Value of a live tree?

[welwell]

I've got a client who has a young beech tree (perhaps 40-50 years old) and his neighbours have "hacked it" He called me to tidy up the un-sightly stubs left behind by the pruning.

 

He wants to take the case further and has asked me to "value" the tree and to tell him in my opinion how much "value" (aesthetically) has been taken off the tree by said neighbourly pruning.

 

Any ideas??

[skyhuck]

There is a scale (I forget what its called) thats used for valuing trees, its used for working out TPO fines.

[armchairarborist]

there's the helliwell system of valuing trees for amenity, could do a search for that? got any photo's?

[RobRainford]

Were the branches overhanging their land? Or did they enter your clients property to carry out these works?

 

The helliwell system is good for valuing trees.

[Paul Barton]

Try using CAVAT. Here is a link to a user guide which is pretty simple to follow:

 

Downloads | Capital Asset Value for Amenity Trees (CAVAT)

[Rupe]

If they were overhanging ( and no tresspass) and its not in a conservation area then no chance of charging them for it.

 

Would be nice if neighbours talked about these things though!

[Rupe]

Also, if you have removed the stubs then its no longer "hacked". So no harm done, apart from your costs, but as a good tree owner they might well have got you in to do it properly in the first place.

[janey]

Try using CAVAT. Here is a link to a user guide which is pretty simple to follow:

 

Downloads | Capital Asset Value for Amenity Trees (CAVAT)

 

Darn it! You beat me to it again!

 

Several London Boroughs use the CAVAT system for putting a monetary value on their tree stock. It is primarily designed as a management tool and to be used alongside JMP (Joint Mitigation Protocol) for dealing with tree related insurance claims.

 

You could also use the fine levels for Planning Reg's infringements.

[john dawson]

The neighbours are perfectly entitled to hack anything back to the boundary line - permission or not. However they should've returned the waste material (or at least offered, as it is the owners property to deal with).

 

Good manners would have suggested discussing with the owner first and/or doing a proper job. you could try to claim back for the cost of trimming stubs back?

 

But yes, the Helliwell system is the most commonly used. The Arb Assoc's "the visual amenity valuation of trees and woodlands, the helliwell system" Guidance note 4 is listed on their website under publications Arboricultural Association

[welwell]

It's a tricky one, the tree is in a C.A. and although it was the lower branches over the driveway, is is a driveway owned by the owner of the tree. The "hackers" have agreed access to and fro their front door (by my understanding).

 

I think my client just wants to know what damage has been caused and indeed in my humble opinion the damage is little, aesthetically the tree does look different, but no different to a thousand other crown-lifts over a driveway!

 

So correctly pointed out by various others earlier a little neighbourly chat over the garden fence could've stopped it getting to this point1

 

thanks for the advice though peeps