Cutting trees and neighbour disputes

[MCMP13]

I have some trees in my garden that give both my neighbour and myself privacy. The trees are overgrown with ivy and are crumbling anywhere you touch them. I want to take them down and actually sort my garden out for my toddler. However my neighbour whose garden they hang over does not want this - they don’t even hang over by much it’s mostly my side and all the roots are in my garden.

Am I legally allowed to cut these trees down?

I'm going ring my council on Monday when they open but just curious if anyone can advise.

If they are on your property providing there is not a Tree Preservation Order on them, they are yours to dispose of as you choose.

You can assuming there are no TPOs in place and you are not within a conservation area or AONB. However it may be better to compromise, keep the tree but prune or coppice for privacy. At this time of year there are restrictions due to nesting birds.

Assuming no TPO from what you’re saying then yes it’s your tree and your choice, neighbour has no say.

Thank you. I have tried to upload a photo to show the mess I’m dealing with but the file was too large to upload . There are no TPO’s so I am going to be chopping the crumbling trees down and the one covered in ivy. Still leaving a couple of trees for privacy but there will some gaps.

thanks for the advice

You're not allowed to do it during bird nesting season.

@Wbeezer not true actually. You mustn’t disturb nesting birds but if there are none its fine to cut.

As someone else said- this time is prime nesting time for birds and it's illegal to disturb a nest. Need to be sure there are no nests if you do take them down, or wait until nesting season is over.

Thank you

Am I able to cut down the unsafe one? The ones crumbling/rotting or do I have to wait until October?

Can you see clearly enough for know if there are any birds nests? If you are happy there aren’t any then you can cut them down.

However, dying trees are a really important part of the ecosystem and for biodiveristy, especially covered in ivy and it might not be unsafe/unstable. With some pruning you could make it isn’t a feature rather than an eye sore.

You can cut down rotting trees at
any time as they’re dangerous. Even a tree fairly narrow in appearance can cause a lot of damage. We have tree surgeons in annually to inspect our trees, and we’ve still had a couple of trees split and come crashing down into the road.

You can cut down if no nests but safer to wait until autumn.

Unless you literally crawl over every tree, check every single branch, nook & cranny, peer into every scrap of tangled ivy and all the holes in the trunk, you won't know whether there are any nesting birds there.

And you can't do that, because it is an offence to disturb nesting birds, and by searching for nests you are disturbing the birds.

Catch-22.

So leave well alone in the nesting season, eh?

The guidance is August, not Autumn. But, if a tree is rotting, it’s safer for any people living nearby to remove the tree.

Is the tree posing an immediate risk to you or other humans where it is? If it is, I would contact a professional for a survey of the tree and then see what they recommend. They will be aware of the rules around removal during nesting time and will enable you to deal with it in a legal and safe manner

I was just repeating what it says on my council planning portal, I guess they chose to interpret the rules very strictly to avoid ambiguity, or maybe it's just badly worded.

The sycamore at ours overhanging the river, I absolutely could see there were no nests. And TPOs don't mean you can't cut down trees, just that you have to seek permission (it's free to do, and not that difficult of a form) first.
It's all very well saying only cut down trees in autumn/ winter but tree surgeons, especially good ones, might be well booked up, and if they're that badly rotting, they're a risk to the property and the people living within it- we're not out of the possibility of storms yet and trees in leaf are more likely to come down.

If you cut the ivy at the bottom the top will die off. Go around as much of the tree as you can and cut a ft or two off of each trunk and it will die back.

but your in nesting season so I wouldn’t be touching anything

I’m also a big ivy fan. It’s great for bees and birds. Does need managing though!

If you post a picture more knowledgeable people will be able up give you advice.