Concerned re large tree near house - conservation area

[ladida76]

So, we're living in a period property so the tree was clearly planted much closer to the house than would be allowed nowadays.

It's a mammoth of a tree - significantly taller than our 3-storey house and a large trunk and canopy. We have had it trimmed back some years ago by 1/3 (had to apply to do it as in conservation area) and it was still bloody large. It's fairly healthy though seems to have some sort of weird insects but, mostly, I'm concerned about the proximity to our house as if something happened, that would be it for probably a good 1/3 of our house!

A couple of years ago, another large (but not at this scale) tree suddenly started creaking and so was a danger and got the council to send someone around that day.

My question is, what is the likelihood of getting a council to agree to having a tree like that culled? It's literally only metres from our house!

Is it your tree? If so, native species or not? Something like a sycamore is perceived as invasive and less of an issue. We live in a village with a conservation area and planning permission to remove or tidy trees is passed all the time.

Have you considered you might get ground heave if the tree is removed?

If the last time you had it trimmed was some years ago, wouldn’t it be worth having someone round to check it’s safety and see how much can be trimmed before you apply to destroy it?

We had an alder in our garden, far too close to the house, which had a TPO on it. I'm not sure on the differences between TPO vs conservation area but we put in an application, made it clear we were very happy to plant another (smaller!) tree and permission was granted - they gave us a choice of 2 trees we could replace it with.

For us, something that seemed to help was amenity value and we replaced a huge tree in the back garden that no-one could see with a nice one in the front garden for everyone to admire.

TPO applications are all on the council website so we could look at other applications and see what other people had said.

I think I'd take professional advice on this one. Some period properties have shockingly poor foundations. Depending on what type of tree it is, it might have very deep or shallow and far reaching roots. If the tree comes out suddenly and the roots die back quickly - I'd be worried what the impact of that would be so close to your house and your foundations.

Thanks for your advice. Yes, I have considered ground heave and it is a concern and would definitely seek out professional advice but just wanted to know what other people's experience was when it comes to applying to have trees removed. This tree is huge and is at the side/front of our garden and so is quite prominent in terms of people seeing it from the street. But there are other large trees nearby on our plot.

If the tree is healthy then there’s little chance (unless there are other factors involved) that the council will allow it to be felled. The best course of action would be to get a tree surgeon to assess it and advise what can be done to reduce it.

Trees do creak and move, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re about to fall down.

It doesn't sound as if there's any issue with the tree except for making you nervous? And I don't understand what you mean about a tree not being 'allowed' near a house - there is absolutely nothing to stop most homeowners planting a tree slap bang beside the door if they so choose (though it might not be the wisest course of action). Old houses tend to be built with materials that naturally move a bit, so they stand up well to trees. If the tree is very old, I would be worried that removing it would cause more disturbance than leaving it.

FWIW, we're in a conservation area and there's a massive copper beach at the end of the row of terraced houses I live in; a couple of people have applied to have it cut down and have been told no, no way, it's a healthy tree and important to keep. I think that's the usual response unless it's an invasive species or unhealthy.

Thanks for all further advice. I'll just go for another trim and chat with our tree surgeon in the first instance.

@SarahAndQuack I suppose I was really thinking that you're not allowed to build too close to a tree (I think?), and so the general recommendation for planting trees is that you don't do it too close to your house (some even mention the total height of the tree is the distance from house to where it's planted - that certainly wouldn't apply to most of the trees we have around our house!).

Why did you buy the house if the tree was already there as it must have been?! We need trees, especially mature trees, at this time of urban pollution and climate change. Tree officers from local authorities are well aware of the value of large trees and also how to assess their health. It doesn't seem fair for the tree to suffer from your lack of forethought. It takes years for a tree to reach maturity and minutes to cut it down to the detriment of us all. So short sighted.

I’ve had no problem in getting permission to remove trees. I’ve stressed lack of amenity and closeness to/affect on other more desirable trees. On one occasion I asked to remove a tree that had died, and was asked to submit an arboriculturalist report to confirm it was dead, so I simply resubmitted the application removing the word “dead”, and permission was granted.

on the other hand, there is a mature copper beech 8ft (2.5m) from the house. I’d be worried about getting this removed because of heave.

If you look at the primary legislation, it is clear the Conservation Areas were set up primarily to protect the built environment. Provision is made to require notice to Council for tree work in order for the to decide whether to apply a TPO. But, and this really annoys me, there is no provision for them to say “nah, this is a scrubby little sycamore, we’ll never want to put a TPO on it, do what you like, and no need to ask again”. You have to ask permission every single time you want to prune.

@IthinkIamAnAlien Always someone on MN with an aggressive tone, sight...

We bought the house 13 years ago and I was not bothered by the tree at all then, in fact I love trees and we've planted several on our plot which already has many more mature trees on it than most plots in the neighbourhood.

As I mentioned, a couple of years back, the tree next to it was clearly in distress, swaying dangerously and making a very distinct creaky noise (not the usual you'd expect) and the local council arborist confirmed it was a potential danger to pedestrians and they were here within hours to take it down.

Hence, since then I've become increasingly worried, especially with the dry/wet weather and how it seems to have shifted some of the ground in places.

Thanks everyone else for some very helpful and constructive advice.