Costessey residents deny owning overgrown Dereham Road hedge

The overgrown hedge lies along a seclusion of five homes just before the Longwater Lane junction in Costessey and has been the topic of concern in recent weeks.

Mum of one Jo Goodhew complained that she was being forced to walk in the road because there was not enough space on the path for two people to pass each other safely, asking Norfolk County Council to cut it back. 

The overgrown hedge along Dereham Road is posing a potential danger to pedestrians (Image: Newsquest)

District councillor Gary Blundell said: "Being the responsibility of homeowners, we do try and get them to look after their boundary sections and only push for the council to step in if things are not addressed at the earliest possible time after the nesting season."

But according to Sam Farrow, 32, one of the five who live in the private road, this is not the case.

"Our title deeds show that we do not own the hedge in question and therefore the council has potentially lied to people," he said.

Title deeds and council documents show the homeowners' plots extending to the middle of the hedge (Image: Sam Farrow/Gary Blundell)

"Neither have we ever received a letter from them regarding the state of the hedge."

An image of Sam's deed shows the boundary reaching the middle of the hedgerow, as do the council's planning documents. 

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However, Gary said if a hedge is maintained by the homeowners it normally includes both sides of the hedge and not just the non-road section, but he is seeking clarification from the county council's highways teams. 

Private homeowners say only one side of the hedge is their responsibility to maintain (Image: Newsquest)

Sam, a quantity surveyor, added: "Me and my neighbours never received a previous council letter so the request to cut the hedge back did not 'fall on deaf ears' at all.

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"In fact, a neighbour has already trimmed back the vision splay at each end themselves because once it becomes overgrown it makes pulling out onto Dereham Road difficult.

"If somebody had asked us to do something one of us would have done it because we're a helpful bunch but now none of us want to start cutting the council's land without permission."

The county council was approached for comment.