Complaint Form: High Hedges	
												
Use this form to submit a complaint to the Council about a high hedge, under Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003.  It should be completed by the person making the complaint or their representative.	
												
Before completing this form, please read the guidance notes sent with it and the leaflet High hedges: complaining to the council.  Please fill in electronically and submit to trees@cambridge.gov.uk, alternatively you can print and fill using BLOCK CAPITALS and black ink and return to PO Box 700, Cambridge, CB1 0JH.                                          	
												
There is a fee for submitting a complaint form to be investigated, this will need to be paid before the investigation takes place, and the Council will be in touch with details of how to pay once this completed form has been received.  
The current fee is £450 (see Guidance Notes, page 6, Section 8 for details of concessions)	
												
The Council will rely on the information you provide so please make sure it is clear and accurate.	

1.	Attempts to resolve the complaint							
Please describe what you have done to try to settle this matter.  Give dates and say what the result was.  Please provide copies of any letters that you mention.			
1.1	Approached neighbour/hedge owner and asked to discuss problem	
     
	
1.2	Asked neighbour/hedge owner to try mediation						
     	
1.3	Informed neighbour/hedge owner of intention to complain to council			
     	
If you have not tried all the above steps, the Council might not proceed with your complaint.	
1.4	Anything else	
     

2.	Criteria for making a complaint - About the hedge								
2.1	Is the hedge - or the portion that is causing problems - made up of a line of 2 or more trees or shrubs?	Yes	
   No		
2.2	Is it mostly evergreen or semi-evergreen?							Yes	
   No		
2.3	Is it more than 2 metres above ground level?						Yes	
   No		
2.4	Even though there are gaps in the foliage or between the trees, is the hedge still capable of obstructing light or views?								Yes	
   No		
2.5	Is it growing on land owned by someone else?						Yes	
   No		
	
Who can complain?									
2.6	Is the complainant the owner or occupier (eg tenant) of the property affected by the hedge?										
Owner 			 	Occupier			Neither			
2.7	Is the property residential?							Yes	
   No		

If you have answered 'No' to any of the questions in this section, the criteria have not been met and so the Council cannot consider your complaint.											

3.	Grounds of complaint	
								
Please describe the problems actually experienced as a result of the hedge being too tall, and say how serious they are.  
It will save time and help your case if you stick to the facts and provide all relevant information to back up the points you are making.				
     
	
Please describe the location of the hedge in relation to neighbouring properties, i.e. in the rear garden of ‘x’, on the boundary between ‘x’ and ‘y’.
To help the Council understand your situation, please provide a photo of the hedge and a plan or sketch of both the site where the hedge is growing and the property it is affecting, with the hedge clearly marked on it.	
     	

4.	Previous complaints to the Council							
4.1	Has a formal complaint been made to the Council before about this hedge?							Yes	
   No		
4.2	If you have ticked 'Yes', do you know the date and/or reference number of the Council's decision letter?										
Date	     		                     Ref number	     		
4.3	What has changed since the Council last looked at this?		
     	
											
If nothing has altered, the Council might not proceed with your complaint.											
	
5.	Who's who / the parties involved							
5.1	Complainant's contact details									
Title       Forename           		Surname       		
Street Address Line 1		     	
Street Address Line 2		     	
Town / City   	     	
County     	     	
Post Code    	     	
Daytime Telephone No.	     		Mobile Telephone No.	       		
	Email address		     								
	Is the complainant content for us to contact them by email, at the address 	provided? 			Yes			   No			
5.2	Address of the property affected by the hedge and name of the person living there, if different to 5.1								
Title      Forename           		Surname     		
Street Address Line 1		     	
Street Address Line 2		     	
Town / City   	     	
County     	     	
Post Code    	     	
Daytime Telephone No.	     		Mobile Telephone No.	       		
	Email address		     								

5.3	Contact details of Agent or other person acting on behalf of the complainant (if any)		
Title      Forename           		Surname     		
Street Address Line 1		     	
Street Address Line 2		     	
Town / City   	     	
County     	     	
Post Code    	     	
Daytime Telephone No.	     		Mobile Telephone No.	       		
	Email address		     								

	Is the Agent, or other person named above, content for us to contact them by 	email at the address provided?		Yes			   No			

5.4	Address of the site where the hedge is growing and name of person living there, if known									
Title      Forename           		Surname     		
Street Address Line 1		     	
Street Address Line 2		     	
Town / City   	     	
County     	     	
Post Code    	     	
Daytime Telephone No.	     		Mobile Telephone No.	       		
	Email address		     								

5.5	Name and address of the person who owns the property where the hedge is situated, if different to 5.4 and if known						
Title      Forename           		Surname     		
Street Address Line 1		     	
Street Address Line 2		     	
Town / City   	     	
County     	     	
Post Code    	     	
Daytime Telephone No.	     		Mobile Telephone No.	       		
	Email address		     								

											

6.	Supporting documents																				
6.1	Have you enclosed the following (tick where appropriate):				
A photo of the hedge			
A location plan of the hedge and surrounding properties		
Copies of correspondence with your neighbour about the hedge 		
Copies of any other documents that you mention 		
please list these documents separately here			
							
7.	Sending the complaint																				
7.1	I confirm that I have completed as much of this form as I can and that, 	to the best of my knowledge, the information provided is accurate.		
7.2	I accept that there will be a fee for this complaint to be submitted and investigated.			
							
Please sign and date (if submitting electronically please just type your full name)		
											
Name	     	Date	     	

7.3	Please save this form and then email a copy of this and all enclosures to:										
trees@cambridge.gov.uk  
(click the link above to open up using your chosen email program)

7.4	Please also send a copy of this form to the people identified in Section 5 above.	 Tick the box to show you have done this					

Alternatively you can download, print and fill in this form as a hard copy. You will then need to either send it to the Council and those identified in Section 5 via email or by post. 
The postal address of Cambridge City Council is:

FAO: 
Cambridge City Council
Tree Team - Environmental Services
PO Box 700, 
Cambridge, 
CB1 0JH

Why are we asking for your personal information?
We require your personal data to determine a High Hedge Complaints Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003.

There are laws in place -  Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003  - that tells us what information we have to collect and keep. We may automate decisions and will inform you if we have done this as soon as reasonably practicable and provide you with access to our Data Protection Policy.
You hold the following rights with regard to the personal data you provide us:
o	Right to Access – You have the right to access (receive a copy) of your personal data and supplementary information.
o	Right to Rectification – You have the right to have any inaccurate or incomplete personal data rectified
o	Right to Restriction – You have the right to request a restriction of the processing of your personal data in situations where it is inaccurate, unlawful, and no longer needed for the purposes for which it was originally collected, or if a withdrawal of consent has been made.

Sharing your information
We will process the information you provide in order to determine the complaint and will supply details of the complaint and the response to the complaint, your identity but not your contact details, to the complainant and every owner and occupier of the land where the hedge is situated; we may also supply these details to other interested parties and where necessary to a Cambridge City Council committee for determination. Where decisions are the subject of an appeal all details will be passed to the Planning Inspectorate on their request.
If any of the information we have about you is incorrect, please tell us, we are reliant on you assisting us to keep your information accurate and up to date.
Retention of your personal information
We only keep your information as long as necessary, for some items this will be dictated by law. You can find out more by looking at the Councils Retention Policy on the web site.

We do not routinely process any information about you outside the UK. We will not transfer your personal data outside of the EU.	

Cambridge City Council is a registered Data Controller with the Information Commissioners Office. 
You can find out more about how we handle your data by visiting the Councils Privacy Notice page on the web site. If you have a query regarding your rights please contact the Data Protection Officer who can be contacted by emailing infogov@3csharedservices.org  or you can write to the Council and mark your letter for the attention of the Data Protection Officer. Alternatively you can call 07864 604221 or 01954 713318.
You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) should you believe any part of this statement to be unlawful.