Legal advice

[tommer9]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but here goes anyway. Just been out to look at a line of about 18 mature p.radiata which are growing up on the verge of a bridlepath, next to a boundary wall of a field. The guy who called me wants a load of work- i estimate about 2 weeks roughly fo 2 men, getting rid of the massive amount of growth into his newlt accquired field. The trees have been pruned (presumably by the council) on the bridlepath side, but cant have been touched for years if ever over this guys field. Consequently he has lost a strip of field amounting to probably 1-2 acres. Is there any legislation etc which means he can get the council (who own the trees) to pay or help pay for the cost of the work- dot they have a duty of care in any way etc etc. I have said that not counting the half a dozen or so dead standing ones and a couple that have fallen over he is looking at min.3k to do it, and he is running scared now:ohmy: Wondered if there was any grant funding (although i assume not) from FC or similar bodies. The work need doing badly regardless of his field state, as the trees are extremely unbalanced and one has fallen already, but he doesnt think he can afford it with the cost of the overall purchase etc at the moment.

 

Any help much appreciated guys and dolls.

[Yorkshireman]

has he tried defra

[Andy Clark]

Consequently he has lost a strip of field amounting to probably 1-2 acres.

 

Is there any legislation etc which means he can get the council (who own the trees) to pay or help pay for the cost of the work- dot they have a duty of care in any way etc etc.

 

I have said that not counting the half a dozen or so dead standing ones and a couple that have fallen over he is looking at min.3k to do it, and he is running scared now:ohmy: Wondered if there was any grant funding (although i assume not) from FC or similar bodies.

 

The work need doing badly regardless of his field state, as the trees are extremely unbalanced and one has fallen already, but he doesnt think he can afford it with the cost of the overall purchase etc at the moment.

 

 

Firstly Tommer, Yes, the council (as the tree owners) do have statutory duty of care obligation. Just the same as any other/public/corporate/private body has duty of care obligations if it were their trees.

 

Getting them to act accordingly and do something about it however, is another matter.

 

You mention the location of the trees as along the side of the a bridlepath...... Are you aware of any TPOs or Conservaion Area constraints?

 

You also mention the 1-2 acres of field that the landowner has lost due to the overgrow nature...... Are you aware of any plans he has to "farm" this land?? Is "not using" the land, imposing any financial loss on the landowner?

 

Silly question, but have you approached the local Tree Officer and just simply discussed the matter with him/her??

Edited August 18, 2009 by Andy Clark
typo

[Stephen Blair]

if you still want the work tom get on the approved contractors list first, because if they decide to do it they will use someone who is. let this guy worry about it mate, give him your price and walk away, you are now being his free contract/grant funding dogs body. has he given you the job if you help with funding?

[Andy Clark]

give him your price and walk away, you are now being his free contract/grant funding dogs body. has he given you the job if you help with funding?

 

Or the other way to look at it if he's running scared over the price, is spend half hour or so doing a bit of leg work to get a heads up with the background info, then give him a quote for mediation services!

 

£500 quid mediation bill, with the prospect of saving him £000's on the t/work costs....?? I recon he'd bite your arm off!

 

 

Get the tree work or not then, you've still made on the job.

[Stephen Blair]

defo on that one andy, but make sure you get that in writing before you kick a ball tom. i have spent a lot of work on these things before then someone else gets the work or nothing happens. because i never sorted out the deal straight away.

[combined tree services]

firstly the council do have the responsibility to cut the tree back but the complication comes when the trees may be owned by cornwall council or the local parish council so firstly i would contact the parish council to see if the bridle path belongs to them failing that contact cornwall council , should that fail then legally you can cut back anything overhanging your clients property back to the legal boundary but should this create an imballence and any of the trees fall over etc etc then i can promise you the council that owns them will come looking for you . as far as funding and grants go i would guess that unless you were restoring the bridal path then there would not be alot of funding out there for you if any at all !!!!!

 

i personally would give either olly or ian a call in the forresters department they will be more than happy to help as they oversee all of the countys tree stock

[tommer9]

Thanks for the replies guys, food for thought. I will do some quiet digging about it.

[nepia]

From a standpoint of someone with minimal tree law knowledge - sometimes ignorance is bliss - then surely the 'loss of 1-2 acres' claim could be countered with a claim that the previous owner chose to lose that ground by not pruning the trees when he had the right and opportunity.