Land Rights.

09/03/2012 - 18:20

Hi everyone, can anyone help with a situation? We bought a piece of land from a farmer with a projecto (permission for a house to be built) twelve years ago and built the house. He still owns land on one side. I planted some special poplar and willow trees that can be coppiced and make very good hedges. It wasn't long before he informed me in no uncertain manner (he knows I don't speak very much Italian) that I was breaking the law and that he would take it further if i didn't cut them all down and have the roots dug up. I did this and now probably two years later he called me over and said that my side of my fence the weeds? I guess he just said "herbs" were interfering with his land (propertia) and that it should be clear three meters from fence line.(the fence line is over eighty meters) Or he would report me! I cleared the area of weeds and a few of the trees that i guess had self seeded but very small.I really do not know what he means. He is a most disagreeable person. I do not wish to fall out with anyone especially as I am not there very often but on the other hand do not wish to bow to his ways and would welcome any information that anyone has to offer. These trees/bushes I planted come as a 12" stick that one just inserts into the ground. Relatives in Italy say that these are not allowed in Italy but from my small experience if it is not something Italians are familiar then it is not good or right. A little blinkered of new things. These trees are amazing and can give a great crop of fire wood. In The UK as far as I know we can grow almost anything on our fence line legally. Although we hopefully would respect our neighbour and also consider the future of what we have planted. In Italy I think there maybe a rule that you cannot grow anything within three meters of a farmers land, that will have roots that could have an effect on the crop but weeds! I do not understand, but a warning to others. Be careful. Look forward to any replies. Cheers.

Topic
Location

Comment

I recall 'Raggio' (not heard of for a while ?) helping with this about 18 months ago, shows the usefulness of this site! I am not sure what the law is if the growth is already there when you purchase the land ? Whoever wishes to plant trees on the boundary of their property must respect the distances established by the rules and regulations and, lacking these, local custom. If neither of these exists, the following distances from the boundary must be respected: 3 metres for tall trees. Tall trees are those trees whose trunks either   simple or branched, grow high, e.g.  walnuts, chestnuts, oaks, pine   trees, cypresses, elms, poplars, plane trees and the like;   1.5m for smaller trees. These are considered to be those trees which, when   fully grown, do not exceed 3 metres;   Half a metre for vines, bushes, growing hedges, fruit trees no taller than   2.5 metres. However, the distance must be a metre if the hedges are alder, chestnut or similar trees which are regularly pruned close to the stump, and two metres in the case of robinia hedges. The distance is measured from the boundary line to the base of the tree trunk at the time of planting or from the boundary line to the sowing drill. These measurements do not need to be respected if there is a dividing wall, belonging to the owner or shared, as long as the plants are kept to a height below the top of wall. Articolo 892. Chi vuol piantare alberi presso il confine deve osservare le distanze stabilite dai regolamenti e, in mancanza, dagli usi locali. Se gli uni e gli altri non dispongono, devono essere osservate le seguenti distanze dal confine: l) tre metri per gli alberi di alto fusto. Rispetto alle distanze, si considerano alberi di alto fusto quelli il cui fusto, semplice o diviso in rami, sorge ad altezza notevole, come sono i noci, i castagni, le querce, i pini, i cipressi, gli olmi, i pioppi, i platani e simili; 2) un metro e mezzo per gli alberi di non alto fusto. Sono reputati tali quelli il cui fusto, sorto ad altezza non superiore a tre metri, si diffonde in rami; 3) mezzo metro per le viti, gli arbusti, le siepi vive, le piante da frutto di altezza non maggiore di due metri e mezzo. La distanza deve essere però di un metro, qualora le siepi siano di ontano, di castagno o di altre piante simili che si recidono periodicamente vicino al ceppo, e di due metri per le siepi di robinie. La distanza si misura dalla linea del confine alla base esterna del tronco dell’albero nel tempo della piantagione, o dalla linea stessa al luogo dove fu fatta la semina. Le distanze anzidette non si devono osservare se sul confine esiste un muro divisorio, proprio o comune, purché le piante siano tenute ad altezza che non ecceda la sommità del muro