← All guides · Rules & paperwork · Updated October 2026

Got a section 154 notice in Margate? What to do about the hedge or tree.

A letter has come from the council saying your hedge or tree is over the pavement or road and has to be cut back. Here is what to do, how long you have (14 to 28 days), what the Highways Act 1980 section 154 says and what happens if the deadline passes.

Picture a typical one. A householder in Westbrook gets a formal-looking envelope on a Tuesday. A privet hedge has grown out over the footway, a pushchair has been forced into the gutter, and somebody has reported it. The first reaction is usually annoyance, the second is a search on the phone for the deadline. This guide is the answer to that second search.

General information on the law as written, not legal advice. Always follow the wording of the notice you were actually sent, and speak to a solicitor if you want to challenge it.

What should I do first when a section 154 notice arrives?

1. Read it twice. Note who sent it, the date it was served, the deadline and exactly which stretch of hedge or tree it refers to. Photograph the notice.
2. Decide whose growth it is. Notices go to the owner of the hedge, tree or shrub or the occupier of the land. Cliftonville and Old Town terraces often have front boundaries that were shared once, so check your title plan. Our guide to hedge and fence boundaries in Margate explains how to read it.
3. Photograph the growth from the pavement. Take dated pictures before you cut so you have a record of the starting point.
4. Book the work early. Do not plan around day 14 or day 28. Weather, access and a nest check can each eat a few days.
5. Check for nests. A wild bird's nest in use is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The accepted guidance window is 1 March to 31 August, though the Act itself sets no dates. If you find an active nest on the stretch to be cut, leave it, photograph it and tell the sender in writing so a new date can be agreed. See hedge nesting season on the Thanet coast.
6. Check for a protected tree. Most of the Old Town and Cliftonville sits in a conservation area. A tree there, or one under a tree preservation order, needs the right paperwork before it is pruned. Start with Margate conservation area hedge rules and the section 211 notice walkthrough.
7. Cut, clear and photograph again. Take the growth back far enough that it stays clear after the next flush, sweep the pavement, and keep dated before and after photos.
8. If you disagree, say so early. Write to the sender and explain why. You can appeal to a magistrates' court, but the section gives no appeal deadline and does not pause the compliance period, so do not rely on either.

What does section 154 of the Highways Act 1980 actually say?

It lets a council force the owner or occupier to deal with growth that spills onto a road or path. Reduced to the essentials:

• Overhanging growth (subsection 1). A hedge, tree or shrub that overhangs a highway, or another road or footpath the public can use, so as to endanger or obstruct vehicles or pedestrians, block a driver's view, block the light from a public lamp, or endanger or obstruct horse riders on a highway. The notice goes to the owner of the growth or the occupier of the land, and requires it to be lopped or cut within 14 days of service.
• Dead or dangerous growth (subsection 2). A similar notice where a hedge, tree or shrub is dead, diseased, damaged or insecurely rooted and likely to fall onto the road or path. Cut or felled within 14 days.
• Appeal (subsection 3). A person aggrieved by the requirement may appeal to a magistrates' court.
• Default (subsection 4). If the notice is not complied with, the authority may do the work and recover its reasonable expenses from the person in default. The section itself sets no fine.

The full text is on legislation.gov.uk. If you want the three-way comparison with the high hedges and nesting-bird rules, our older guide on a hedge over the Margate pavement sets it out in a table.

Who sends the notice in Margate, Cliftonville and the rest of Thanet?

The highway authority and, in a non-metropolitan district, the district council both have the power. In Thanet that means Kent County Council and Thanet District Council. In practice most letters about pavements and roads come from KCC, whose own overhanging vegetation page shows what it expects. Many start as a friendly request, with the formal notice following if nothing happens. Treat the request as the real deadline.

How much clearance does KCC expect?

• 2.4 metres clear above a footway or cycle route.
• 5.2 metres clear above the carriageway.

KCC also asks for growth to be kept back from the road edge and away from streetlights. These are KCC's published figures, not numbers written into the Act, so if your notice states different measurements, follow the notice. On Margate's seafront streets and the older Cliftonville terraces, a front hedge that has been left to grow outwards for a few seasons is the usual culprit.

Is it a hedge or a tree, and does that change anything?

Section 154 covers both, and the deadline works the same way. What changes is the paperwork and the risk. A hedge is normally a straightforward trim. A tree overhanging the road may be in a conservation area or protected by a TPO, which means notice to Thanet District Council before pruning, and it may need proper access equipment. Pruning, crown reduction and crown raising are all covered on our tree services pages, and the conservation-area and TPO paperwork is something I handle. Garden hedges are not covered by the Hedgerow Regulations, so those do not hold up a notice.

Can I cut it myself or should I get someone in?

If it is yours, you can. Be honest about the job, though. Working next to a live road means managing pedestrians and traffic, and tall or thorny growth over a pavement is awkward to do safely from a pair of steps. KCC warns that damaging highway vegetation while you cut can leave you liable. A routine front hedge takes a couple of hours; a tree is a different job. See hedge cutting, hedge reduction and tree pruning. If the hedge has got well ahead of you, staged reduction brings it back without killing it.

How do I stop a second notice?

Trim the pavement side back to the line you want in late summer once nesting is over, and again in spring if it grows fast. A hedge cut regularly to the boundary and to clearance height rarely generates a letter. The Thanet cutting calendar shows the windows.

Section 154 notice questions answered

I have a section 154 notice about my hedge or tree. What do I do?

Read it and write down the date it was served and the deadline, check the growth is yours, photograph it from the pavement, look for nests and for a conservation-area or TPO tree, then get it cut back before the deadline and take dated photos afterwards. If the hedge or tree belongs to someone else, tell the sender in writing straight away. If you disagree with the notice, contact the council quickly and get advice, because you can appeal to a magistrates' court.

Is it safe to ignore a section 154 notice?

No. If the notice is not complied with, the authority can do the work itself and recover its reasonable expenses from the person in default. That bill is a cost you could have avoided, and the contractor sent will cut to clearance and leave, not to the shape you would choose.

How many days do I have to cut it back?

The Act says the notice requires the work within 14 days of service. A notice can in practice allow anything from 14 to 28 days, so use the date written on yours and do not leave it to the last week.

Is the hedge my responsibility or my neighbour's?

The notice goes to the owner of the hedge, tree or shrub, or the occupier of the land it grows on. If it grows on your side of the boundary it is yours to cut back. If it is next door's, or on land you do not own, say so in writing to the sender at once and send a photo and your title plan if you have one.

Who can send a section 154 notice in Margate and Cliftonville?

The highway authority can, and in a non-metropolitan district the district council can too. Kent County Council (KCC) is the highway authority for most Thanet roads, and Thanet District Council is the district council. For a road or footpath that is not a highway, the local authority for the area can act.

Can I appeal against a section 154 notice?

A person aggrieved by the requirement can appeal to a magistrates' court. The section does not give an appeal deadline and does not say your compliance period stops while an appeal is made, so do not assume either. Ask the authority and take advice early.

How high and how far back does KCC want the growth cut?

KCC's published guidance asks for at least 2.4 metres clear above a footway or cycle route and 5.2 metres clear above the carriageway, with growth kept back from the road edge and from streetlights. Those are KCC guidance figures, not numbers in the Act, so follow the wording on your own notice first.

Can I do the cutting myself, and does this cover trees too?

Yes to both if the hedge or tree is yours and you can work safely beside the road. Section 154 covers hedges, trees and shrubs, and a separate limb of it covers dead, diseased or insecurely rooted growth that could fall onto the road. Work out whether a tree is in a conservation area or under a TPO before anything is cut, and call a professional for tall, thorny or roadside growth.

Do I need to tell KCC when the work is finished?

KCC says that if you have a letter asking you to trim vegetation you do not need to tell them when it is done, and they check later. If you hold a formal notice with a deadline, keep dated photos of the finished cut in case you are asked. KCC also warns that damaging highway vegetation while cutting your own can leave you liable.

Sources

• Highways Act 1980, section 154 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Kent County Council: overhanging vegetation