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Jon Heuch

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  • Location:
    Kent
  • Occupation
    Consultant
  • Post code
    TN27 0JW
  • City
    Ashford

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  1. Claire Heave is a complex issue that is difficult to be certain of even if I had visited your property and had all the information available. Luckily it is not particularly common so that is some reassurance. If your neighbour's insurance wants you to remove your tree then you can be reasonably assured that they will cover the risk of heave to their property. I can't see if your property is detached or semi detached? Has movement in their property affected your property at all? Has there ever been any movement in your property? Clearly, the usefulness of that information depends on how long you have lived there.... The best advice I can give is make sure you have the standard buildings insurance that includes the standard section on heave, landslip and subsidence. It will typically have an excess of £1000. This, by itself, will cover the "risk" arising from the removal of your tree. You could spend money on time trying to ascertain what risk of heave there is but in reality that risk doesn't not act a defence to not removing the tree if indeed it has been shown to be the cause of movement. The other aspect to an ash tree is that it may succumb to ash dieback and die; a similar "heave" risk applies then, so you may not be able to avoid it. I see the tree has been pruned back before and regrown. The above provides some insight into the situation but doesn't provide a comprehensive analysis.
  2. Advice doesn't cost "thousands"; an experienced arboricultural consultant should have sufficient experience of subsidence to know how things might progress. Pass them across if you wish. Without an engineer's report describing the damage, its severity and timing we are all in the dark as to what has happened. Forget a crown reduction - probably only a delaying tactic if the tree or trees are causing the damage. Two oak trees - one 13.5 metres and one 22 metres away. These silly arb reports (slightly better than the other lot) don't give even an indication of stem thickness but assuming the distances are correct and the trees of similar size it might be possible to remove the closest and leave the one further away.. At 13.5 metres distance lots of potential to install a root barrier but it will be more expensive to install than tree removal. As for telling a tree owner to contact their building insurer it is their contents insurance that may cover the risk; if they only have one insurance policy covering both it doesn't matter. If the neighbour is not a domestic tree owner things get a little more complex.
  3. JBH I can't answer your question directly but you need to be clear that many phytophthora species are soil borne and especially like wetter soils. So treating equipment such as chainsaws, gloves and boots may be useful to address biosecurity risks but if your vehicle goes down the road with muddy wheel arches and tyres you've probably got many times the inoculant (i.e. spores) on your vehicle as you had with your chainsaw. Whilst your saw may go directly onto another tree on another site the parrallel risk from soil to soil spread is just as important to address. I suppose the best advice is do what you can but don't do one meticulously if you aren't addressing the other...
  4. There are a number of things you need to consider, forgetting the practicaility of applying for a licence & waiting for it to come through: "felling" (for which you need a licence) includes wilful destruction (s35 of FA1967) so if a tree dies following your "pollarding" it could be counted towards any volume exception you have. If your trees live following "pollarding" you will probably need to consider the volume of timber produced. You could follow FC guidance on this (to calculate volume) so if you are anywerhe close to 5 cu m you had better ask the FC in part just to avoid any potential dispute (regardless of the law). If your trees live post pollarding it will be difficult for the FC to issue a restocking notice but don't think it's always simple. So, if pollarding might not count as felling at what height does pollarding becoming coppicing? I wouldn't want to state that coppicing is not felling. Anything below 1.3 metres above ground level will probably be regarding as felling but at what height does pollarding become topping (definitely exempt)? I don't know.
  5. Jasvindera Your problem is common; if LR are showing the land to be unregistered all that means is that it hasn;t changed hands recently. The typical options are: i) the local council - you need to check parish council, local council and county council (including highways), depending on where you live. If they all deny ownership then: ii) the company that developed the land, if you are on an estate that was developed all at the same time. Your own deeds (or title from LR) may give you a hint of which company/individual was involved. Highly likely they have forgotten all about it or have no assets and be unresponsive in dealing with the trees. So if the above gets you nowhere (and assume it will, so to shortcircuit the process) simply put up a piece of paper on the trees - best laminated to ensure it lasts a few weeks - visible to the public/passers by asking the owner to get in touch with you because the trees are causing a nuisance/present a hazard (use whatever words you think are appropriate). If no-one gets in touch and you have no hint as to who the owner is, you are on your own. In some circumstances, where real danger is present, a council does have the power to act, at their discretion. If you think they should but aren't consult your local councillor. Finally, engage with a tree surgeon to assess what work is necessary, explain the circumstances and pay them after the work is complete! If subsequently a tree owner emerges pass the bill to them; if they complain that you have damaged their trees come back to me! It's fairly easy to make them go away when you point out the costs you have incurred from their negligence.
  6. Absolutely, it's a cinch. You need to look at the foliage - they are completely different. OK, you could confuse them but once you've seen them both side by side you will wonder how you ever got them confused. However, not always present, look first for cones as that is even easier. Lawson's are small globular; WRC are more cylindrical typically open at the top. No cones, go onto the foliage. WRC are both flattened branch structure but also flattened twigs. Look at the smaller leaflets - they are only on one side pointing towards the branch tip. Lawson cypress. Not like that! Whilst the youngest leaves all appear on one side, further back there are more both ways. Leaflets not so obviously flattened. If the branching structure is not flat/planar then you are dealing with Leylandii (with less chance of cones). And remember Lawson's come in a whole variety of cultivars - some small, some large, some with only juvenile foliage, some with both. It's a highly variable mess but you shouldn't get any of them confused with WRC!
  7. Quite so and that's the basic problem - how does Joe Punter tell the difference? As we all know any fool can buy a chainsaw and distribute leaflets in their village as gardener, landscaper, tree surgeon etc. How does the well established, competent tree surgeon differentiate themselves from them? Play the Google review game, fickle to some bright spark giving you 5* every time? Trusted trader or the like? Works for some. All I am saying is the AA Approved Contractor scheme works for me (as a client and as someone who advises clients who spend hundreds of thousands on tree surgery every year, nationwide (OK more towards SE England)). Interesting to know its faults and problems and things to be aware of - and I have had first hand experience of some, but in the absence of anything similar it's far better than trying to reinvent the wheel (some companies have their own schemes but capacity and monitoring are difficulties).
  8. What is the ISA route? If you are talking about accreditation for individuals, so be it, but that is of little use in promotion to a public (or other potential clients) who are unlikely to know what ISA is in the first place. The ISA has no means of promoting members in the UK.
  9. Don't worry I've been aware of stone throwers for as long as I have known the AA. Always room for development & improvement.
  10. As you say there are various ways of advertising and promotion of business and you can pick whichever suits you. And there are ways of improving the AA scheme. Clearly. Nothing religious about that. I'm an athiest (since 1972).
  11. You weren't being offensive & my query was merely to ask whether you wanted ti hear from someone who knew as of today what was going on (if so, call Paul S) or someone like myself who has a little knowledge, probably out of date, but it would be stretching it a long way to say I was "from the AA". I hope I have stated the simple benefit raised by being an AA Approved Contractor - access to more work and some sort of prestige. Yes, I can hear the guffaws without you writing about them because clearly there are some sceptics and clearly there are some problems as described.
  12. I am not sure what "someone from the AA" is - an employee, a volunteer, a member? If you think you know it all then clearly you don't need to learn anything, nobody can teach you anything and you simply have no need to talk to anyone. Well done. More humble folk will understand that joining together in a professional association will allow people to exchange knowledge, be innovative, learn from others and share experiences without worrying too much about a competitor pinching every idea you have to benefit their business. Most members see those benefits pretty simply. It really costs peanuts in relation to those benefits. Furthermore, the world is a complex place, rules change, the commercial environment changes and there is no way any small business can keep up to date without someone to lean on. And if you can see those benefits but think the AA could do it better......that's why there are various ways of volunteering in regional branches, at the Arb Fair, in committees and as trustees. Or you could just sit on the side and throw stones. By yourself.
  13. It's not just about CYA but that provides a neat aspect to it. Avoiding belly up in the first place is probably the starting point. Accountability, transparency too. People need to find competent people, with some ease. Nationwide. A complaints process adds another degree of reassurance. Please suggest an alternative?
  14. You might want to look the word up; I go to see my doctor, a member of that exclusive club that has passed his or her exams and is competent to work as a doctor. Do you have problems with that cartel (it's not a cartel but that's the way you seem to want to use the word)? Exclusive, well yes, excluding those who are not competent, not passed their exams. Yes doctors as a whole have agreed that standard. I don't see a problem with this and quite a few benefits.

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