neighbour asking me to get my trees lopped

[ladylush]

AIBU in being irked that a neighbour who lives diagonally behind us knocked on my door the other day and asked if we could cut our tree? It is a Sycamore (actually there are two side by side) and it is established. It was here before we bought the house and was pruned back hard (18 months ago). The neighbour complained that she had no sunlight in her garden last summer because of the tree. It is not wide but it is tall (no leaves at the moment so only an issue in summer) - about 18ft. I told her that whilst it may be a nuisance for her, it is a benefit to us because it provides screening (which is great when we want to use our garden). In the winter she can see straight into our house from her bedroom window. I also told her that we would not be paying a tree surgeon to cut it every year. She then offered her to send round her son's friend (a tree surgeon) next week (who would do it as a favour for them) and that we would only have to contribute towards the cost of removing the branches. However, we discussed it and decided that we would prefer to employ a tree surgeon of our own at a time that suits us and that when we do get it cut back, we will not take as much off as she would want. I think if a sunny garden was that important to her she should have bought a house with a large garden with a southerly aspect instead of a west facing 35ft garden.

Where I live - a couple were jailed for a month for lopping their neighbour's hedge - see here

insanity I don't blame you for being angry. The developer should never have been allowed to build so close to your oak trees.

I'm shocked at the couple being jailed for cutting their own hedge. What is that all about?!

seriously though - by the look of the pictures they didnt give it a little trim did they? they gut the fucker down! and if it was spoiling their life considerably then i think 28 days probably converts into a practical time of fuck all

and perhaps they can now sunbathe again?

but please can someone explain why the neighbours would've been legally entitled to stop them from cutting their own hedge down. I doubt there would've been a TPO!

it wasnt theirhedge it was their neighbours

Are you sure? I thought the article said that the son-in-law said his fil would not pay attention to anyone who told him he couldn't cut his own hedge down.

Perhaps it was a boundary hedge

you asked if you are being unreasonable

unless this woman was rude when asking i really think you were

many people have tried to explain the value of neighbourlyness an you have replied with - well i wont mneed htem they live on the street at the back

how about justbeing a bit nice.
unless they are and have a history of being cunts - i think your behaving maightily twatty and agree with pointynotbitch in thatthey have agreed to take the hard work out of it for you - so doenst sound like they are being cuntwhackers but rather just want to be able to get some sun in their garden...but you wont accomodate becuase you will have toget nets?

please think about other window solutions and just be nice about it.

and whats with calling someone a bitch with a wink tagged on? out of order.

That's really confusing - it was their own hedge.

Now I would (and have) removed Leylandii to give the neighbours some light, and cut back hedges / take out self-seeded saplings. But not my oaks.

It was the neighbours hedge they cut. He did it in a fit of pique. From memory I think he served the full 28 days and the wife got out after about 14 days.

i am sure re the article the neighbours got an injunction after moving in nd promising to cut it down, the people who were jailed had lived there over 20 years and it want their hedge but as an onlder man he want being told what to do - sounds like suburban naivity

1)she wasn't being rude but she was pushy

2. I apologised to PD

3. I never said I wouldn't cut them, I just had an issue with the pushy nature of her sending the man around in two shakes of a lamb's tail

4. I can't put nets in my garden

5. I didn't ask if I was being unreasonable to not want them trimmed, I asked if i was being unreasonable to be irked - I later elaborated on that, describing the encounter

Jail is way ott and won't bring back the hedge. They should've been fined so that the neighbour could plant an established shrub or similar.

Don't agree Custardo. If the lady had knocked at the door and said, please come along and have a drink in our garden, and see how your tree affects us, a downright no is unfriendly. But a woman LL has never met before, knocking on the door and pressuring for a date when someone LL has no control over can come and lop the tree is something else.

Trees have been a bit of an issue with us, you can probably tell. I think they are for you also. I can tell you that I did give way to a new neighbour a few years ago when he asked if he could carefully prune some of our trees, a respected tree surgeon to do the work, etc etc etc, so that his new house could have a brighter garden. 'Yes' we said, in our naivety. What he actually did was send some oik up into the trees and cut them off flat, so the canopy looked like a brandy glass - quite flat. And he left the dead wood in the tree - come the next high wind it started to fall out, smashed a conservatory roof and damaged a car. And then this lovely new neighbour knocked down the old house and filled his brighter new garden with brick boxes ffs.

LL is ready to have a look at this lady's garden in the Summer and take it from there. I really would advise her to take things at her own pace.

no you cant put nets in your garden this is true and not what i was suggesting at all becuase that suggestion in insane! but you did cite as one of the reasons you like to not chop becuase she can see into your house.

i consider pushy to be rude and think you are correct to assess the situation in its fullest.

I apologise to you - i still cannot find the apology to pointy, i must have missed it but i believe it is there

My friend was phoned up by a neighbour who asked to speak to "the man of the house" about some trees at the foot of their garden he wanted them to lop. He refused to discuss it with her initially (being a mere woman, I suppose) which severely p*ed her off. Their house was for sale and they were reluctant to shell out the huge amount of money it would have taken to get the trees cut (to the extent he was insisting upon and it was a massive garden, so lots of them), so he suggested they reduce the amount they were asking for their house to fund it!!!! By which time, my friend's usual accommodating nature was well-irked and she told him to shove it. I presume the new owners have now sorted it....

Apology accepted though my apology (made on 8th Jan at 20:13)does not relinquish your right to have a dig

clam - at the audacity and neanderthal attitude of your friend's ex neighbour.

Insanity - thanks for your post. Your neighbour really took the piss. That was what we were worried about tbh. It's a nice quality to be able to see the best in people and take them at their word, but experience guides us otherwise.

He was a developer in disguise, LL. Councils are getting wise to the fact that people who make extensive planning applications will probably chop down lots of trees, so those who have the funds will send a Tree Protection Officer to the site to put preservation orders on anything beautiful, usually tipped off by neighbours. So some developers try to get rid of trees before they make the planning application, before the radars start twitching.

Doh - sorry didn't read it properly. That is scandalous insanity. I know what you mean about the TPOs as my mum has been battling with developers and finally had to give in when all the people around her agreed to sell. She opposed the first phase of development which saw loads of concrete boxes as you describe packed into a plot where only 4 houses had been. The neighbours opposite were asked for their support to protect the trees as they are considered to be an amenity by many who live on the road. They weren't interested. The second phase where my mum finally gave up the fight as she would've been the only original house surrounded by concrete boxes and increased noise/parking problems inc. being completely overlooked (had been very private before)angered the neighbours opposite who suddenly decided that trees were an amenity and that the development would impact on their view. Shame!

Oh and the point I meant to raise was that they got the council to slap TPOs on the trees but it was too late as the developer had already poisoned the trees.

Sigh. All v familiar ... Bet your Mum lives in Surrey ...

Ooh spooky

Near a racecourse?