Neighbour wants tree cut down

In our last garden we had 6 Silver Birches along the boundary, they were mature, over 35 years old and between 20 - 35 ft tall.
Despite the first one being about 4m from the house we didn’t have any problems with the roots.
Our insurance was not loaded due to their proximity to the house, they only asked that a reputable tree surgeon inspected them every 2 years and pruned them as appropriate.

Yep. We had a mature tree in situ when we bought our previous house, in a conservation area. The branches overhung the fence and NDNs were insistent that if there was no tree preservation order in place, they could trim it back to the boundary. I emailed the LA and they sent someone out to assess. NDNs were told in no uncertain terms that they couldn’t trim it without permission as, although no TPO, it was still protected by the conservation order.

It sounds quite big to me

Since it’s in a Conservation Area they can’t cut overhanging branches without permission from the Council

They sound like one of my neighbours.Basically they want an outdoor 'room'.All paved with small bit of fake grass.And they use a noisy garden vac hoovering up anything natural and organic that dares to land in their 'garden'.Fortunately they're not next to us as we have 2 large silver birch at the end of our long garden.And yes they are somewhat messy but only a few weeks of the year.It takes no time with a good brush to sweep up and our immediate neighbours don't seem concerned.The blue tits and adorable long tailed tits love them and their silhouette and bark look beautiful especially in winter.There is no way I would be chopping my trees down unless absolute evidence they posed a risk and honestly they sound to have a stinking attitude and way of dealing with you OP.

The Council intervened at my home this week when a neighbour cut out and destroyed a beautiful ancient hedgerow leaving an horrific mess. This happened because I politely asked for the third time that they cut out the huge dead branches overhanging my garden, parts of which are breaking off in still weather. They said they would cut "the whole f-ing lot down". I emailed the Council before they could begin and a TO attended the next day. They do not normally become involved with trees on private land but this was a biggy.

The outcome was that they could do nothing about the hedge as it does not back onto agricultural land but they were told to sort the trees out - Not cut them down. The Council put in writing to me it was her responsibility and she had a duty of care.

I found the TO cold and unsympathetic. This surprised me because it was a case of vindictive vandalism that has affected the landscape of a small village leading to three listed buildings. But there you are.

Keep your tree op. Sweeping up a few leaves is not a reason to destroy a beautiful tree. Try not to worry too much. At least you have not had the level of aggression to which I was subjected.

"OP, no way in hell would I be removing a tree that I liked, that was on my property"

TBF to the neighbours, I suspect they wouldn't mind the tree if it was ON the neighbours property. The problem is that the roots and the overhanging branches and the mess from the tree are ON the neighbours property.

We had a tree removed last year. Right in the path of the water entry to the property, between street stoptap and house stopgap. Also roots pushing up driveway paving bricks.

Council first said no, we had to appeal with photos. Finally agreed but set strict requirements about what had to be planted where instead.

The tree surgeon who deal with all this for us said some councils don't even maintain a department where you can have these conversations. They only spend money on enforcement and penalties.

I suspect your neighbour wouldn't have much of a leg to stand on as the tree was there first.

Enjoy your garden. It might be useful to know that they shouldn't be dumping the sweepings back over the fence. Once they are off your tree they are not your property and therefore not your problem.

The landscape architect returns: your neighbour is on very weak ground. He has built a patio within the Root Protection Zone of a protected tree. As I stated earlier, their are accepted methodologies for doing this safely, but were not likely followed. If his work had required planning permission, this would have been picked up.
As I said above, Tree Officer should be helpful. You can tell you NDN that you are consulting the TO. It will be a useful delaying tactic as TOS are run off their feet ATM, so it will take awhile to get a response. Sometimes going thru your district councillor can speed up the process.
This townie fury at leaves boils my piss. I have two immense oaks adjacent but not on my property, and I deal with a majority of their leaves in the autumn. Does this make me want them felled? It does not!

If I were them I would just cut down all of the branches that over-hang. If it is in their garden then I think ( I may be wrong ) that technically they can do what they like with that bit?

But lets be honest. Its a bloody TREE.

I agree, don't rely on crappy MN "legal" advice like the above ^

Neighbours clearly want a low or no maintenance back yard, hence their paving it all over, so I can see why having to do maintenance caused by @HimalyanSilverBirch's tree would annoy them. But that's just life, I'm afraid – you don't get to tell other people what they can grow in their own gardens unless it's dangerous, and I don't think a few seeds would meet that threshold.

OP, no way in hell would I be removing a tree that I liked, that was on my property, and which had been there for a number of years purely because my neighbours wanted me to.

My response would be that no is a complete sentence.

I would seek legal advice if house insurance covers it.

I'd tell your NDN flat out that the tree is staying. If you move somewhere you have to take in to consideration any existing problems and they have no right to demand you take a tree down in a protected area. It annoys me how people feel they can move in and complain, oh the pub's too noisy _ it's been there 50 years, there's no parking spots, there never have been. If something turns up later fair enough but your NDN's must have seen your tree

That is a fair point but nothing has actually happened bar the neighbour has said they are cross with the tree debris and the potential for a future issue.

If (as has happened in our situation) you were made aware of an actual issue and failed to inform your insurance company of the potential for legal action then yep, I’d agree you could leave yourself liable. But if you are reasonable, enter dialogue and inform your insurance company immediately then you have fulfilled your contract within the agreed T&Cs. Its similar to councils being made aware of potholes and if they choose to do nothing then they may be liable for any claims that occur.

In your situation nothing has actually happened. That are threatening you that should something occur they are gunning for you and you could certainly mitigate this potential by assuring your trees are maintained every three years by a qualified tree surgeon. Other than that they are just blowing hot air in your direction.

WRT damage and liability, this is our experience.

We had extensive damage in our house caused by a tradesman and it affected neighbours too (our claim eventually came to over £100k, theirs was around £15k)

When it first happened they were adamant it was our fault and we should pay to sort it out. We had legal expenses in our insurance but they quickly advised us of the process anyway before it escalated.

We claimed on our insurance and they had to claim on theirs. Their insurance then tried to recoup their costs from our insurers. Our insurers tried to recoup their money by suing the tradesman.

My main point is that insurance and legal cover will cover this.

HOWEVER along the way there were some stressful days while our insurers were getting to the bottom of what had happened and there was a brief shadow over us in case we could have done more to prevent the incident. The insurers had 3 different possibilities for who to pursue and they didn't care as long as they got their money. Fortunately we could defend ourselves.

So in your situation I think it might be worth getting a survey so if anything develops in future you can prove that you listened to neighbour's concern and had professional advice that there was no risk.

Yes I am a bit pissed off about it but 1. We haven’t asked for the trees to come down and don’t intend to so I’m not sure why you are insinuating I am demanding they come down and 2. We wouldn’t not buy the otherwise perfect house because of it. It doesn’t stop me getting pissed off about it. If it were the other way, I’d like to think I’d be more thoughtful of the impact of something that I am responsible for on the enjoyment of someone else’s garden. There is no question the trees should not have been planted there…but they are. I don’t judge the neighbours for planting them there (I think they predated them) but I do judge them a bit for not caring the impact they have on others.

so you’re angry at the selfishness of planting trees in the boundary when you bought the house knowing there were trees there originally and potentially trees there before the house/garage?

This seems so bizarre to me. So many people think they have a right to demand trees and hedges get taken down directly they move in regardless of what was happening previously. Our neighbour to the right decided he was just going to remove the fence even though there was nothing on the deeds saying whose fence it was. Just marched up to us and told us what he was planning, we said no and he did it anyway. The fence was there minding its own business, much like many trees, and new owners move in and suddenly everything gets ripped out.

I know we are wildly unpopular because we won’t acquiesce to our neighbours generally, but it intrigues me the level of entitlement so many people how. Where does the arrogance come from?

I wouldn't remove it, it's madness. It's normal to have leaves outside yet some people take such offence at this!! They just sound very unreasonable/not possible to placate.

That parting comment about "that tree is coming down" think it needs to be made clear that if they cut your tree down without permission this clear act of criminal damage would not be ignored and it'll be a court order to pay costs and install a new one of the same size to be planted (which legally they could be made to since to do) and install a camera over the area so it's an open and shut case.

The petty part of me would want to plant a load of ferns along the whole boundary to block them off and never see them in the garden again.