AIBU to think that people should have to get permission from all surrounding neighbors before cutting down a tree?

[ElberethGilthoniel]

I live in a third floor flat with a lovely surrounding of trees on each side giving a treehouse sort of vibe.

Two times over this summer, neighbors in houses with large gardens have chopped down huge trees (approx 30 meters) that must have been over 50 years old.

This has really affected the views and amount of light from both sides of our flat, and made the whole area less appealing. Is it unreasonable to think that there should have been some neighborhood consultation before they did this? Or some sort of democratic process?

@ElberethGilthoniel

How will the announcement of the proposed tree felling take place?

That you believe that you should have a say is ridiculous.

[quote FrippEnos]**@ElberethGilthoniel

How will the announcement of the proposed tree felling take place?

That you believe that you should have a say is ridiculous.[/quote]
By public notice, the same way as planning permission? I don't understand why some posters on this thread are so outraged by this idea. Also whatever your opinion there's no need throw insults at the OP such as "bellend"!

@ichundich

I am "outraged" by the idea because for the length of time this will take it will cause more damage to properties.
If the OP and other want these trees they could plant them in their gardens.

Also sort out your posting style it makes it look like I have called the OP a "bellend" and I haven't.

@ElberethGilthoniel

Of course the person who owns the house could have final say, but some consultation would have been a lot more friendly and foster a better community around about

But it is almost a certainty that the views of the community would not be unanimous - so there would still be bad feeling. Not to mention the fact that most people have enough on their plates coping with work, family and their own homes, without adding on replying to endless consultations every time someone in the vicinity wants to alter their own property - or having to write letters to consult all of their neighbours for their own alterations.

I understand why you are sad about losing the trees, but no-one has to consult you about their own gardens and trees.

It could be just as easily argued that it's entitled to think just because you have a mortgage on a piece of land that the tree happens to be growing out of, you have a right to disrupt other people's enjoyment of it without consulting them

Do you understand the concept of "private property"?

[quote FrippEnos]**@ElberethGilthoniel

How will the announcement of the proposed tree felling take place?

That you believe that you should have a say is ridiculous.[/quote]
Someone would probably handcuff themselves to it!

I think all trees above 3 meters height should have a tpo on them and should need council permission to cut down which can only be given if an equivalent replacemeng tree is planted.

3m barely counts as a tree. Many of the hedges round here are taller than that. Not all of us live in urban areas with small gardens.

Fortunately not. But it's amazing what some people expect! Our NDN wanted to replace a piece of our fence (on our land) to match their fence 'because people could see it from the road' .

@mateysmum

I think all trees above 3 meters height should have a tpo on them and should need council permission to cut down which can only be given if an equivalent replacemeng tree is planted.

3m barely counts as a tree. Many of the hedges round here are taller than that. Not all of us live in urban areas with small gardens.

Also (sorry mateysmum can’t be arsed to go back to the original quote) you can’t replace like with like - a young tree will take years to meet OP’s treehouse requirement and an equivalent size isn’t possible to transplant.

Also often the original tree wasn't suitable for the space it was planted in, or the buildings which now surround it.

When we cut down our large diseased tree we replaced it with a smaller more garden friendly tree.

No

@mateysmum

I think all trees above 3 meters height should have a tpo on them and should need council permission to cut down which can only be given if an equivalent replacemeng tree is planted.

3m barely counts as a tree. Many of the hedges round here are taller than that. Not all of us live in urban areas with small gardens.

That would just mean that homeowners would keep cutting them back to keep them below 3 metres, to avoid them becoming protected.

And do we really want huge numbers of "protected" leylandii????

A consultation/prior information would have been more polite though and prevented annoyance on our part

A mature and realistic understanding that no one gives a fuck what you think about the landscaping on property which does not belong to you would also have prevented annoyance.

Nope. We had a huge conifer in our garden (not planted by us). We had no light in the living room and the roots were damaging the path so we had it cut down. Why should anyone get to say whether we could cut it down?

@Jaxhog

Fortunately not. But it's amazing what some people expect! Our NDN wanted to replace a piece of our fence (on our land) to match their fence 'because people could see it from the road' .

I take it you told them where to go? We had similar, they wanted to send a workman into our garden and our side of the boundary hedge to extend our fence to keep her dogs in, instead of building her fence her side of the hedge. Not happy with my reply.

It seems like the OP doesn't have experience of inviting people who aren't really part of something to comment based on politeness. I have found that involving outside parties to allow them to feel part of a decision can spectacularly backfire and be far more hassle than it is worth. There's no way in hell I'd be letting randos feel like they have some kind of say over what I do with my own property.

Oh bless your heart

@LittleBearPad

Unless it had a tree preservation order on it, it’s non of your business

It is the OP’s business, for the reasons described in the first post.

Of course getting permission from neighbours is not practical, but there’s no need to pretend that a cut down tree does not affect people in the area.

I know what you mean OP -we moved into our last place because of the beautiful, green balcony that was entirely surrounded by leaves. The neighbour cut it down after about a month, revealing a vista of high rise towers and exposing out bedroom window. I was sad. Not realistic for anything to be done about it though, sadly

Cutting down 3 in my garden that have been assessed and need to come down. Wouldn't think of asking neighbours permission.

As for consultation, there is a neighborhood Facebook group, and there are a lot of other avenues here for local consultation rather than having to knock on every door. I mean at the very least it's a noise disturbance that people should be warned about“

Why on earth would you have to knock on every door?

The majority of people are at work/otherwise occupied during generally accepted weekday working hours. If it’s outside of those hours, there are official avenues for complaint.

In short, it’s none of your business what people do with trees that are not under preservation orders in their own gardens.

I wouldn’t tell anyone or consult anyone about cutting a tree ever again.

We made the mistake of telling neighbours a diseased tree was being taken down, just as a noise warning. Ended up with several neighbours chirping in their opinions on the condition of the tree. One even demanded on the street Facebook group that we state who had given us the opinion it should come down as her friends husband is a tree surgeon and from the photo she sent him from four gardens away he didn’t think it was necessary… never again!

@ElberethGilthoniel

So for more context, I live in Denmark and have since found out that there are protection orders on certain trees that can't be cut down.

Of course I had no idea why they were cutting it down, which is exactly why I thought some consultation or prior information from the house owner would have been preferable. Otherwise it's just some workmen turning up at 9 on a Monday morning and starting to ruin a part of the neighborhood.

As it turns out it was taken down due to a consultation between the owner and the collective on the other side (who own their house) regarding the safety of a leaning tree. Again, it does rankle somewhat, but of course safety comes first. A consultation/prior information would have been more polite though and prevented annoyance on our part 🤷🏻‍♂️

…but you have no stake in the game!

God god you’re entitled

Sounds like OP would be happier living in an HOA in America, where they police everything you do to your house and garden.

@sueelleker

Sounds like OP would be happier living in an HOA in America, where they police everything you do to your house and garden.

Or Hobbiton

That wouldn't help here because he wants to police what other people do in completely unrelated gardens.