Emergency - stop neighbour’s trees being cut down

[woodpigeons]

I live in an area with a lot of mature, very big trees.
Our next door neighbour recently died. The house is for sale and I have just heard that the people who inherited it plan to have several mature trees, where birds nest every year, cut down.
The trees are not causing any problems at all. We are the only neighbours who would be affected and we love them, they are beautiful, and love seeing the birds come back every year to build their nests.
They already sent some sort of cowboy gardener to cut back the dividing front hedge where birds are nesting. DH noticed when they’d almost finished and when he spoke to the ‘gardener’ about it he laughed and said he was always finding eggs but never enough to make an omelette.
I know about applying to the council for a tree preservation order if there isn’t one already. Also about the Countryside act and will contact them on Monday.
However these people who have inherited the house are not reasonable. They are most likely to send unqualified people to cut down the trees, even this weekend.
If that happens can anyone tell me if there is anything I can do please?

Wtf dose isjle??? That's some autocorrect it should be special branch!!

The salacious gossip you’ve been listening too has no bearing on anything.

Unless there are any tree preservation orders I don’t see that you have any leg to stand on. I love trees and have lots in my garden but I don’t presume to tell other people that they must feel the same. Neither do I dictate to others how to design their gardens. Is this really about you losing privacy if the trees go?

@Ballymotedun I've a place on the south coast, two bird boxes one still with fledglings in! You go eat your hunters!

Bally. Was a troll. Just ignore posts.

There was headline news in this area in the 90’s, a new resident had a tree taken down in a conservation area. There was a heavy fine, he then moved a couple of years later.

You should be able to see if you are in a conservation area on your councils website. They may also publish the location of TPOs (these may or may not be in a conservation area).

We had this issue with our delightful neighbour (who liked to get involved in everyone’s business constantly), she managed to get a TPO on one of the trees in our garden because she ‘enjoyed looking at it from her window’.

She clearly didn’t enjoy looking at it that much as within two months of obtaining the TPO she moved out. Leaving us with a nightmare trying to obtain planning permission just to reduce the height of the tree by 2 metres.

Please make sure you establish the facts before you act, our neighbour apparently believed we were planning to cut the whole tree down, if only she’d simply asked us we could are reassured her we just needed to remove some of the height.

We’d have avoided a costly TPO which also resulted in us not being able to replace the garage we’d had to knock down prior to this (due to asbestos) as it was deemed too close to the tree and also being required to dismantle our children’s tree house and zip wire which had been built before the TPO but was no longer allowed.

We have swifts that have a nest under the eaves off our house . They usually fly off for the season around mid August onwards so definitely birds nests can be active until the end of summer at least. Definitely report them for disturbing the nests in the hedge if nothing else.

I have neighbours with trees in a lot of gardens around my house. There are problems with the structure of my house which are being investigated at the present time. Several professionals have mentioned the size of the trees and the lack of sun causing dampness in the ground.
Yesterday there was a slight breeze and I watched one of the trees swaying in this breeze. I have no idea if this or any other of the trees are likely to come down on a windy day. This could damage my house or the neighbours' own house. It has been stated by a Surveyor that these trees could be a danger to property and people.
It is worrying and I expect it will be costly to repair my house. I don't think that the trees should have been allowed to grow to over 50 feet. I sincerely hope that no-one thinks trees are more important than life or even property.

How do you know that the trees aren't causing any problems? I live in a conservation area and am surrounded by mature trees that aren't properly maintained and they are a problem. I actually have planning permission to fell one that you'd think is actually healthy but what you can't see is the massive hole that runs through the entire trunk. It's diseased and an arboroculturist has confirmed it'll come down on its own in less than 5 years. If it comes down on its own, it'll fall into property.

It is sad how so many people in this supposedly more environmentally aware age are such unpleasant people. They think the trees make a mess and put their garden into shade. Well you kids won’t thank you when they die of starvation in an overheated world

We live in a conservation area and had to get permission from the Council to cut back a very overgrown hedge in danger of collapsing into the lane below and to take down two dead trees when we moved in. We had to wait, by law, until the birds had all finished nesting. And we do that every year.

So always worth checking for conservation area status and checking for TPO.

One of my rear neighbours sold her house, while it was empty the other rear neighbour cut down a mature tree in the first neighbour’s garden because it was dropping leaves into his hot tub. I was livid because not only was it a nice tree, it also blocked the view of my garden from the houses uphill. So I planted a new tree to screen my garden, on my side of the fence right next to where the previous tree was. A eucalyptus that will quickly get twice as big and drop leaves AND sap right into his stupid hot tub.

Unless it's TPO'd or in a conservation area mind your own business

Yabu, if there is no TPO and the owners don’t want the tress is their garden then that’s their choice, it’s not for you to decide.

As for the TPO, in residential areas non conservatives area, they are difficult to grant, it also depends on the type of tree, what conditions it’s in, and if it has any disease, plus not including if it’s affecting sewerage drains and property foundations.

If you’ve requested for the tree to be assessed and the TPO is granted I hope your willing to undertake any of responsibility and any associated costs OP!

What I am saying is not salacious gossip. I and several others have seen it happening.
If there is a problem with all of the trees then of course they should be allowed to fell them but I don’t believe there is. Certainly the man who hacked our hedge and is going to cut down the trees said nothing about that.
We bought our house a few years ago. The nearest tree to both ours and the neighbour’s house is in the neighbour’s garden right up against the fence, actually nearer to our house than the neighbour’s. Our surveyor said it wasn’t a problem.
I really don’t feel like having to defend myself any longer.
If a tree specialist looks at the trees and says there is a problem then of course they should be cut down but not in the nesting season.
Nor would I object to any required pruning.
Only one of the trees is close enough to affect my property but as there is a high fence with trellis above (don’t worry it’s the legal height) then it really does not affect my privacy.
This was never about that as I have said. I believe everyone needs to take responsibility for the unnecessary destruction of our trees and wildlife.

Also there is currently greater attention on keeping and maintaining mature trees and hedgerow especially native species, due to spread of Ash Dieback and Oak Processionary Moth, so worth contacting the council Tree Warden for advice.

Not all trees need protecting and often the wrong tree can be in the wrong place. We’ve got a massive beach that will need to come down soon as it is becoming entangled in electricity wires and is overhanging a road. We’ll plant something more suitable in its place. Someone tried to put a TPO on trees at my parents’ house. They were massive and dangerous and they were worried every time there was a storm they would come crashing into the house. The council didn’t put one on as they used a bit of common sense. I’m fairly sure the council don’t just put on a TPO because a neighbour likes a tree.

In my council area there is legislation about how many trees are allowed and how high they are allowed to be.
There is general legislation about a certain type of tree where it is stated that to allow these trees to grow to excessive heights is anti social.
I dont care what any of my neighbours have in their gardens until it affects me or my house directly.
A PP mentioned the nasty people who are against trees ruining their childrens' lives and threatening starvation and overheating for our children. What about all the people who take children abroad. UK people can find the heat abroad difficult but still many travel overseas in gas guzzling planes or cruise ships which discharge effluence into the sea.

One of the big problems is that when estates are built, and amenity trees planted, the builders get cheap trees that are totally inappropriate for residential areas - so instead of (say) a flowering cherry, they'll bung in a few sycamore (which are little more than weeds) which are fast growing and get huge - as well as dropping sap, flowers and helicopter seeds, and see themselves all over.

I love trees - but some of them are nuisances.

Several professionals have mentioned the size of the trees and the lack of sun causing dampness in the ground

What profession? Trees pump gallons of water out of the soil. If anything, they cause the soil to dry out.

Lots of rubbish being spouted on this thread. Law recognises trees should not be cut down in nesting season, which it is, and you can get a TPO put on a tree for all manner of reasons. Yes sometimes trees are inappropriately planted in those god awful new build developments but in this case the trees have been there longer than the houses. Wildlife diversity is diminishing at alarming rates and we do need the things to breathe too.

Good luck OP

One of the big problems is that when estates are built, and amenity trees planted, the builders get cheap trees that are totally inappropriate for residential areas - so instead of (say) a flowering cherry, they'll bung in a few sycamore (which are little more than weeds)

Cherries are dreadful trees to plant on new housing estates. They are short-lived, intolerant of any environmental stress, generally small canopied and commonly damage footpaths, kerbs and any other nearby light structures due to their shallow, suckering root systems.

Sycamores don't tend to get planted particularly frequently. I don't think I've even seen them in a planting scheme. Norway maples (which look similar) are frequently specified though these are crap trees. Field maples are often misidentified as sycamores too but are good, native trees.

We need large, long lived and resilient trees on new housing estates. Ones that won't succumb to disease and which offer maximum benefit in terms of ecosystem services, air/building cooling, stormwater interception, landscape value etc.

Lots of rubbish being spouted on this thread. Law recognises trees should not be cut down in nesting season, which it is, and you can get a TPO put on a tree for all manner of reasons

Please can you direct me to the law which says that trees can't be cut down in the nesting season.

The Council can only serve a tpo where it is expedient in the interest of public amenity. Not for birds, not for neighbours who like looking at trees from their window and not to prevent development.

@PotsOfJoy The professionals are a Surveyor and a Structural Engineer. Two representatives of the Local Authority Planning Department. Three different engineers from the Water Board due to the underground pipes being affected including sewage.
This is the general legislation
www.leylandii.com/leylandii-law/ I dont think these trees are sucking any gallons of water out of the ground here. The land is very heavy and damp and paths can take days to dry out after rain due to the amount of shade from these excessive trees.
I also suffer from Hay Fever which has become much worse the more time I spend at this property