Cut down tree landed on neighbours land

Mb1987 · 12 October 2018 at 11:47PM

Hi all and sorry this may seem long winded.

I'm after some advice on behalf of a friend. They have recently purchased a new home and on the back garden was an ash tree (around 1.5x the size of the house)

It was dead and rotting and was advised that it was in need of being chopped down however with the recent heavy winds a family member cut it down at the base with one cut and its landed on the farmers land directly behind their garden.

Now next door is furious as he believed it could have landed on his house with kids inside and being friends with the farmer phoned him immediately. Now the farmer is demanding £500 and is keeping the felled wood (or he will take the matter further)

Admittedly it wasn't their finest hour to cut the tree down in one go but they are not stupid and knew what they were doing (albeit not a professional)

I am just wondering from a legal point of view what do they do? The farmer will not let them on the land to remove the tree, and the friend is not willing to be blackmailed. Any help or advice would be appreciated thank you

Aylesbury_Duck · 13 October 2018 at 12:22AM

How's the farmer going to take the matter further? Your friend would be obliged to cover any loss the farmer has incurred. What losses or damage has happened, other than the foreseeable costs of the tree being removed from his land, which is a cost your friend would have to pay.

As for the neighbour, ignore them. What might have happened is irrelevant.

EachPenny · 13 October 2018 at 12:31AM

Mb1987 wrote: »

Admittedly it wasn't their finest hour to cut the tree down in one go but they are not stupid and knew what they were doing (albeit not a professional)

Clearly not, or they wouldn't have felled a tree causing it to fall on someone else's property without getting their permission first.

The question is whether any damage was done to the farmer's property - you've not mentioned this in your post. That damage includes damage to crops, including any which would be damaged as a result of now needing to get a tractor (and trailer) to the tree to remove it.

A piece of advice for your friend - if you live in the country it is really important to have good relationships with your neighbours... agreeing to give the farmer something for their time and trouble (not necessarily as much as £500) might make their life in the area more pleasant. Treating it as (attempted) blackmail will not.

Mb1987 · 13 October 2018 at 12:40AM

Thanks for your quick replies, to answer the question the land is just used for horses to roam around on in the day and not used for crops etc none of the horses were out at the time.

No damage was caused to his fence or the land as the dead branches cushioned the fall and stop the trunk hitting the ground at full force. They have spoken to the farmer with regards to gaining access to the land to remove it as they are sorry for what has happened, a family member did this whilst they were out. I will mention it tomorrow and see if a more reasonable outcome can be achieved

sevenhills · 13 October 2018 at 2:18AM

Mb1987 wrote: »

They have spoken to the farmer with regards to gaining access to the land to remove it as they are sorry for what has happened, a family member did this whilst they were out.

Give the farmer a name and address, and see what he does. What do you expect him to do?

moneyistooshorttomention · 13 October 2018 at 7:25AM

How about sending the farmer a letter (Recorded Delivery) and copy kept. In that saying words to the effect of:

"This is to request permission to remove the tree from your land at our expense.

"Otherwise - you are welcome to keep the tree and use the wood in it as you wish and we will make no charge to you for said wood.

"Can you please let us know which of these two options you wish to select by x date (say a fortnight's time)"

***********

Obviously there is no 3rd option of he keeps the tree for wood AND gets £500. It's extremely cheeky of him to expect to be paid for the tree - when he would get the benefit of that wood from it. He hasn't incurred any costs for putting right damage - so what would that £500 be for anyway?

With sending him that letter - then I would be surprised if he didn't realise at that point he'd better stop such a try-on to "have it both ways".

What would be the worst case analysis after all? He goes off to someone (police or a small claims court or whatever) and says "They didn't give me £500 AND the wood from the tree". At that point - you produce the letter that makes it plain you were perfectly willing to remove the tree (but couldnt - because he wouldnt let you onto the land to do so) and they could see for themselves he'd attempted a try-on on you and you were perfectly willing to remove the tree - but he was preventing you doing so.

Take photos of the tree and land - to be able to prove there is no damage you are liable to pay for.

It doesn't affect you one bit to have that tree still lying there on his land - it's not in your way at all and so "no skin off your nose" if he leaves it lying there for evermore (which he wouldn't - as he clearly wants the wood from it).

elsien · 13 October 2018 at 7:27AM

What is he claiming the £500 for?
Talking to him seems the obvious starting point rather than escalating with letters straight away.

moneyistooshorttomention · 13 October 2018 at 7:33AM

Nothing I can see - just "throwing his weight around" and trying for money he isn't due for.

Of course - the other way to deal with this would be to just "Ignore him". The point of sending a letter would be to have proof that the reason why the tree wasn't removed was because he wouldn't allow it to be removed - ie he's the one in the wrong.

Davesnave · 13 October 2018 at 8:15AM

elsien wrote: »

What is he claiming the £500 for?
Talking to him seems the obvious starting point rather than escalating with letters straight away.

Exactly.

The 'farmer' - keeping horses isn't farming - is possibly laughing his socks off and saying what he's saying to wind up the friend on behalf of the people next door.

It was an accident caused by someone incompetent, so they should be made to feel a little pain to impress upon them that their actions were foolhardy. Fortunately, no one was hurt and no significant damage caused, so there won't be any basis for compensation, be it £500 or £5.

Ash is one of the best woods for burning, so I'm sure the tree will find a good home. If it had happened in one of my fields, I'd clear it myself in my own good time, not allow the idiot who felled it access to use a chain saw. Believe it or not, if he did and sawed off one of his own limbs instead, I'd be liable.

The 'farmer's' response is arguably more rational than some answers here!

moneyistooshorttomention · 13 October 2018 at 9:05AM

I expect they've already realised to pay money for someone "professional" to do it in future if such an incident happens again.

It wouldnt occur to me (in the farmers position) to be a b*tch about it.

When a neighbours tree fell on my land one time - it didn't occur to me to do anything other than check there was no damage to my property (there wasn't) and then let them onto my land to remove it. Job done - end of....I've "repaid a favour I owed them". Sorted.

elsien · 13 October 2018 at 9:08AM

Your tree fell down.
It wasn't hacked down by someone who apparently didn't know how to do so safely. Therein lies the difference.
I don't think the farmer is being particularly reasonable on the information given. But without knowing why he's claiming it's hard to judge.

Cut down tree landed on neighbours land

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