On New Year’s Eve, an old bloke in Killara cut his neighbour’s finger off with pruning shears during an argument over a hedge.
Nothing sets suburbia against each other quite like a hedge dispute.
Which is why I held my tongue when my neighbour hired a chainsaw and a ute and massacred his backyard over the past two weekends. Every single bit of greenery slashed to buggery.
He’s absolutely butchered the place. What were once verdant trees are now ugly stumps. All his privacy is gone. Everyone gets a bird’s eye view of his not-particularly-glamorous backyard.
I don’t get why someone would want to do that. The yard got plenty of sunlight – unlike ours – so that can’t have been the issue.
The worst thing he’s revealed is the busy road that lies a few hundred metres from our fences. Previously I could ignore the traffic, the dull rush of cars faded with familiarity.
But now as I eat my goat’s cheese omelette for brekkie I’m faced with this view: passing cars, strangers’ undies and faded play equipment. A view that was previously lovely trees.
Imagine a frowny face emoticon right now. And multiply it by 100.
What’s your neighbour done that’s driven you batty?
housegoeshome 
How was he allowed to cut down trees without council approval???
They’re not so much trees as very large bushes, I suppose
Dislike. It’s amazing what lenghts people will go to. I knew a girl whose family squirted poison at a neighbours tree with a watergun until it died just because they felt it might affect their view in the future. My mum went to court with a large group once to save a very old tree in Cherrybrook and won, only to have the property owner ‘accidentally’ chop off a root deeming it unsafe. And how could I forget the family across the road who twice poisoned a little native tree on our front lawn and then one night came and DUG IT UP AND TOOK IT AWAY. We woke up with an hole and no proof and a very confused dog.
Alana, you’re obviously a lot nicer and more tolerant than I am! I would have been onto the council sooo fast. My next door neighbour is a cowboy who likes nothing better than to get out the chainsaw. He’s also not averse to a spot of illegal construction in his backyard – sheds, garage etc – all cobbled together with bits and pieces he scavenges from God knows where. Plus he likes to begin his Bob the Builder activities at ungodly times seven days a week. However, he’s friendly and always calls out a greeting so guess I could have a worse neighbour.
My advice: own your view. Time to plant your own hedge – he can’t cut that down (I know, all very easy to say after the event)
Fast-growing hedge options being explored …