Plant a hedge where there was previously undergrowth

That the purpose of a development plan must also be understandable to uninvolved parties is unfortunately not a requirement for creating one. Unfortunately, I have had to notice this quite often here.

Cardboard works quite well, but after a year it decomposes since the ground won't have grown over yet.

Honestly, passersby don't care 99% of the time what you do in your garden. A loose interruption of the sight lines is enough.
No one looks through a thick leafless hazelnut bush who is just passing by. Voyeurs are a different matter, and a privet won't stop them either.
Hazelnut is indestructible. Whether wet, dry, cold, or hot.
Elderberry is ecologically very valuable.

Don't ask who I've already startled. Smokers hang around the garden wall and don't even notice you're there, or waiting people stare absentmindedly into your garden. I have a parking lot on one property boundary and in front of the house the main road with a marketplace.
95% wouldn't even notice if you were working naked in your garden.

There must be 1m completely free.

Are you really 100% sure you are interpreting the development plan correctly? The specification of the distance of the trunk is a) quite common and b) very sensible here.

Maybe you could post the excerpt? (Even if only so that we can all be left speechless and roll our eyes ;) )

I dealt with this years ago and the following applied or applies in NRW.

Hedge up to 2 meters high = 0.5 meter distance

Hedge over 2 meters = 1 meter distance.

Furthermore, the leaflet stated that the distance is measured from the branches closest to the boundary to the boundary.

I understand it to mean that depending on the height, a free path of up to one meter must be maintained.



The part about the 2 meter wide hedge can only be a mistake. Or did you mean height?

Nice that you are thinking about it, but I think the development plan is quite clear. I have no problem with it at all, as I can easily understand and respect the regulation.

Hm, thanks for the excerpt! Honestly, I still don’t find it really clear. But the part about maintaining distance "during conversation" unfortunately supports your interpretation, because the trunk will hardly shift after planting. The required distance also makes sense if a cemetery is adjacent. Pruning measures should therefore remain possible from your own property.

What about the other side, does light reach there? That would be important to decide what you can plant. If it’s sunny, maybe a wildflower strip would work. That makes the insects happy and is practically maintenance-free.