Can You Sell Wood From a Fallen Tree in your own Garden?

roxy48

Storm Bert: 

Silver birch landed in my garden! It's Council owned (well on verge of public road & outside my property) with a TPO. I've reported to Council highways response expected in 2 weeks!  Fortunately no damage to building and garden/ fence damage not covered by insurance.

I'm thinking Council not likely to pay for removal or damage unless I can prove negligence.

But if they own the tree, do they also own the wood if I paid to have it cut up?

I was wondering if I pay for removal is there any market for Silver Birch logs if I pay to have them cut up, or should I just pay to have them removed?

Anyone with experience know what I should expect?

Many thanks

Dustyevsky

A week is a long time in politics, so 2 weeks being deprived of the right to 'peaceful enjoyment' of your garden seems excessive, but maybe the council is stretched, thanks to Storm Bert? 

I have a friend who regularly clears trees that have fallen on council roads, usually within an hour or two.Typically, he takes the wood as part payment, but the situation's different. Often, private owners of large trees are more than happy just to be free of the problem of their property blocking a public road.

Here, there is no doubt the tree is council property. So, unless you can prove negligence, (hard) the Act of God that will be assumed to have taken place, means you cannot simply punish the council (or God) by taking possession of the wood and selling it. Birch is excellent firewood, and while there will be many cheerful chainsaw owners willing to chop this one up, health and safety considerations also come into play. What might happen if an accident were to occur on your property, all because you invited someone, probably without formal training and/or insurance, to carry out a hazardous task?

In short, this is a minefield! If I were you, I'd ask to speak to the council's Tree Officer (they'll have one) tomorrow and see what they say.

Baldytyke88

roxy48 said:

Silver birch landed in my garden! It's Council owned (well on verge of public road & outside my property) with a TPO. I've reported to Council highways response expected in 2 weeks!  Fortunately no damage to building and garden/ fence damage not covered by insurance.

Since it has a TPO, I would be carefull.

There is a tree trunk near me that was felled and left on site, over a month ago, I assumed the value was too low for the council to take it away.

To pay a guy in a big truck to come and collect it, not cheap.

35har1old

Baldytyke88 said:

roxy48 said:

Silver birch landed in my garden! It's Council owned (well on verge of public road & outside my property) with a TPO. I've reported to Council highways response expected in 2 weeks!  Fortunately no damage to building and garden/ fence damage not covered by insurance.

Since it has a TPO, I would be carefull.

There is a tree trunk near me that was felled and left on site, over a month ago, I assumed the value was too low for the council to take it away.

To pay a guy in a big truck to come and collect it, not cheap.

Need to be seasoned for at least a year before being burnt 

roxy48

Dustyevsky said:

A week is a long time in politics, so 2 weeks being deprived of the right to 'peaceful enjoyment' of your garden seems excessive, but maybe the council is stretched, thanks to Storm Bert? 

I have a friend who regularly clears trees that have fallen on council roads, usually within an hour or two.Typically, he takes the wood as part payment, but the situation's different. Often, private owners of large trees are more than happy just to be free of the problem of their property blocking a public road.

Here, there is no doubt the tree is council property. So, unless you can prove negligence, (hard) the Act of God that will be assumed to have taken place, means you cannot simply punish the council (or God) by taking possession of the wood and selling it. Birch is excellent firewood, and while there will be many cheerful chainsaw owners willing to chop this one up, health and safety considerations also come into play. What might happen if an accident were to occur on your property, all because you invited someone, probably without formal training and/or insurance, to carry out a hazardous task?

In short, this is a minefield! If I were you, I'd ask to speak to the council's Tree Officer (they'll have one) tomorrow and see what they say.

I'm not worried about peaceful enjoyment though the dogs are going to love a 12foot gap in the fence for a month if I can't get the tree out.    If the tree is council property then I would expect them to clear it or at least give me the option to pass on to those that might use it.   I will try to speak to a Tree officer, but I think they may be District council level, could be wrong.

Good advice, thanks.

roxy48

Baldytyke88 said:

roxy48 said:

Silver birch landed in my garden! It's Council owned (well on verge of public road & outside my property) with a TPO. I've reported to Council highways response expected in 2 weeks!  Fortunately no damage to building and garden/ fence damage not covered by insurance.

Since it has a TPO, I would be carefull.

There is a tree trunk near me that was felled and left on site, over a month ago, I assumed the value was too low for the council to take it away.

To pay a guy in a big truck to come and collect it, not cheap.

Yes, thanks.  I am concerned about how long it will be - I can't think about repairing the fence until the tree is clear, an as you say it is not going to be cheap whether I get anything back on the wood or not.  

I had just wondered if it was a done thing for the council to do it's own clear up if it owns the tree.

Or if I had to do it whether I might get anything back for the wood

Thanks for your reply..

Dustyevsky

roxy48 said:

I had just wondered if it was a done thing for the council to do it's own clear up if it owns the tree.

Or if I had to do it whether I might get anything back for the wood

Thanks for your reply..

Councils will probably call upon private company arborists they've vetted for difficult jobs, but there's no hard & fast rule. There are certificates, insurance, and specialist equipment to consider. The wood has a value, but against that is the cost of logging and splitting it, transport and storage for a year or more.

As a guide, a heaped Transit tipper load of logs, seasoned but not kiln-dried, costs me £185 from my local wood yard.

FreeBear

Dustyevsky said:

roxy48 said:

I had just wondered if it was a done thing for the council to do it's own clear up if it owns the tree.

Or if I had to do it whether I might get anything back for the wood

Thanks for your reply..

Councils will probably call upon private company arborists they've vetted for difficult jobs, but there's no hard & fast rule. There are certificates, insurance, and specialist equipment to consider. The wood has a value, but against that is the cost of logging and splitting it, transport and storage for a year or more.

As a guide, a heaped Transit tipper load of logs, seasoned but not kiln-dried, costs me £185 from my local wood yard.

If you are selling logs for fuel in quantities of less than 2m³, it needs to be certified as Ready to Burn. Rules in Scotland are different.

Cutting up a random fallen tree, you would be unable to certify it as Ready to Burn, nor would the tree be yours to sell. So best to leave it to the council to sort out.

Dustyevsky

FreeBear said:

Dustyevsky said:

roxy48 said:

I had just wondered if it was a done thing for the council to do it's own clear up if it owns the tree.

Or if I had to do it whether I might get anything back for the wood

Thanks for your reply..

Councils will probably call upon private company arborists they've vetted for difficult jobs, but there's no hard & fast rule. There are certificates, insurance, and specialist equipment to consider. The wood has a value, but against that is the cost of logging and splitting it, transport and storage for a year or more.

As a guide, a heaped Transit tipper load of logs, seasoned but not kiln-dried, costs me £185 from my local wood yard.

If you are selling logs for fuel in quantities of less than 2m³, it needs to be certified as Ready to Burn.

Yes, it's truly amazing what the government wants to regulate for our benefit nowadays.

eddddy

roxy48 said:

Silver birch landed in my garden! It's Council owned (well on verge of public road & outside my property) with a TPO. I've reported to Council highways response expected in 2 weeks! 

As it has a TPO, I'd contact the district council Tree Officer.

Maybe send some photos of where it's uprooted or snapped. In theory, they might want to check that it really was felled by storm damage - and not felled by you or a neighbour (e.g. because it was an annoyance), and you're using the storm as a 'cover story'.

I suspect the Tree Officer will also have direct contact with the relevant people at Highways, as well as contacts with contractors who would clear this kind of thing.

TBH, I'd have thought there was also a way of contacting Highways urgently (and/or in an emergency) - I managed to when a large broken branch was balancing precariously on phone wires above a busy road. 


But I suspect that both the Tree Officer and Highways are super busy today, because of the storm.

Veteransaver

That's a very tall (and thin) silver birch! Are you sure it has a TPO on it? I though trunk needed to be more substantial than that.