My neighbour doesn't want me to remove diseased trees on my land

Section62

35har1old said:

Section62 said:

35har1old said:

Section62 said:

This^

Perhaps this post is in the wrong category (includes DIY) Money Saving

Saving money is not solely about doing it yourself.  Saving money includes understanding when it is more economical to employ someone to do a job for you because they have the skills/equipment to do it safely and/or with less material and/or with lower consequential costs.

Nothing, not even money saving, should trump safety.

Given the circumstances in this case, having a third party (with adequate insurance cover) doing the work is a much better idea than attempting to DIY it.

Tree surgeon would need to be informed of a possible confrontation before he started the work. 

Of course.  But it should really be mentioned when getting quotes, not just before starting work.

Part of the reasons for using an experienced professional in this situation is they will very likely have experienced similar before. A contractor who hasn't experienced a neighbour dispute over tree works (and can help diffuse the situation) possibly doesn't have the experience to make them a good choice of contractor in the first place.

Section62

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

There was thread on the Consumer Rights board where a poster had hired a tree surgeon to cut over hanging branches and as the surgeon went higher up the trees they went further in to the neighbours side.

The neighbour reported it as criminal damage and the OP ended up signing a community order (probably had their arm twisted by being told they could be prosecuted and the order was a way to avoid that). 

A criminal prosecution would require it to be shown beyond all reasonable doubt and given boundaries seem to be a messy and ambiguous area I wonder how likely it is to achieve that but with a difficult neighbour I'd be ensuring as certain as possible that the trees sit solely on the OP's land and have something to demonstrate that clearly before cutting them down.

The pictures appear to show they do but a picture up the drive towards the front of the two houses might help make that clearer. 

This one?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6252798/compensation-from-tree-surgeon/p1

The difference with that case is the trees were clearly on the neighbour's side of the boundary feature.  The comments on that thread should also be noted that the OP in that case was unwise to accept the order in the way they did. The chances of a sucessful criminal prosecution were effectively nill, unless there were other issues not stated in the thread.

The OP in this thread should make sure they get good photographic evidence of where the trees are relative to the boundary feature, and discuss with the contractor whether they feel it appropriate to speak to the local police (using the non-emergency number) prior to the work starting.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Section62 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

There was thread on the Consumer Rights board where a poster had hired a tree surgeon to cut over hanging branches and as the surgeon went higher up the trees they went further in to the neighbours side.

The neighbour reported it as criminal damage and the OP ended up signing a community order (probably had their arm twisted by being told they could be prosecuted and the order was a way to avoid that). 

A criminal prosecution would require it to be shown beyond all reasonable doubt and given boundaries seem to be a messy and ambiguous area I wonder how likely it is to achieve that but with a difficult neighbour I'd be ensuring as certain as possible that the trees sit solely on the OP's land and have something to demonstrate that clearly before cutting them down.

The pictures appear to show they do but a picture up the drive towards the front of the two houses might help make that clearer. 

This one?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6252798/compensation-from-tree-surgeon/p1

The difference with that case is the trees were clearly on the neighbour's side of the boundary feature.  The comments on that thread should also be noted that the OP in that case was unwise to accept the order in the way they did. The chances of a sucessful criminal prosecution were effectively nill, unless there were other issues not stated in the thread.

The OP in this thread should make sure they get good photographic evidence of where the trees are relative to the boundary feature, and discuss with the contractor whether they feel it appropriate to speak to the local police (using the non-emergency number) prior to the work starting.

That's the one and indeed the OP on that thread was unwise to accept the order but I got the impression the police turning up at their door and convincing them they had committed a crime clouded their judgement which is a trap ordinary people may be likely to fall into under the pressure of that kind of situation.

The thread showed photos of older concrete posts behind the fence bringing up the question of where the boundary actually was, on the face of it the trees had been cut back too far but there was ambiguity as to where the actual original boundary was.

Odds are slim this kind of thing happens and I think I agree with you that the chances of successful criminal prosecution are nil but with a neighbour acting in a certain manner it's interesting to see how someone can end up in an unjust situation over something as simple as some trees. 

avantra

Well,

The tree surgeon came today, I warned them in advance and paid them a bit on top for any agro they might have to deal with.
I switched on the CCTV and waited.
But, nothing!
The neighbor hid in his house and didn't do a thing.
Interestingly the day before he marked his side of the boundary with a white string clearly showing to the world that he has no claim on this sliver of my land (See pic below).
The small track was full to the brim when they left a few hours later.

MikeJXE

Much better for you now

Just need a low fence to hide the bins 

FreeBear

A stump grinder will get rid of the remains.. Wouldn't advise trying to get the stumps out with a mini-digger as you'll probably wreck the block paving and cause damage beyond the white line.

GDB2222

 It didn’t look great before, but it looks worse now. Are you going to plant the space up again? 

ThisIsWeird

avantra said:

Well,

The tree surgeon came today, I warned them in advance and paid them a bit on top for any agro they might have to deal with.
I switched on the CCTV and waited.
But, nothing!
The neighbor hid in his house and didn't do a thing.
Interestingly the day before he marked his side of the boundary with a white string clearly showing to the world that he has no claim on this sliver of my land (See pic below).
The small track was full to the brim when they left a few hours later.

Great result :-)

And you have also learned that your neighbour is a blowhard.

Don't take any more BS from them. Be reasonable, but nicely succinct and assertive. Simply matter-of-fact.

twopenny

Could it be that the neighbour liked the privacy around their front door?

Should be a lot less mess around the bins for him.

Yes, something to hide his entrance and bins would be good but keep the view.

With the weeds and ivy out and planted up or gravel top and the view behind that's going to look great. I think your neighbour may appreciate it in the end.

mi-key

If you do put a fence up, make sure it is all totally on your side of the string ! About 6" would do, but just so he can't have any complaints about where it is or losing a few inches of his land.

Personally I would put a low box hedge in as it will look a lot nicer than a fence