Merip on beech, would you...

[sloth]

...tell the owners?

Normally I dont point out every fungal infected tree I see to the owners, but this time I did. It has heavy merip fruiting around the base, and a slight weight bias toward the road. Not the biggest beech, 30-40 foot, with a hefty trunk around 3-4 foot dbh. What prompted me to stop and alert the owner is that this is beside a main road, and is a very busy school run for a junior and secondary school.

The teenager who answered didnt seem to grasp I dont want the job of removal, I was just trying to let his parents know incase they wanted to prevent damage to their own property or passersby. Proper grumpy little sod left me quite irrate with his 'whats it gotta do with me' attitude. Anyway, I digress, do you/would you bother pointing out dodgy trees in dodgy areas? I kind of wish I hadnt bothered. Oh well...

[Phil71]

I definitely would, imagine if you had not said anything and the tree had come down and killed someone! be hard to live with that. Might have ended up giving the snotty kid a cuff round the ear though!

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

To save you doing the "knock-a-door-run" you're local Highway Authority might be interested here as the tree is "within falling distance" of the highway.

 

Such a shame as makes a really valuable amenity contribution.

 

Paul

[Jesse]

I ALWAYS do, but go about it in a different way, I ask if its ok for me to have a look at what ever is growing , just out of interest, then once they see me having a close look curiosity always gets the better of them, then I just go into great detail about what it is and what its likely to do, I don't scare them as its impossible to predict exactly when a tree will fail and I always make sure I leave them with just my name and the name and contact number of the LA tree officer and suggest that they contact them for further advice, I try not to tout for any work and find thats the best approach. If they don't come and ask me about it I just leave when I'v finished looking, if its a danger to the public I report it to the LA and let them notify the owner.

[Gray git]

As above prittymuch and often give a name of a consultant, but would be a waste of time reporting it to our local LPA as they would either say what's that or what's it got to do with us as they won't even act on informant abound completely dead trees in public parks so very unlikely to care about a privately owned tree.

[Jesse]

As above prittymuch and often give a name of a consultant, but would be a waste of time reporting it to our local LPA as they would either say what's that or what's it got to do with us as they won't even act on informant abound completely dead trees in public parks so very unlikely to care about a privately owned tree.

 

Sorry thats how things work with your LPA, mine is very different, I have two passionate TO's and know of a few other ones in different areas who share the same passion and interest in trees. I am also a tree warden and involved with the LPA, advising when asked, Highways are also just an email or phone call away and all respond really well to any of my concerns raised , Anyway I do know areas can differ as can TO's but I consider myself and the people who live in Somerset and Dorset and not forgetting Mendip District Council to be very lucky. I wont name TO,s but all as mentioned provide a fantastic service.

[Jesse]

Sorry thats how things work with your LPA, mine is very different, I have two passionate TO's and know of a few other ones in different areas who share the same passion and interest in trees. I am also a tree warden and involved with the LPA, advising when asked, Highways are also just an email or phone call away and all respond really well to any of my concerns raised , Anyway I do know areas can differ as can TO's but I consider myself and the people who live in Somerset and Dorset and not forgetting Mendip District Council to be very lucky. I wont name TO,s but all as mentioned provide a fantastic service.

I could go on , but forgot to mention the best South West TO works for South Somerset District Council . Now he really does know his trees, and once worked on the tools, they always make the best TO's.

[Gray git]

Agreed jesse, the best are the ones who have worked up to to position and we have a few like that in neighboring districts but just not in my local 1.

Highways inspectors On the whole are good and will listen to concerns but are often unwilling to step in when it's a privately owned tree that's posing a risk but as I don't quite know what authority they have in these circumstances all we can do is try and then if the worst happens then our conscience is clear.