Chris at eden

And the rest. Fines for wilful destruction have been unlimited on summary offence since 2015.

No you don’t need consent as long as you don’t damage or destroy the tree in the process. As someone else said you should use a cambium saver. It’s worth letting the TO know as well in case they get a call from a neighbour.

Those terms are used as they are defined in law. Lopping and topping from the highways act. You are not prosecuted for topping though. It’s either wilful damage or wilful destruction. So did the topping damage or destroy the tree. They would have to show that the prosecution is in the public interest as well. They could argue that an unnecessary crown reduction is damaging to visual amenity which realistically it usually is in my opinion. In short, crown reduction is not exempt works.

You can’t hide cameras to catch people. Can’t remember the act, RIPA maybe. But if you do it covertly you can’t use the evidence in court. You could put cameras up but you would need signs telling people. Then they either obscure number plates or tip somewhere else. I’ve been in the CCTV room at my old local authority (trees are a problem for CCTV) and it’s a pretty big set up. It’s not just putting up the cameras it’s having the budget to manage it.

I’ll give you an example of sad. I used to have one resident that used to phone me to say her neighbour was cutting down his TPO trees. When I got there he would be mowing the grass and she didn’t like the noise but knew I wouldn’t come out for that. She wanted all their trees out but obviously that didn’t happen. Then she would complain when he pruned his shrubs. When I explained that only the trees were protected she would make a formal complaint to the chief exec and MP. She would say I had said all sorts of stuff but I always backed it up with an email or letter so I’d just send the emails to the MP saying ‘no, this is what I said’. After a while though you end up with a lot of history and you have to keep sending it to various people and it just gets more and more complicated. Most people are fine but you get probably about 6-8 people who just take up all your time. Then folk think council’s aren’t doing anything but they just get tied up with nonsense.

I agree. I quite like the smoke and smell when walking down the canal in the winter. I suppose some folk don’t though.

They did but it’s hard to get legal to take it on. It has to be a slam dunk as councils can’t afford to lose cases due to the costs.

Council’s do enforce fly tipping. Problem is, fly tipping is a criminal offence so the odds are staked massively in favour of the defendant. They pretty much need to find smoothing with personal details in the rubbish.

You’d be surprised. When I worked as TO the public used to report all sorts of stuff to me. Not just TPO stuff.

You may need to get it assessed using a specialist device such as a Picus Tomo-Graph if the decay is not visible externally. Most companies don’t have the device so if you need assistance with this I am happy to quote depending on where you are. Or if you are too far I can try to help you find someone more local with the equipment if needed. It’s nice to see someone who does want to fell at the first sign of trouble. It may be that you already have it sorted but the offer is there. There is a cost implication though to managing trees with fungi in terms of ongoing inspection and maybe pruning. Cheers Chris

Ps. In some of the colder areas work is seasonal due to the snow.

Arbjobs.com is a good place to start. They have a couple advertised at the moment in Canada. They can supply you with info on visas or at least they used to but you have to sort it yourself. I don’t think it’s rocket science though. Good luck.

You do not need a report for dead trees. The requirement for a report is part of the application process when the statement of reasons says that works are required based on health and safety. Dead trees are exempt. You submit a five day notice and the LPA go out and check.

I’m based about 5 miles outside of Wolverhampton. I have a batch of 5 jobs down south beginning of next month all for the same client. Furthest one is Dover. Then I have a couple of jobs for another client in Chester the week after. I have never done Cornwall or Scotland but I probably would for the right client especially if there is a few together or in the same direction. I don’t do it for everyone but if it’s someone that’s sending me £10k a year I try to help them out. I do surveys though so it’s a bit different. I go in a transit courier with minimal equipment. Not the same as dragging a chipper, saws, and 3 other lads down there with me. I quite like seeing different places as well.

Also known as candy floss tree and occasionally burnt sugar tree.

Doobin pretty much covered it below. I prefer not to have to concern myself with stuff like that and leave it to the experts. I pay a company to manage my website as well as they can do it better than me. I don't see it as a waste. I work long and irregular hours which has its pros and cons but one of the nights last week I worked to 1am as I had a regular with a deadline. If I have choice of writing a report and keeping a client happy and growing the business or doing some accounts, the accounts will always get pushed to the back of the queue as business growth is what pays the bills, and I don't particularly like doing them. Not saying its right for everyone, just right for me.

Don't agree. It costs me about £100 a month to leave it all to him. I claim 20% of it back in VAT and then get another 20% off the remaining £80 through corporation tax. So it costs me £64 a month for him to sort it all for me. May be a bit more but it isn't a huge amount as I don't even notice it. I charge more than that per hour so if I spent more than an hour a month dealing with it I would be out of pocket. i invoice through quickbooks so all recorded. I upload my receipts through dext using the app and camera on my phone. all included in the accountant's fees and all sent to them to sort automatically. zero hassle.

Yeah Quickbooks does as well but i just let the accountant sort the return and registration and all that stuff for me, same with Corp tax. It would cost me more in lost time than I pay him and he is better at it than me.

Oh yeah, I worried about it for ages and turned away work to stay under so you are not alone in worrying.

I just went VAT reg in June. So far so good touch wood. I get my accountant to sort most of it to be on the safe side. I use quickbooks for invoicing and DEXT for uploading my vat receipts. They are supplied by my accountant for about £10 a month and well worth it.

You can claim back VAT on plant and equipment for up to 4 years before you registered. Vans, computers, saws, pens and paper, etc. as long as you have the VAT receipts. You can claim back VAT for up to 1 year before you reg on services.

Who told you that! The PACE and RIPA Acts were created to stop the police from doing that kind of stuff. It was common back in the 80s but it’s illegal for the police to do that now. You can’t use a caution as a bargaining chip to get someone to admit guilt. They have to admit guilt first before you raise it as an option. You would have to be next level bonkers to admit guilt and then not accept a caution. Plus, if you refuse a caution, the police are obliged to prosecute as they would have the evidence, I.e. the admission, and it would be in the public interest. The potential prosecution also has to be in the public interest to offer a caution. If they step out of line with any of this they will be hammered by the barrister and the case will be thrown out due to the investigation being illegal. I don’t think cautions are criminal records either, not 100% sure but what would be the point in accepting them if they were. I think they show on an enhanced DBS check for a few years but not the basic one. Plus, they go after a while due to the Minor Offenders Rehabilitation Act as do minor convictions. Cheers Chris

No mate sorry. It was when I worked as a TO a few years ago. I think it all got left in the office during the pandemic then everything went electronic. The course was via Daniel trading services but Bond Solon do one as well that looks pretty good. I did my expert witness training with Bond Solon and would highly recommend.

Couple of typos in there, RIPA says you cant just rock up, not you can.

PACE interviews are a minefield to be fair. I did my training with a company called Daniel training services a few years ago. The trainer was a former police detective who was top bloke over the whole of Yorkshire and this was kind of his retirement plan. He had some mad stories from over the years. It was a 3 day course and well worth doing if you are doing investigation and enforcement. Things like, you cannot ask questions other than names on site. You can, but everything has to be recorded word for word and you have to read out the caution first. You cant rock up and say, did you instruct the works unless you start with 'you do not have to say anything, blah blah blah. If you do, a half decent barrister will get it thrown out. Its just name and ownership. Then, any notes have to be contemporaneous. So in a note book onsite. You cant go back and type them up in the office. You can for your witness statement but not for use in court. If you give evidence in court and ask to refer to your notes they should be from the notebook. The judge may ask when they were mad and you have to say contemporaneously while on site. The thing you read out at the start is the caution in terms of telling people what you are doing and what their rights are, I have heard it referred to a s a citation as well though. You can just rock up unannounced either unless there is a crime in progress. If someone calls and says the trees was felled a couple of weeks ago, you are meant to write to them and arrange a suitable time to visit apparentley. I think from memory it come from RIPA. Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. In terms of the written caution you can issue either a caution (a straight forward warning), or a conditional caution (requires them to do something). For example, on the condition that you replace the tree, you probably wouldn't do hat as there are powers under section 207 for that in the TCPA 1990. See below for info. The only difference i can see is that TPO cautions may not show up on a DBS. I suppose it depends if they check with the LA when doing the checks. /assets/static/govuk-opengraph-image-dade2dad5775023b0568381c4c074b86318194edb36d3d68df721eea7deeac4b.png Police cautions, warnings and penalty notices - GOV.UK WWW.GOV.UK The police or Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) can give you a caution (warning) or a penalty notice if you commit a minor crime