While no damages can be paid for his loss of privacy, a High Court judge agreed the developers had committed ‘substantial acts of trespass’ resulting in the removal of ‘a substantial number of trees and bushes’ being removed from Mr Bootle’s side of the boundary.
In his evidence, Mr Bootle said that, after further trees were chopped down, he arranged a meeting with representatives of the developers who accepted that trees had been cut down and that no further work on his side of the boundary was necessary.
But in doing their work, they had repeatedly crossed over the boundary and onto Mr Bootle’s land, removing substantial amounts of bush and trees belonging to him, he found.
The adjoining land was bought by developers GHL Property Management and Development Ltd in 2018, which after initially planning a 233-home site, obtained permission for a £100m development for commercial, industrial, storage and distribution use, with related company, FI Real Estate Management Ltd, doing the work.
Part of the development land and Mr Bootle’s property were separated by a ditch and brook outside of the walls of his garden, with bushes, trees and fences on both sides of the watercourse.
