The Northern Ireland Valuation Tribunal has dismissed an appeal by Felicity Haire against a remedial notice issued by Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council requiring her to reduce a hedge at her Portadown property to no more than 3.4 metres above ground level.

The notice, dated 30 June 2025, was issued under the High Hedges Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 following a complaint from a neighbour that the hedge, primarily evergreen cherry laurel with photinia, was adversely affecting reasonable enjoyment of their property.

The council measured the hedge at 4.9 metres and calculated an action hedge height of 3.64 metres using technical guidance. The notice required initial reduction to 3.4 metres and ongoing maintenance to keep it below 3.6 metres within two months of taking effect.

Haire appealed on multiple grounds, including that the hedge was part of a long-standing privacy arrangement linked to a 2008 planning permission, that the complainant's property was sale agreed, and that no sunlight or shadow path calculations were performed.

She also argued the hedge provided privacy for cultural and spiritual practices, was needed for her daughter's use of the garden, and that reducing it would infringe her rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

The tribunal's valuation member conducted his own measurements, arriving at an action hedge height of 3.42 metres, close to the council's figure. The tribunal accepted the council's calculation of 3.64 metres and found the technical guidance method appropriate, relying on the case of Granleese v Belfast City Council.

The tribunal found no evidence of a breach of Section 75, noted that the 2011 Act continues to apply even if the original complainant no longer owns the property, and considered privacy would remain adequate at the reduced height. The appeal was dismissed, with the remedial notice taking effect from the tribunal's decision.