Advice re removal of silver birch trees

[Nikki1975]

Hi

I hope that someone can help me as I seem to be getting nowhere. I have 2 huge silver birch trees (one is 15m in height and the other is 12m in height after both of them being reduced in 2017) which are situated 5m from my house on my property boundary and owned by the council.  I have been in a constant battle with the council about the damage the trees are causing to my garden as the roots are on the surface barely covered by shingle which is the only thing I can have in my garden currently, I cannot add more shingle as this will then cover my damp course.  The roots have made my path uneven and and they are pushing a drain out of the ground. There are also random (sometimes quite large) branches falling into my garden and so feel my front garden is unuseable. The council have refused so far to remove the trees and say that they will contribute towards costs for me to have my garden reinstated including removing tree roots (despite telling me before not to touch them as this could make the trees unstable) and put right. Due to the conflicting information the council were giving me and the refusal of their own arborist to come out and check the trees  I paid to have a private arborist report done to try and get some clarity. The private arborist report I had done said the trees are showing signs of decay, are damaging my garden and are too close to the house and any repairs to the garden whilst the trees were still in situ would not be satisfactory as the problems would likely reoccur and so the recommendation was that the trees should be removed. I have yet to send this report to the council and their liability insurer but still think they may ignore it even though I will be pushing for the trees to be removed. However now I am concerned about what the consequences if they are removed will this affect the soil/ground and ultimately my property months or years down the line? And if so who will be liable for the costs/Repairs? Do the council have a duty to monitor the ground movement or anything after removing the trees? Of note I have had the soil type checked and I have a medium shrinkable clay with flint deposits. I am so worried and stressed by the whole situation and worry for the future of my house and investment.  I would be so grateful for any advice if anyone has been through or has knowledge of a similar scenario. Many thanks

[Stubby]

2 minutes ago, Scottish Cleaning Service said:

Once you serve the council a writ then they have to defend it. They would probably agree that you can remove the trees as long as you pay for them. If they don't then you would need to proceed to the court. The judge would make a judgement. He may agree with the claimant and order the council to pay for the court fees and the removal of the trees. So if I was the council I would rather allow the complainer to proceed and save the council a lot of money and hassle. fwiw 

Is this in Scotland or anywhere in the U.K. ?