“In November 2007, one of the residents asked the city office to cut down the shrubs growing along Tulipanowa Street because—in his view—they posed a safety risk,” says Agnieszka Gergont, spokeswoman for the Bolesławiec city authorities. The Bolesławiec resident claimed that he had narrowly avoided being run over by a car at the intersection of Tulipanowa and Szarotek streets—precisely because of the height of the green fence beside Norbert Przybylski’s property. “He called several times and asked for it to be cut down,” the spokeswoman continues. He even complained to the voivode about the “inaction of officials and an attempt to cover up the matter.”
Norbert Przybylski has looked after the hedge growing beside his property for years. He has devoted a great deal of time, energy and money to it. In January this year, he received a letter from the city authorities. Officials wrote that the shrubs posed a danger to road traffic. The Bolesławiec resident was ordered to remove them by January 25. “I was devastated,” he told the IstotneInformacje.pl portal, Norbert Przybylski. “I couldn’t understand why they had written that. I only look after this hedge; it isn’t my property [pasem zieleni zarządza urząd miasta – przyp. red.],” he added.
The hedge dispute
The resident of Tulipanowa Street filed a complaint against the officials. He could not understand how anyone could have decided that this green fence was dangerous. “I deal with similar matters at work. If that were really the case, I would remove this hedge myself without any order,” Mr Norbert assures us. Especially since the shrubs had been growing there for 10 years—in a quiet area, along a rarely used road. In addition, they were only 1.40 metres high. “Suddenly, in 2008, the hedge started bothering someone,” Przybylski says angrily.
He asked two city councillors, Leszek Chudzik and Jarosław Kowalski, to intervene in the matter. Both visited Genowefa Bogaczewicz, deputy head of the municipal services department at the city office. But, as Norbert Przybylski points out, they achieved nothing.
Safe according to the police
Officials asked the police for an opinion on the hedge. The police analysis showed that the shrubs did not pose a danger on the road. However... this opinion proved unnecessary. It was not attached to the application for permission to remove the strip of greenery, which landed on the district governor’s desk (the city authorities could not issue the permission themselves). According to Przybylski, it was not attached “to ruin his case, to show the city office’s spitefulness.”
In March, the resident of Tulipanowa Street trimmed the shrubs. “I did it of my own accord,” Mr Norbert says regretfully. “I thought I would have some peace. The peace lasted a few days.” It turned out that even the trimmed hedge was dangerous. In April, another letter arrived announcing the definitive removal of the shrubs.
Disillusioned, Mr Norbert decided to take 50 photographs of places in Bolesławiec where vegetation could genuinely cause a serious accident. He sent them to the officials. However, so far he has received no response. In a resigned conversation with us, he admitted that he no longer cared about the hedge. “I just want to be treated fairly,” he stressed.
District office spokeswoman explains
As we established, officials did not have to take the police opinion into account at all. There is no formal requirement to do so. “Everything is in accordance with procedure on our part,” Majka Nowak told the IstotneInformacje.pl portal, Majka Nowak, spokeswoman for the district office. “The decision to remove the hedge was made because, although it does not pose a danger now, it may do so as soon as it grows a little.” As the spokeswoman pointed out, Norbert Przybylski may stop looking after this strip of greenery. “In that case, responsibility for any tragedy that might occur would fall to the manager of this area, namely the city,” she added, Majka Nowak.
The shrubs are to be removed by the end of July.
(GA information)