Clause 2 - High hedges
High Hedges Bill
10:30 am
Mr Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North, Labour)
I shall be brief because I wholeheartedly support the Bill and congratulate the hon. Member for Solihull (Mr. Taylor) on introducing it. On Second Reading, I registered my concern about cases in which hedges were more than 2 m in height but caused no problem with the obstruction of light. I suggested amending the Bill to introduce an overall limit of 4 m, which a householder could insist that the local authority enforce. That may complicate the Bill, but the overall height is significant whether or not light is excluded. At some point, I hope that changes can be made to limit the overall height of hedges to 4 m or 3 m—as I said on Second Reading—although perhaps not in Committee because of a shortage of time. I have not tabled an amendment because I do not want to complicate matters today, but that it is an important matter.