Permission???

[jose]

Quick question

 

I qouted a job to remove so snow damage. The onwers have a oak with a 20ft + branch( getting on to 4-6 inch dia) from what i can see which snapped off and wedges onto a lower branch, breaking that one too, and also a scotts pine where the branch has snapped off and if hanging from another below, best part of 50ft up.

 

Both trees are in there garden, above kids play area.

 

The area is a conservation area so these trees are covered.

 

I advised them to give the council a call a couple of days prior to work, informing them thats its purely to make safe these limbs really out of curtersy as i know the area is hot on calling the council and complaining if tree work is done.

 

Now as far as i understood if a tree is dead,dying or dangerous work can be carried out to make it safe.

 

So when they called the LA they are adament that nothing can be touched untill they have filled out a load of paper work( not sure what paperwork as jet as i only just spoke to the gut and he hasnt recieved it yet) regardless of it been dangerous. (admittedly it has been hanging there since january but thats not the point, the oak branch would squash u like a bug if it fell on you, is cleanly snapped off and i sure as hell wouldnt walk under it)

 

I am going to give them a call myself in the morning but thought i would just ask you guys first.

 

Also as a side note does anybody know what is the allowed time to start work in the morning? I always wait till 8am before starting saws but in this heat i really would love to start a bit sooner!

cheers

[alex_m]

not to sure on your main query, but our boss says it's ok to start saws at 7:30am - i'm not sure if that's true or just to get us working sooner instead of chatting to the customer/drinking tea

[Matthew Burton]

Again, I dont know the answer to your first queery. We never tend to start saws until 8 other than on jobs where there is a good reason to e.g. to avoid traffic while working over roads.

[ad15]

from my limited knowledge you'd need to give a 5 day notice for DDD,

 

as for saws,,, depends on the customer

[Mesterh]

An exemption is what you want.

 

Have a quick nosy here.

 

Application Exemptions

 

Its best to try and play nice with the LA but if they are being an arse and you dont really care just tell them what your doing and take plenty of photos along the way.

 

Why they sometimes insist on an application(I assume thats the paper work their after as it has happened with us) in situations like this baffles me!

[18 stoner]

Environmental Health state between 9am and 5pm Mon to Fri and 9 am to 12pm saturday. Surprising how little time you can work if its by the book.

[redmoosefaction]

I believe that if you, as an arborist, believe it to be DDD then you can go ahead. As Mesterh says take a load of photos to back it all up.

 

DDD is Dead, dying and dangerous, three terms that are statutory works which make them exempt.

 

I'm sure the earliest for power tools is 8am, you can always do a bit of hand saw stuff before.

[ukminch]

You can carry out the works listed above under the DDD exemption. As a courtesy I sometimes ring the tree officer depending on my relationship with them in that area.

 

I'd tend to use a 5 day notice if I was unsure. Really it is just courtesy to fill one in, but at least then they get chance to refuse works that they dont think should be carried out. Probably more for a diseased tree where there could be a debate as to how healthy it is.

 

Do the work but as already said get some piccies just in case it comes back to you.

 

R

 

p.s As professionals imho we ought to be offering a full service to the customers which in my book includes this type of paperwork. It may be that they've rung up and said Jo Bloggs tree surgeons say I can remove this branch but to check. They've said incorrect as no mention of any danger being present. It also means that the old i've checked and it's not TPO'd doesn't carry weight and get us into trouble. As I said just my opinion, some people want to stay away from the paperwork.

[Amelanchier]

You might like to point out to the LPA that considering their only veto when faced with notification of works in a Conservation Area is to serve a TPO, the paperwork is pointless as you could undertake the exempt works anyway.

 

Notice/notification need not be in paper form. Send them an email.

[janey]

A 5 day DDD is a curtesy to your local LA if the tree is in a Con' Area or TPO'd. As far as I am aware, there is no legal requirement for you to do this.

 

HOWEVER, the onus will be on you to prove that it was a geniune DDD case if there are any queries, so make sure you take loads of piccies.