silly season is open

Any views would be appreciated, it seems that the neighbourhood is in uproar-and I am the last to know.

I live in the end house of a row of very old miners cottages. My house is two buildings knocked through-one of them being the old bakery. Behind the row of cottages is an unadopted road which seperates the house from the new housing estate. This unadopted road was once the road into the old bakery. It was a cobbled road and it was the rear access to the bakery for the horsecarts delivery. The road has long since become off road parking for the row, the road goes upto the side of my garden and I have a front drive so we haven't ever used the road for parking. Fences gone up, time moved on etc etc.

Over the years the residents of said row have planted up the roads edges with wildflowers and a couple of trees, one of which is now a large conifer.

Then about 8yrs ago the housing estate is built ( didn't go down well as it cleared away a whole orchard of fruit trees, chestnuts and oaks). The house directly behind this road has been causing a bit of a to-do over her wishes to a-have one of my oak trees cut( so the birds don't poo on her washing..awwwww-move your washing line then love), and b-they now want to just take down the large conifer. Neither of these trees are on her land.

I have been reasonable about the oak, and said-yes, on the strict condition that it is a tree surgeon who does it ( no half wit labourer is hacking at my tree full stop), a tree surgeon would look at the welfare of a tree and do what he can and what's best for the tree-which I am happy with. But my neighbours on my row are very very very unhappy with this persons plans for the conifer. It doesn't help that when they replaced their fence with a wall they swiped 2 ft from the road.

So, a bit of legal know how is needed.

I know she is within her rights to deal with any overhanging branches, but am I within my rights to stipulate that a qualified professional do it? What about a TPO to keep their hands off it? I know they are inconvenient, but if it is the only way then I will do it. It is completely visible from public roads. What do you think I should do. I must find a way to absolutely insist that a tree surgeon is called in to do any pruning or cutting of my tree. As I told her, it was there when you bought that house and it will be there when you sell it again.


Also, what happens if this person just cuts down the conifer anyway, in spite of the feelings of the residents. It sounds a touch criminal damage to me, but I don't know. And what if she cuts my tree without it being a professional, she will do so over my dead body but sometimes these sorts just want to move in to an area and change everything-enough trees have been lost from our area because of this estate as it is.


What is the situation legally, and sorry for the essay.

 

Sounds like a right carry on. I'm no legal expert, so take my advice however way you wish, but here's my limited understanding of the law.

Re the Oak tree: I believe she has the right to removing any overhanging branches as you say, and she may do so by any means she sees fit. HOWEVER, if her actions result in the tree dying, or otherwise being adversely affected, she would be liable for the damage. In effect you could sue her for the cost of the tree being sorted out (if that's possible), or being replaced. I would suggest that the cost of replacing a mature oak would be enough to send her round the bend. I have no idea what that would cost but I bet it would be at least a 5 figure sum. If you tell her this, it might persuade her to get a professional in who should be suitably insured against such misfortunes. A protection order might be the best route, but I don't know how you get one, but I'd still scare her first by warning that you will sue for any damage to the rest of the tree that she may cause by random hacking.

As for the conifer, if that's on nobody's land, I'm not sure. I guess the council would be responsible for it. I believe the appropriate department is the 'Parks and Cemeteries' dept if I'm not mistaken. Although you could of course warn her that any damage to property or personal injury caused by her felling it would be her liability, and again could be a sizeable sum if it all goes a bit wrong.

 

It is a carry on, I have had three of my neighbours round today so far, all up in uproar. She is a nice woman and I don't want any falling out, I can't be bothered with aggro-I just want peace and quiet when I am at home. There's one neighbour who says she will park her car right up against the conifer to stop anyone even approaching it, another one going on about the bats.

 

If bats are roosting in it then there is no issue. By law you mustn't start messing with a tree that is being used by bats. The only exception that I'm aware of is if the tree poses a risk of injury, but then that, I believe, is for the courts to decide.

There is no need to fall out with this woman. Just tactfully tell her about liabilities and such, and let her convince herself that it would be a bad idea to starting hacking.

 

Lollipop, I would contact the council, Leisure services, and you need to speak to the tree officer. (I don't know who it is now, but I used to work for Bolton Parks dept 10 or so years ago.) They will come out and have a look and advise you (for free) about the tree, and TPO etc. They may also be able to point you in the direction of a good tree firm.

Hope this Helps, and let us know how you get on!

 

Just read through but i "think" tht bats are protected
,just googled "bats +protected species and thats an interesting read allright, schedule 5 of the wildlife and countryside act 1981 to be exact,
since 2007 schedule 2 they are better protected than the crown jewels

 

The law on trees and hedges is loosely based on 'reasonableness' you are quite within your rights to insist upon the tree surgeon you wish to carry out the work, it is your tree.

As for the conifer, unless the land is registered there is not a lot you can do if they do decide to remove it. Remember though that its the bird nesting period so if they do try and cut it a call to the RSPB who will then get the police in to stop work.

 

As I understand it (and I may be wrong), although it is severely frowned upon to chop down a tree that has birds nesting in it, it is not always actually illegal. If the tree is within the jurisdiction of the forestry commission, then many rules apply, including that you can't actually chop it down without a license if the main trunk is more than 10cm thick at a height of 1m (or something like that). In residential areas different rules apply, and trees have less protection by default. Of course if the tree is being used by any protected species, including some species of birds, then it is a no go zone.

I had cause to read up on laws relating to tree felling last year before I set about tidying up a Blackthorn thicket on my land. I can tell you there is a lot of ambiguity in there. In the end I emailed DEFRA with my specific plans and they basically said it was ok provided I stopped the work immediately if I found evidence of active nesting sites in there, which I'd told them I'd do anyway (and which we did when we heard baby birds calling to their mum from the tree we were approaching next).

 

Some developments.

I believe I live three doors down from the female version of Captain Mainwaring lol.


It transpires that following a hastily arranged meeting of "the row" it has been decided that I have let the side down rather by saying I don't much care about what she does to the conifer, and that I am okay with her giving the oak trees a light prune if she gets in a tree surgeon.

The aforementioned female Capt. Mainwairing has informed me as much. I said "Okay", to which she expressed that she was rather appalled at my carelessness.

She left, and around an hour later the woman who wishes to chop the trees came round and expressed her feelings at my apparent turnaround. Capt.Mainwaring had been round to hers in the interim and informed her that no way Jose was she going to touch any of the trees. I told the woman that I can not be held responsible for what Capt.Mainwaring had told her, that she was perfectly within her rights to express her concerns, at which she threw me a suspicious look and waltzed back to her own home.


I admit I did "overhear" a bit of bother from her front door. I am totally at a loss as to how I have managed to upset so many people by being reasonable.


On the way to the poll station this morning ( which is across the road from us at the local school) Capt.Mainwaring blanked me. And last night Capt Mainwarings car was parked up almost touching the conifer-I believe she means business.

My husband thinks it all quite funny, and I must own up to agreeing with him.

It is indeed silly season. It's the oldtimer villagers VS the outsiders, and I have a foot in both camps-which is probably why they were both trodden last night.

 

Oh dear. It does sound rather awful...but also rather amusing. Now...if you could step back and observe it from a distance, you'd probably laugh about it all.

 

Later on I will be stepping to the off licence for a bottle of German dry-that should make it appear much more amusing no doubt Aaron lol.

 

I can totally relate to that feeling. My circle of friends divided into two waring factions over a girl that was also friends with me. For months I tried to stay out of it, and tried to remain friends with both factions. I listened to their rants, tried to diffuse many a situation, and all the while I became increasingly aware that both factions were becoming suspicions that I was more loyal to the other, and furthermore that both sides were trying to manipulate me to their side. In the end I decided I'd had enough. I didn't fall out with anyone as such, I just decided to cut off all contact with them for a while. When I was up home I wouldn't bother to phone them to see if they were coming to the pub, and on one occassion when two of them did come to the pub and they decided that 'our group' should move on to a different pub, I just calmly told them 'I won't be offended if you go, but the wife and I will stay here and we will maybe see you next time'.

You can't keep everyone happy, and it is not your responsibility to try. Just do what you think is right and you'll be alright. I can tell you that since I took a step back from my feuding mates, I felt the weight of the world being lifted off my shoulders. If it is a village you live in, you can be sure that in a few weeks there will be another scandal to take up people's attention and it will all blow over.

 

This site contains useful information and examples.

http://www.gardenlaw.co.uk/phpBB2/index.php?sid=43adcd730f841362399bb1ae918dfb9d

Treat anything you read with appropriate caution.

 

My neighbour blanked me for 2 weeks after she told me she had been to the Drs as she couldn`t breathe and was shaking, she is asthmatic, they told her it was oxygen shortage and gave her a stronger inhaler.

I only said" but you are still smoking "