Oak Tree overhanging busy a road

MISS-T

Hi there,

I am hoping someone might have some Experiance or knowledge around managing trees that overhang highways.

We moved into s property 18 months ago and the property has an oak tree at the front which over hangs s footpath and a busy a road. The tree has been estimated st being c.1000 years old! At the moment the branches on the highways side bigger than the single carriage way of the main road and I am worried in case they come off in high winds and cause damage. There are over head power lines in between the tree and the house and we have confirmed that the power company will pay to cut the branches over hanging them and this is currently being arranged.

So my questions are,

Who would be responsible for cutting the branches over the road ??

If it was us any idea how much this would cost? The road would need to be closed.

If we call ask the highways dept would they make us cut it ?? if it would cost us £1000s we just do not have that sort of cash

Would be great to hear of anyone who has experience with these sorts of issues

Thanks in advance

Aylesbury_Duck

Was it not covered by your conveyancer when you bought the property? When I purchased my house, a condition of the mortgage lender was that I had to have a professional assessment of the large, 100+ year old tree carried out.

Chanes

I would think you would need to have the health of the tree assessed and then undertake any recommendations with the help of an arborist. Speak to your council, they will give you guidance. It is likely to have TPO anyway, isn't it? And you *must* involve them if that is true.

MISS-T

Hi thank you for the replies, Aylesbury duck no there was no mention of anything to do with the tree and although nothing came up on the searches re a tpo I am pretty sure it should have one. If it wasn't for the road I wouldn't even consider cutting it.

ic

A thousand years? So it looks like this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowthorpe_Oak

Contact your council before laying a finger on the tree to check for a preservation order.

MISS-T

IC I had to laugh at that pic as I said the same to my OH after I made the original post as I googled 1000 year old oak tree. Then he said the person who came from the electric company actually said between 500 and 1000 years!

Mojisola

MISS-T wrote: »

We moved into s property 18 months ago and the property has an oak tree at the front which over hangs s footpath and a busy a road.

if it would cost us £1000s we just do not have that sort of cash

Didn't you raise all this during the house purchase?

MISS-T

The previous owner told us that the council cut everything on the roadside. No TPOs came up in the searches, I now know I was a bit naive in that I had various people telling me it would be no problem to cut back. for various reasons I wasn't on the bill as I should have been.... argh!

Davesnave

There are two alternatives when considering maintenance of your roadside trees:

(a) Do it yourself/hire a contractor

(b) Wait until the council do it, send you their bill, and then wish you'd done (a)

The council would probably warn you before taking action, however.

Your insurance ought to cover you if a branch were to fall on a car or pedestrian, but only if you are able to prove no negligence. Therefore, a report on the condition of the tree from a suitably qualified arboriculturalist would appear to be your first step:

http://www.treeadvice.info/Condition_and_Liability.html

http://www.trees.org.uk/Registered-Consultant-Directory

Norman_Castle

Hereford council say this https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/transport-and-highways/maintenance/roads-maintenance/who-is-responsible-for-cutting-back-overhanging-hedges-or-trees-on-a-public-highway

I expect other councils are the same.

You may be able to check for a TPO on your councils website.

pollypenny

We have a large oak tree in our garden, probably 500 years old, as well as other trees.

We have a tree surgeon every other year. This year, he found that he didn't need to do anything to the oak, that's a first. But were reassured, anyway.

I'd get your tree looked at, OP. a good tree surgeon will check whether it has TPO.