Value of a live tree?

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

if I owned this tree AND the drive it overhung i too would be fuming, they wasnt entitled, it wasnt their property it overhung.

 

bloody cheek

[Rupe]

But the value or depreciation in value of the tree due to this work must surely be zero?

 

You cant put a ££ sign on everything, a chat would have been better but not £5 better or £5K better, just better.

[janey]

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

 

If the tree owners want to persue this, then the easiest thing to do is to report the vandals to the LA. Infringements of Planning Regs (if the tree is above the required size) are a criminal acts and should be dealt with accordingly. Also, if the arisings weren't offered back to the owners then that is theft, again a criminal act. Although in reality the chances of any action being taken is minimal, perhaps a legally termed letter from the LA might just scare them into not doing anything similar again.

 

Why oh why are neighbours so incapable of talking to each other in the first place and thus avoiding all this grief ?

[Rupe]

Janey, does offerign back the waste really refer to twigs etc? I thought it was just an old law referring to firewood and/or fruit. and as such is a nonsense when referring to general waste.

 

All all cases I can think of where a neighbour has "hacked" a tree, returnign the debris would just be an additional insult!

[janey]

Janey, does offerign back the waste really refer to twigs etc? I thought it was just an old law referring to firewood and/or fruit. and as such is a nonsense when referring to general waste.

 

All all cases I can think of where a neighbour has "hacked" a tree, returnign the debris would just be an additional insult!

 

Technically, yes. Removal of anything belonging to the legitimate owner is considered theft. The principal is that all arisings need to be offered back and it's then up to the owner whether they want to take them or not.

 

But if you can get a suspended sentance for killing someone these days, I don't think theft of a few twigs will betaken that seriously by our over worked Old Bill.

[Rupe]

Yes I know "technically", and I know the principal, but its bobbins! No one wants the debris back, its just an old law that has no merrits, and we should not take it so literally IMO.

 

No one is ever going to call the police because they didn't get their twigs back and the police would not respond to it anyway.

[janey]

Yes I know "technically", and I know the principal, but its bobbins! No one wants the debris back, its just an old law that has no merrits, and we should not take it so literally IMO.

 

No one is ever going to call the police because they didn't get their twigs back and the police would not respond to it anyway.

 

Hey, I'm only telling you the law. Whether it's reasonable to implement it or not is an entirely different matter

 

At least you now know you're being a very naughty, law breaking boy when you go twig napping.

[Rupe]

I was after your opinion really, facts are too boring. IMO its not worth considering, just clear up the mess and thats that. Its not me that would be twig napping, I would just be handling the stolen goods!

 

Never really worried about being a naughty boy! I have moral principals that are mostly legal but not always. I am 100% certain you have broken the speed limit on your bike, yet I would not dream of quoting the law to you, rules are there to be broken and laws are there to be bent.

[bob]

The only monetary costs you realistically have a chance of recouping would be your costs to tidy up bad workmanship

[janey]

I photoshopped those numbers onto the speedo, honest guv'

 

I work to my own moral code, which isn't always the same as what is legal. However, as this is a publically viewable 'site, I'm bound to say that I never break the law in any way

 

As for the twig napping scenario, I think I would be one of the few people that would do things rigidly (some would say, anally) by the law and offer any arisings back to the owner. BUT, I wouldn't go hacking at a neighbours tree without discussing it with them in the first place.

 

I've worked in LAs giving just this kind of advice to members of the public and liasing with the Legal Dept's over planning regs infringements involving trees, so I would be one huge hypocrite if I was to then completely ignore the correct way of doing things.