The court in Aalborg has on June 20, 2024 issued a new judgment that sheds light on a neighbor dispute. The case concerned trees that stand as a boundary between two properties in a summer house area in North Jutland. The conflict involved shade nuisance caused by these trees, and whether the nuisance exceeded the tolerance limit under neighbor law.

The case was conducted at Paragraf Advokaterne by attorney (H) Søren Vasegaard Andreasen on behalf of the plaintiffs.

The case concerned whether the trees on the boundary between the two properties should be felled or pruned in a certain way to reduce the nuisance. The plaintiff demanded that the trees be felled or pruned to a specified height to reduce shade and litter nuisance. The defendants, on the other hand, claimed that the claim was dismissed, arguing that the trees did not constitute a significant nuisance and that a stumpage would be sufficient.

During the trial, the plaintiff explained that the trees cast significant shade over the property and created a nuisance in the form of debris such as needles and pollen. The defendants, conversely, argued that the trees were important to wildlife and wanted to preserve them.

The assessment report revealed that the trees were between 23 and 25 metres high and caused significant shade on the plaintiff's property, especially in the afternoon. The court found it proven that the shade effect was so significant that the neighbouring legal tolerance limit had been exceeded. The assessor recommended felling 6-8 trees and trimming the remaining trees to a height of 10-12 metres to alleviate the shade nuisance.

The court assessed that the recommended solution of felling and replanting would reduce the nuisance to such an extent that the neighboring legal tolerance limit would again be respected. However, the court decided that the plaintiff should not wait for a slow remedy through replanting over several years. Therefore, the decision was that the entire row of trees should be felled.

General information about nuisance from trees and the tolerance limit for neighboring properties

The case illustrates how neighborly conflicts can escalate into legal disputes. The court must then decide the reasonableness of the nuisance caused by trees in the boundary. With attorney (H) Søren Vasegaard Andreasen as representative, the plaintiff won the case. This resulted in a significant change in the property's condition through the felling of the trees. The plaintiff will in future once again have sun and light on his land and in his garden, which previously lay in the shade, almost all the time.