Maybe the left-leaning council has a bylaw on what you can and cannot plant in your front garden, and the neighbours are righteous, do-goodder vigilantes, taking it upon themselves to uphold this nanny-state interference?
Or maybe his friend is a leftist, greenie, leaf-muncher and its his friends neighbours that are narrow-minded conservative busybodies objecting to the changed look and feel his garden brings to the neighbourhood, bringing down our property prices and encouraging riff-raff to move in?
I really do wonder too Sigma. Does this person live in Clovelly by chance?