Ash Tree in Neighbouring Garden who is a council Tenant

sugartree

Hi,


Apologies if this has been posted before or posted in the wrong thread.


My neighbour has an Ash Tree in her garden. The tree is positioned right next to our garden border about a foot away from my fence panel, it has grown very tall and most of the branches and leaves are covering my garden (the width of the tree is almost over hanging into the my other next door neighbour's garden). We crop what we can but there is only so much we can do.


I have a love/hate relationship with this tree, it provides shade into a garden which can get a lot of sunlight at times and gives a lovely enchanted forest feel to my little boho garden and attracts the wildlife. However, it's becoming a problem with the fence panels and concrete posts, the roots are in my garden which along with the shade is making it difficult for plants to grow. I also have to declare it on my insurance documents and worry about problems when coming to sell the house as well as any H&S risks if the branches or tree should fall.


The neighbour in question is a Council tenant, we are mortgaged. My neighbour is on her own and struggles to maintain what is over her side (although we have the bulk of it) and it blocks out most of the sunlight from her side in the back garden.


She has contacted the council (but I'm not sure how motivated she is to continue) and so have I and received no response.


My question is, do we have a good enough reason for the council to intervene and remove the tree or is it likely I'll be putting my hands in my pocket?


Thanks for reading.

Ectophile

If it's close enough to the house to damage the foundations, you could probably scare the council into removing it, with threats that you will claim off them if your house suffers from damage.


Otherwise, give it a few years, and the tree will probably die from ash die back disease. Most of the ash trees in the country will be killed by it sooner or later.

Apodemus

I’m intrigued that you have to declare it on your insurance. I had five very big pine trees (now two) and two massive ash trees and the insurance has never cared.

As mentioned above, it may suffer die-back at some point, but it will also cope well with radical surgery, if you and your neighbour want to get it reduced.

[Deleted User]

My insurance quotes always ask if I have any trees within x meters of the house.

Apodemus

_shel wrote: »

My insurance quotes always ask if I have any trees within x meters of the house.

That explains it...mine are y metres away!

[Deleted User]

Apodemus wrote: »

That explains it...mine are y metres away!

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

keith969

sugartree wrote: »

Hi,
My question is, do we have a good enough reason for the council to intervene and remove the tree or is it likely I'll be putting my hands in my pocket?
Thanks for reading.

You will need to get a tree surgeon in and pay for it yourself. At least that's my experience. Councils don't give a damn - and have no budget - for this sort of thing

missile

Complain to your local councillor

sugartree

Thank you for your responses. I have contacted the council again and see what their response is, if they are not willing to help I will contact my local councilor. As much as I believe the Ash tree will end up diseased I wouldn't want to risk having fall into my garden where my kids play or be an eye sore. I'll keep you posted.

Apodemus

It’s worth remembering that, under most Council tenancies, maintenance of garden areas are the responsibility of the tenant, rather than the Council. The Council may take the view that large trees are outwith the scope of the tenant’s responsibilities but are only likely to intervene if the tree poses a clear and immediate risk.

The Council trees officer will have the aim of preserving as many mature trees in the landscape as possible. This is an aim that we should all applaud and support rather than restricting our angst to the loss of the Amazon rainforest.

The trees officer will also possibly have a large case-load of trees that are a much higher priority for attention than your neighbours and be getting “my neighbour’s tree’s too big” letters on a daily basis - along with “sap dropping on my car”, “owls too near my house”, “leaves on my lawn” and 101 other reasons why householders hate trees.

If I were you and I couldn’t live with the tree, I would get quotes from some (properly insured) tree surgeons, with specific detail of the plan for reducing but retaining the tree. Then present this to the Council asking for approval to do the works at your own cost (shared with neighbour).

Kfletcher

Not an expert - but from remembering advice when my Mum had an issue with a tree make sure you get advice from a specialist before the tree is removed if the roots are anywhere near your foundations. Tree roots remove water from the soil and just chopping them down can result in heave (opposite of subsidence). Regular trimming was best from what I remember - and the time of year you cut can have different effects on tree growth (e.g. can encourage or discourage regrowth).