TPO appeals

[Mlear]

I have 2 large trees in my neighbour's front garden that have started to uproot my driveway and presumably will shortly interfere with the foundations. They also impede our light and are, IMO, stopping us form being able to sell our property. They are both covered by TPOs and on 2 occasions, the local Council have refused our request for removal. I find it amazing there's not a legal option for me given the valid arguments I would have around damage to our property. The neighbours property is a housing association but even though they are also unhappy with the trees, we would be unable to remove the trees while the TPO remains in place. I am now prTrees July 2022.msgTrees July 2022.msgTrees July 2022.msgTrees July 2022.msgeparing to write to our MP for support. Am I wasting my time or is there another way?  

[Mark Bolam]

You need to supply a lot more info before getting a sensible response.

 

If the trees are 400 years old and your house is 2 years old it’s a totally different situation to your house being 400 years old and the trees 20 years old.

 

Pictures always help.

[Dan Maynard]

Also, it's possible but far from given that they will interfere with your foundations. Tree roots are relatively shallow so if you have foundations they will very likely be deeper.

 

This makes it a hard case to prove, so not a strong argument from the TPO point of view.

[Khriss]

Your MP and Councillors = pointless, have you made an insurance claim ? K

[Anno]

Forget light and try to find some actual evidence of damage that points to the root incursion, until then the response will be the same.

[petercb]

As others have said you need to provide a lot more detail.

 

TPO's can be removed but only with extremely good justification. Loss of light is not one of them. You will need to have I would think at least a qualified arborist's survey and a survey from a qualified building surveyor which would have to show compelling reasons for removal or reduction. Bear in mind that in some situations removal of trees near to buildings can lead to problems with 'heave'.

 

The housing association would also need to be in agreement with you.

[Thesnarlingbadger]

As others have said more information is needed really but if the trees are large and we’re there before the houses the argument the LA has is you brought the house knowing the trees were there.

 They are not going to allow the trees to be removed without good evidence the roots are causing an issue and a bit of uplifted driveway won’t be enough. You’ll need to get a tree report done which won’t be cheep and might not have the outcome you are hoping for. 
 If light is an issue you could always look at putting in an application to thin and reduce the crowns of the trees but they are not going to allow a fell because your living room isn’t a sun trap unfortunately. 

[lurch_917]

i would also look down the lines of getting the council to cover the cost of remedial repairs to the property caused by the root inclusion and also if they are saying you cant trim it to remove some of the weight getting them out on a regular basis to do it under their duty of care . once it starts costing them money they soon take another look i had this when a friend asked if i could do something with a old oak that had already caused damage to his property . yes it took  a few years but they have repaired his property 3 times paid for damage 2 times and are now planning a removal .

 

[Anno]

 

15 hours ago, lurch_917 said:

i would also look down the lines of getting the council to cover the cost of remedial repairs to the property caused by the root inclusion and also if they are saying you cant trim it to remove some of the weight getting them out on a regular basis to do it under their duty of care . once it starts costing them money they soon take another look i had this when a friend asked if i could do something with a old oak that had already caused damage to his property . yes it took  a few years but they have repaired his property 3 times paid for damage 2 times and are now planning a removal .

 

Why would the Council cover the cost if no real evidence has been provided?

[daltontrees]

As others have said, damage to driveway does not mean damage to foundations.

 

If the Council is not minded to lose the tree, you must demonstrate that no alternative engineering solutions are reasonably possible to keep the driveway useable (e.g. raising the level a bit then resurfacing). Also removal of a tree may not be necessary if removal of a root or two would solve the problem and not kill the trees.

 

My suggestion is to pay for some focused advice from someone who knows what they are talking about. It might be an engineeer that knows about trees, it mught be an arb that knows about engineering. Few and far between. Too many tree reports are expensive shelf-fillers that don't get to the (pun definitely intended) root of the problem.

 

You can't claim retrospectively for damage caused by TPO'd tree.