North East SNP MSP Mark McDonald has lodged a final proposal with Parliament outlining the proposed High Hedges Bill.
Mr McDonald first announced his intention to bring forward the bill back in September, winning the full support of the Scottish Government in taking forward the SNP’s manifesto pledge to deal with the problem of nuisance high hedges.
After lodging a draft proposal in December, Mr McDonald appeared before the Local Government and Regeneration committee in February to outline his proposals and outline the decision not to conduct a further consultation, following three similar consultations in recent years.
Since then, Mr McDonald has continued to liaise with groups and individuals with an interest in the issue, including groups representing Scottish Tree Officers and the interest group Scothedge.
For the proposal to be taken forward, eighteen MSPs from at least two of the parties represented on the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body have to support the bill. Once the bill has gathered enough support, and the drafting process has been completed, the draft bill will be introduced before parliament.
Commenting after lodging the proposal, Mr McDonald said:
“I am pleased that the final proposal is now lodged and we have taken another step forward to solve the problem of nuisance high hedges.
“Over the last few months, it has become even clearer that this is a problem that affects households from all parts of Scotland, so I would urge MSPs of all parties to back this proposal and ensure a Bill can proceed.
“The drafting process is now underway and I will continue to meet with organisations and individuals with an interest in this issue to ensure that the final bill provides a workable, effective and practical solution to the issue of problem high hedges.”