Chris at eden

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

I worked as a TO for two different authorities for over 18 years and never saw a POS transferred to the locals. Its not bad idea though. The last place I worked had a load of land that had reverted to crown ownership as the developer went bump. It was a complete nightmare getting any one to deal with it. Folk just thoiught it reverted to the LPA due to the TPO.

Two problems here. 1. Someone built a housing estate there recently. It can’t be unregistered. It’s either withe the developer or transferred with one of the houses. Or with the LA and the OP has it wrong. 2. Ownership makes absolutely no difference to prosecution. It’s still a criminal offence. The LPA can still prosecute the tree surgeon and the person instructing the works even if they don’t own it.

Not sure what you mean. What power does a police caution give? It’s just a warning instead of prosecution. If you do it again it can be used against you for prosecution. Not sure what else it does. The LPA has to follow the same procedure. To issue a caution the offender must already have admitted to the crime. You must have enough evidence to prosecute. And it must be in the public interest. If they refuse the caution you have to prosecute. You can’t use it as a deal to get someone to admit guilt for a lesser punishment. the LPA follow all the same rules in terns of investigation. PACE, RIPA, etc. so I assume it’s the same for this as well. The PACE interviews are pretty tightly controlled or at least they should be. They are all recorded and conducted under caution. You should have the PACE guidance on the desk. All that hammering the interviewee you see on the tv isn’t allowed. You can’t raise you voice. You can’t stand up. These things can be seen as intimidating and used against you in court. If you move and the chair squeaks on the floor you have to state on the tape what the noise was and confirm that you have remained seated. It not a half arsed thing that the LPA do. I hated doing prosecutions when I worked as TO. It’s not particularly nice. Not sure if that answers your question.

The open space isn’t adopted according to the OP so not council owned. Councils only adopt a POS once the development is complete and as long as it meets the required standard. Loads end up left with the developer which seems to be what has happened here. Sometimes the developers cease trading and the land reverts to the crown and becomes a right pain in the ass as no one will take responsibility.

The cautions stay on file with the council in case you breach the TPO again in future. The council are the. Enforcing agent for TPO contravention, not the CPS.

More or less as Mick said but the best time to prune deciduous trees is summer when they are actively growing in my opinion. The way they can begin to compartmentalise cuts straight away. The wound response of deciduous trees in the winter is pretty much zero so they don’t compartmentalise until next spring. Plus, most decay fungi sporulate in the autumn so spores are prolific at that time. That is in an ideal world but trees are pruned year round and as long as done properly should be okay. As mick and Dan said, keep cuts as small as possible.

All TPOs are provisional at the start. You need to check if it was confirmed. LPAs have already justified the TPO, not always correctly to be fair. It’s the applicant's job to show why it doesn’t meet the criteria. For example, if it’s declining and unsightly they could agree removal and condition replacement. Or if it’s causing damage, you could fell and replace further away. They are unlikely to revoke the order in that situation.

Good advice

Not always. I met a solicitor a few years ago that had been doing property conveyancing for over 20 years. He’d never heard of a TPO. I thought he was joking at first but it held up the house sale as the seller hadn’t complied with a tree replacement condition. I agree with the in writing thing but it shouldn’t make a lot of difference who asks. I never took that into consideration in my TO days. it doesn’t really affect the expediency test

You can’t back date a TPO. They have to go through legal and only take effect once served irrespective of the date on them. Councils are generally squeaky clean when it come to the law.

That is my understanding as well. All the plants in the uk are female apparently.

Where are you based?

I agree with the other comments. It’s too close to the house at 2m. But from a TPO perspective. Visual amenity - it currently has zero looking at the pics. It may in time grow to have some visibility but if so it will probably impact negatively on the house. Not just risk of damage but in terms of dominance. Can’t comment on risk of damage as not enough info but as a minimum the canopy will be rubbing against the building. Expediency / threat - minimal. The tree is 2m from the boundary meaning that the neighbour can’t fell it as that would be trespass and criminal damage. They can cut the overhanging branches to clear the house but that is reasonable and they would be able to do it to abate / prevent the nuisance under exemption even if it was TPOd. The only issue I can potentially see is if they cut off the roots that are trespassing again under exemption and if this destabilises the tree. If I was the tree officer (and I did that job for 17 years), I wouldn’t TPO the tree either. I don’t think you will get far with this if you make a complaint. It will be pretty easy for the council to defend. Not the news you want but that is my opinion. Jules (another member on here) may have something to add. He’s pretty good with the legal stuff so keep a look out. Cheers Chris Note. The above is based on very limited info as I haven’t visited the site so you should not take this as professional advice. Your own appointed Arb should be able to give you better site specific advice on the tree assuming they are competent to do so.

Visibility and threat are two different things. To warrant a TPO the LPA should meet two legal tests. Amenity - visible to the public, and it looks nice Expediency - tree under threat. If these two tests are not met they shouldn’t really TPO the tree. The amenity can be current or future so the whole, the tree is small may not stack up. If it can grow big enough to be visible then it may pass the test. In general, if the removal or damage of the tree would have a significant negative on the local environment, the LPA should consider making a TPO. There is no appeal as such in this situation. You would have to follow the councils complaints procedure if you are not happy with the service. Pics and info on the threat would be useful.