Felling trees, is it legal?

[Wisteria]

Hi
Can anybody tell me whether it is legal for one of my neighbours to be hacking down a huge weeping willow tree which is in his garden?
I can't find any literature on the net about residential 'garden trees' not under a TPO but am really upset about this as it is the most beautiful tree, extremely tall and presumably quite old given its size.
They appear to be hacking away at it with a saw - no hard hats and there are children playing in the same garden.

If I am being unreasonable to be concerned please let me know, I appreciate it is his garden and probably blocks his sun (and ours too but I like it!) however it is certainly not being done in what I would term a professional way.

We have to get permission from the council as we are in a conservation area. As far as I know you can ask for a Tree Preservation Order to be placed on the tree. They will not be able to touch it then without permission. Phone the council tomorrow morning.

If youa re in a conservation area then the rules are a bit complicated, but basically if it isn't a TPO then he is probably in his right

shame

Is he actually cutting it down or just cutting off branches?
There are two beautiful weeping willows on each side of the road at the entrance to our close & a few years ago I came home to find they had had most of their branches cut off - they looked awful, but they grew back really quickly & they are much better & less straggly than before.

If he is actually cutting it down, it may be because of subsidence - willows take a lot of water from the soil & it may actually be a danger not just to his house but yours as well.

Thank you, I will call the council; I don't want to be a nasty neighbour but this is the 2nd time they have gone ahead with something without letting anyone know, the first time was an extension while we were on holiday.
I can't describe how beautiful this tree is but I feel so strongly I will call the council tomorrow just to see what the law is, I've taken a sneaky photo anyway.
Problem is of course that they're doing it today and the tree will be gone by tomorrow no doubt so will be pretty pointless in trying to do anything retrospectively....

Yes Attilamum, I did wait before posting for this reson, but it looks like it's all coming down. I know they take a fair bit of water as I used to have one but I think it is far away from any houses not to be a problem, although I will check.
Are there not any health and safety laws that apply to tree felling?

He certainly shouldn't be doing it without safety equipment & with children there & if he is, he's probably doing it without any real knowledge either.

(btw Wisteria, you need to be careful out there - you don't want to get pruned yourself....)

Quite true AtM I shall be careful although I wouldn't mind having a bit taken off the rear, stomach and thigh! - I always chicken out of complaining as I am a coward anyway!

He seems to have stopped at the present moment so now the poor tree just looks completely lopsided!

I have a neighbour who has a willow tree in his garden and recently, I noticed that he had cut it back quite a bit. Now please don't bite my head of but, it is his garden and he can do what he likes considering the tree is massive and looks better now it has been trimmed. It never was a danger to my garden as it is bang in the middle of his. I, myself have an apple tree in my garden and the dh has said there is no way he will pay an x amount for a tree surgeon to reduce it. So, I will be taking a saw to its branches myself because it is getting on my nerves. Will you be reporting me to the council if I was your neighbour?

My parents have TPO's on several trees in their garden, and the council are seriously strict about them. They have to request to do any work on them and remove them. When they lost 2 trees in the wind earlier this yer they had to replace them with the same type and similar size (my fathe argued this point as they were very mature trees and although it would be possible to get ones of that size they would have cost a fortune, so they allowed him smaller ones). Therefore if there is a TPO on the tree and they do remove it entirely they will be forced to replant. If no TPO they I'm afraid they can do what they like.

No, temmy99 - firstly I would never bite anyone's head off as it isn't in my nature or report them to the council as you put it; for pruning a tree. I agree it is his business to prune but it looked like they were totally razing it to the ground yesterday and I was upset. I am not going to report as they have only pruned it.
I too would not pay a fortune for a tree surgeon if we could safely do it ourselves, but this tree (and I can't give you an exact size) is about 3 x the height of our house at least, it really is huge! I feel that the way they did it was extremely unsafe and to have children in the garden at the same time was ridiculous.

However, the tree will now be lopsided and could be unsafe as they have only pruned from one side which, a knowledgeable friend of mine has told me is actually very dangerous with a tree of this size. I just hope it recovers and we don't have any gale force winds while it recovers, otherwise the other neighbours' gardens and houses could be in danger.

Wisteria, you have my sympathy, my neighbour did exactly the same thing, in May, as all the birds were nesting. I have since enjoyed throwing sticky weeds over the hedge at every opportunity. I am now growing a huge clump of bamboo

I like your style..... and thanks for the sympathy; it is such a shame as it was such a fabulous site. It blocked our sun too a bit but I thought it was worth it for the view!