Treehouse staring into our living room

Gigervamp

I'm a grown up and I'd love a tree house!

Acc72

It looks as though many people (including the OP) are making a whole host of assumptions since the first post :


"we now have a treehouse staring straight into our living room from a distance of about 45', which sounds a lot, but really isn't. There is a 'window' - an open strip with no wood in it rather like a bird hide arrangement right across the tree house - on our side so kids have a lovely clear view in".


The approach suggested by some has long term aggro written all over it.

By definition, a tree house must be attached to a tree - the location is therefore dependant on the location of the tree !

If there is only one tree suitable for such a construction, then it is not as if the neighbours deliberatley chose that spot as a particularly good vantage point for children to watch their neighbours whilst they have their tea / watch Coronation Street or whatever.

If I was in that situation and not happy, I would just plant a couple of those fast growing fern trees and be glad that such troublesome neighbours are 45 feet away and I don't live in a block of flats surrounded by drug addicts and the various forms of anti-social type behaviour that some decent law abiding people live amongst.

Acc72

Gigervamp wrote: »

I'm a grown up and I'd love a tree house!

Me too - as long as my neighbours don't start spying on me whilst I am in it !

SmallL

Acc72 wrote: »

It looks as though many people (including the OP) are making a whole host of assumptions since the first post :


"we now have a treehouse staring straight into our living room from a distance of about 45', which sounds a lot, but really isn't. There is a 'window' - an open strip with no wood in it rather like a bird hide arrangement right across the tree house - on our side so kids have a lovely clear view in".


The approach suggested by some has long term aggro written all over it.

By definition, a tree house must be attached to a tree - the location is therefore dependant on the location of the tree !

If there is only one tree suitable for such a construction, then it is not as if the neighbours deliberatley chose that spot as a particularly good vantage point for children to watch their neighbours whilst they have their tea / watch Coronation Street or whatever.

If I was in that situation and not happy, I would just plant a couple of those fast growing fern trees and be glad that such troublesome neighbours are 45 feet away and I don't live in a block of flats surrounded by drug addicts and the various forms of anti-social type behaviour that some decent law abiding people live amongst.

Very good point, thinking about it my OHs parents have a garden whose boundry is about 45' from the house and the only tree is right on that boundary (a HUGE willow).
So its likely common to have a couple of trees rather than a whole forest/wood in your backyard

fluffnutter

Gigervamp wrote: »

I'm a grown up and I'd love a tree house!

So why haven't you built one? I think we'd all secretly love a treehouse, but probably appreciate that actually going to the trouble of building one is a step too far. A bit like rolling skating to work, I guess.

Gigervamp

Alas, I don't have the necessary skills, although I do have a suitable tree.

fluffnutter

Just get in touch with the OP's neighbour. He seems right handy.

surfsister

Hiya either plant your own trees on the boundary quick growing ones or put up a screen. also I think there may be rules on tree houses so you could sound out your local council.

from the telegraph

By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor

7:00AM BST 06 Jul 2009


Senior planning officers have confirmed all tree houses now need full planning permission, including flat-pack play structures bought from retailers such as Argos and John Lewis.

The cost of applying for permission is usually at least £150, with parents also having to pay extra to provide detailed drawings and Ordnance Survey maps plotting the exact location of the tree house.

The rules, which came into force in October last year, now mean that even a basic self-assembly playhouse from Argos, costing £215, could end up costing well over £400.

Many retailers and garden designers are unaware of the rules and starting to be caught out by local councils.

Phil Kirby, who until last week was the most senior planning official in the country as the president of the Planning Officers' Society, said: "It is a perverse consequence of the rule changes that major projects, costing tens of thousands of pounds no longer need planning permission, but tree houses do.