorntonhall and most in the neighbouring area are of the same height.
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Mr Titi appealed to the Scottish Government in a bid to stop the axe falling but officials have now backed the council and ordered them to be lopped. But Mr Titi won a partial reprieve after a reporter set a maximum height of 15ft for sections of the hedge
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Stewart and Linda Shankland, said the trees left their property in darkness and made their lives a misery
‘On two occasions we have approached Mr Shankland to have him give us a convenient time and date for our tree surgeons to reduce the height of the trees and thin them down in order to give Mr Shankland more light into his home.
‘We thought this proposal would be suffice but on two occasions Mr Shankland refused saying our proposal would not help matters.’