Council tell householder to chop down ‘huge’ hedge

A HOUSEHOLDER in a Swansea village has been told to chop their towering hedge down – and remove old cars from the garden.

Council chiefs said the greenery along the front boundary of the Gowerton property should be no higher than two metres.

The enforcement notice gives the householder on Bishwell Road eight weeks to do the work, starting from March 11, although there is a right of appeal.

Bishwell Road is a cul-de-sac lined by well-kept detached and semi-detached houses.

Gowerton councillor Susan Jones said the property in question had been an “eyesore” for several years.

She felt the hedge was a fire risk.

“There was a hedge further down the road which was set alight,” she said.

Cllr Jones said she was also concerned that children might get into the garden and clamber inside the cars.

“To my mind it’s a safety issue,” she said.

The enforcement notice also requires the householder to remove tyres, car parts and oil storage tanks from the front, side and rear gardens and take them to an authorised place of disposal.

One person living on the street, who asked not to be named, said several people in the area had complained about the state of the semi-detached property.

“It’s not nice to look at,” he said. “People are fed up with what they see.”

But he said there appeared to have been a tidy-up of sorts in recent days. And parts of the leylandii hedge have been chopped down.