Donate SIGN UP

Pruning Council Owned Trees

Avatar Image
soapnumpty | 15:30 Wed 05th Jun 2013 | Civil
4 Answers
Behind my house there are a number of trees (sycamores i think) on land owned by the local council. They are almost as tall as the house, and block out quite a lot of light. I contacted our local council to see if they would prune them to reduce the height but they have said no, and that I have no automatic entitlement to light in my garden/house. They have no intention of ever pruning them and said if I was to do this myself I would be liable to prosecution as they are council owned. I asked if i could approach the council to obtain their permission to prune them but was told any request would be denied.

Does anyone have any ideas of what I can do, or any legal argument I can use to approach the council?

The trees are 20-30ft from my house and are not protected by tree preservation orders. I just want them to be reduced in height, not removed.

Many thanks.
Gravatar

Answers

1 to 4 of 4rss feed

Best Answer

No best answer has yet been selected by soapnumpty. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.

For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.
If you own your property, it's my understanding that you can cut back overhanging branches which encroach on your property but you have to offer the cuttings back to the owner(s)
I suggest contacting your local councillor -explain the situation and the response received to date.
what is the use of the land that these trees are on? Is it a public park or a school field? Why does the council need the trees to stay there? It does cost quite a lot to have trees removed but if they are so big they have beenhere a good few years, what is so important with them that the council say they won't maintain them to a reasonable height? if it was trees on your property and your neighbour complained the council would certainly ask you to prune your trees.
Question Author
Thanks for your replies. The land is just recreational for public use. There is a road, then about 100ft of trees with a path running through it, then the houses, including mine. The trees are there to mask some of the traffic noise, and just to give the area a bit of greenery. The council do have a maintenance programme in place to prune the ones against our boundary fence every 5 years to stop them overhanging, but it's the ones further back which are getting a bit out of control & the council have no intention of maintaining those.

1 to 4 of 4rss feed

Do you know the answer?

Pruning Council Owned Trees

Answer Question >>

Related Questions

Sorry, we can't find any related questions. Try using the search bar at the top of the page to search for some keywords, or choose a topic and submit your own question.