Tree in my garden

[PumpkinP]

Just had a letter posted through my door from a neighbour, must be the house behind, saying they want me to cut my tree down, I have never spoken to this neighbour so this is the first I’ve heard, they have said that they have been in contact with the council to get the tree cut down, before even speaking to me?! (Mine is a council house) and that the council will be contacting me to arrange it but that it may take up to a year and that apparently they are not willing to wait a year! They are also saying they’ve had issues since 2010 but I’ve only lived here since 2015. Aibu to not want to cut my tree?

Hey a quick upda te, the counci l have wrote to me saying they WILL be cutting down the tree! It's a Lawson cypress if that helps?? And the issue in 2010 weeks to be that he had them cut down a tree in 2010 from this garden, so seems I have no rights then?!

Weeks should be seems*

How tall is it? These sorts of plants can grow very quickly, up to 40cm a year and better to train as a tall hedge. We had one at the end of our last garden and dh trimmed it twice a year so it was kept at 7-8 ft on North aspect of boundary with neighbour, so gave a nice neat boundary and privacy without getting out of hand and becoming a nuisance.
You could plant something similar again to form a hedge, if it is trimmed twice a year and allowed to get to legal hedge height then kept in check, would that give you your privacy? Is your rear neighbours house elevated compared to yours?
I would talk with council about a suitable replacement to allow you privacy?

Yes we are on a slope so the neighbours house behind looks straight into my garden . I'm not actually sure how tall it is it's bigger than my house. I was assured by the council that they would only cut it down if it was dangerous

If it's not dangerous why are they saying it's going to be cut down?

Sounds like it's pretty massive if it's bigger than your house. Conifers are a sodding menace in residential areas and your neighbour is probably at his wits end after years of looking at the thing and dealing with the shade/crap that drops out of it, rendering the end of his garden unusable.

I love trees and I usually can't stand people making demands of their neighbours to chop them down, but bloody massive conifers on boundaries are quite different.

"Due to concerns raised by a neighbouring property, and the future maintenance issues it will cause if left to grow unchecked"

so seems I have no rights then?!

Well no, you don’t. You don’t own the property

It states in the letter that the tree is not hazardous, I'm just amazed that they told me they would only cut them down if they were

Well no, you don’t. You don’t own the property confused

Neither does he and the trees are not a hazard

Neither does he and the trees are not a hazard

No, he doesn’t own it either. But that’s irrelevant, because the council do own it and they’re the ones that have decided it needs to be cut down.

Your neighbour didn’t make the decision, he let the council know of a potential issue and they have since decided what course of action to take.

Well then I will be appealing that decision

Does sound as though it's out of hand. At the height you describe it is already a hazard in terms of someone being able to do any sort of maintenance. Taking it down would be tricky enough for the guy with the chain saw.
They are pretty much a wildlife/garden vacuum too. I would look to improve your garden when it's gone. You may feel more exposed for a while but most gardens are overlooked to some extent.

@PumpkinP

Well then I will be appealing that decision

As is your right to do so.

They are pretty much a wildlife/garden vacuum too

They are not:

www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/trees-and-shrubs/lawson-cypress

Hi - I thought your link would show me that this particular plant supported a wealth of wildlife, but it doesn't seem to.

The most I've found is that it may provide some shelter for birds when deciduous tress are not in leaf.

Well duh.

it has also become naturalised along damp banks and woodland edges, providing shelter for birds when deciduous trees are not in leaf

The most I've found is that it may provide some shelter for birds when deciduous tress are not in leaf

Well chop the fucker down.

Sorted.

Cypress trees are quite shallow rooted so the council might be taking it down as they think it is unstable and if it falls could cause damage to the surrounding houses.

Rather than appealing, why not write back and agree to the removal and ask politely for them to replace the tree with something easier to manage / less invasive?

Lawson cypresses grow up to 45m. I wouldn't want one in my garden, or next door if it was blocking light.

OP tread carefully when appealing. A successful appeal for you may then result in the council insisting you take responsibility for the tree and all that entails. If in the future it needs removing (and of course any annual tree maintenance) would be costly - and you would be responsible for paying.

Any tree can house birds. That doesn't mean it's responsible or appropriate to plant them anywhere, and especially in residential areas. The link also says they can grow to 45m. Clearly should never have been planted on a boundary betsytwo residential gardens.

There's no reason why the tree couldn't be replaced with something more appropriate that would be just as beneficial, if not many times more so, for local wildlife.

*between two residential gardens