Neighbour wants tree cut down

[HimalyanSilverBirch]

Hello,

I'd appreciate some thoughts on a dispute with my neighbour.

I have a silver birch in my garden that is next to the boundary.

My neighbour wants us to cut this down because they don't like the mess caused by falling seeds/leaves and because of the risk the roots may cause their newly laid (and presumably very expensive) patio which is right next to the boundary.

For reference we are in a conservation area and the removal of the tree would require planning permission as the diameter is over 7.5cm at a height of 1.5m (though only just). The tree trunk is thus relatively slender and the height is roughly that of a two story house but the canopy is not large.

Unfortunately, the conversion got quite heated/ugly (and ended up with them throwing their sweepings over the fence).

I'll admit I don't want to lose the tree as it is really lovely, but having a look on google birches do have shallow roots that can cause problems to patios.

So where I am at is that I'm loathe to cut down the tree but equally I'm conscious about potential damage to the neighbours property that I might become liable for (the fact you have to sweep up leaves I don't believe to be relevant).

It's also probably worth mentioning that if the roots were a problem I'm unsure why this wasn't raised by the professionals who installed the patio.

As a final point they said they had to declare the tree on their house insurance so potentially the motivation here is the impact on the premium (the tree was in situ when they bought the property).

I don't want to fall out with neighbours (though that ship might have sailed) so what next?

I looked at the council website and they don't engage re: private tree disputes.

So I'm a bit unsure of what to do next and am I BU by not agreeing to cut down the tree.

Has anybody been in a similar situation?

I think you are right that the major issue for them is the sweeping up.

As I posted before if there was a problem with the roots the laying of the patio would have evidenced this - and this would have been the time to speak to us about the tree.

Instead the catalyst for engaging with us has been the arrival of spring and the catkins falling from the tree.

Not wanting to sweep your patio isn't a good reason to cut down a tree - but I'll see what the council have to say.

It's all new territory as we've had really good relationships with neighbours up until this point. We are not the sort to deliberately wind people up or be unreasonable when people have legitimate concerns.

Hence trying to be measured and not letting their behaviour goad me into making poor decisions in response.

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.

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!

Thanks again for your input.

I've already emailed the council to explain the situation and ask for advice, so I will await their response.

I'm leaving neighbour to hopefully cool off but if they raise the issue again I'll tell them that the council has been informed of their concerns and nothing is going to happen until they get back to me.

Ultimately, I don't think they can force the issue nor do I think the tree is problematic in any meaningful way that would warrant planning approval to fell it.

So hopefully if the council confirm that and it's job done.

Where we live has many trees. We have about 10 on our property and I do sympathise with the "sweeping" issue - but where the hell would be be if every tree was allowed to be removed because of its proximity to a household that was adverse to getting a rake/broom out during some parts of the year?

They seemed quite certain they were going to "sort this problem" and that "the tree is coming down".

I don't think they would be silly enough to attack the tree but they may get legal advice which from what I understand would only confirm that can't force us to remove the tree.

That picture 😂😂😂.

Honestly all it does is advertise to the whole neighbourhood "I am a wanker".

People can certainly be very strange 🤷‍♀️.

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.

"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.

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.

I'm really sorry to hear about your experience 😢

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.

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

It sounds quite big to me

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

It's tall but very slim. Honestly this is not a massive tree and given it's age (it was here when we moved in 15 years ago) it's reached maturity and isn't going to get significantly bigger.

If the canopy started to grow considerably larger I'd be happy to pay myself for a tree surgeon to trim it because I am very aware the proximity to the boundary is not ideal and I'm not an arse.

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.

Had my neighbour been nicer I'd have been happy to offer to pay myself for a regular inspection from a tree surgeon.

I still might keep this in mind but I'm not paying for it based on their rudeness.