This hedge was their pride and joy. Then came the council email to ‘butcher’ it

That’s how Phil Portellos describes the once-prized hedge outside his Prahran home after Stonnington Council ordered it be cut back over concerns it blocked the footpath.

“It’s very ugly,” Portellos said. “This is a hedge that’s existed for 30-odd years; it’s grown to this, it’s maintained monthly, it’s always kept pretty well.”

Portellos said the striking Cypress hedge was a significant part of why he and many neighbours moved into the apartment block, so they were surprised to learn of a complaint saying it encroached on the footpath late last year.

He said gardeners tended to the hedge regularly, but owners eventually had to fork out $2000 for it to be cut back to the property line by about 20 to 30 centimetres on Thursday morning.

“I thought it might be a little more dense and provide a bit more privacy,” he said. “This is a lot worse than what we were expecting.

“When the arborists attended they were not sure why the work was required. They were complimenting the shape of the hedge.”

In an email to residents obtained by this masthead, a council officer said the hedge created an obstruction on public land and extended up to 40 centimetres into the pedestrian zone outside the property.

“It is evident that the hedge has been mismanaged over a long period and now encroaches substantially onto council’s footpath,” the officer said.

“Council has a legal obligation to ensure the footpath remains safe, accessible, and fit for purpose.”

Councils are obligated to ensure public footpaths are accessible to everyone under the Disability Discrimination Act. It is understood complaints to Stonnington related to footpath safety and accessibility, particularly on bin days.

The property is located off busy Punt Road, and Portellos fears that even though the building has CCTV, residents’ privacy and security could be compromised as passers-by can now peer into their homes.

He said there was no guarantee the hedge would grow back, so residents were calling on the council to chip in to cover the cost of removing and replacing it if its leaves did not return.

“It’s probably going to be thousands of dollars that we’re going to be out of pocket, so at least some sort of contribution from them is something that we would like to see,” he said.

“We’re all pretty furious. Every single one of the owner-occupiers who are either living here or rent it out, no one really wanted to go through with this.”

In a statement, a Stonnington Council spokesperson said the owners’ corporation managed the gardening contractor, who undertook the works after being issued a notice