Chris at eden

They should offer than branches back I agree but there is no requirement to communicate with the owner prior to works. This would apply if it was a building overhanging as the owner should be given the chance to move it. This has been tested in a court setting and there is no requirement to communicate first with trees. It would only be trespass if you entered the land and I don't see it being fly tipping. They are ultimately his branches which you are obliged to offer back. My understanding (or rather Dave Dowson's - I have it from him) is that you can place them back carefully. Could be an issue though if damage is caused in the process but that is a separate matter. Cutting past the boundary or topping is I agree a definite no no!

You would lose every day of the week with this approach. The tree owners tree is creating a nuisance and the neighbour has a right to abate. This is an established legal precedent.

Its not in Mynors but it makes sense. If they belong to them then you would just be returning the arisings. Mynors actually says you are obliged to offer them back but it doesn't say they don't have to accept them that is just assumed. No way is it fly tipping. If the owner threw them back it would be.

Looks a bit narrow for a footway as it probably wouldn't be DDA compliant so could be open to criticism if something happened. I would think a 3D no dig solution would create problems with the levels but you could look into flexi pave if a path needs to be there. I've not looked into it in detail (been meaning to) but I believe its made from stone and recycled tires so actually flexes and has good green credentials while still being porous. May be worth a look.

Treesource is all one word by the way, damn auto correct.

Hello mate, Have a look on tree source, its an online book shop. It will give you some ideas. The subject is huge and diverse in reality so it depends what you want to learn. You could look at something fairly generic like the arboriculturists companion or the ISA certification guide, with the latter you can take an exam and get a level 2 qualification if you wanted to. BS3998:2010 - tree work recommendations is important although some people tend to ignore. When you get more into it you may want to start looking at some of the more technical stuff like Shigo or Mattheck for biology and bio-mechanics, or Biddle for subsidence issues. If you want to go that in depth that is. Cheers and good luck

No worries. Pollarding should ideally be initiated when the stem diameter is no more than 50mm, but in any case no more than 200mm. (BS3998:2010). Anything outside of this will most likely lead to physiological dysfunction and decay and should only be considered to alleviate the risk of catastrophic collapse. I may be wrong be that looks like a maiden tree to me with a stem diameter closer to 400mm so technically however you reduce it, it wouldn't be a pollard. Light reduction works would be a crown reduction, heavy reduction works would be topping. The result of pollarding from an early age is that a bolling (knuckle) is formed from which the re-grown shoots are pruned on a cyclical basis. If done regularly this limits the exposure of cross sectional branch material (i.e. small cuts) and the cuts occlude quickly. The resultant wound wood the covers the cuts is also made up primarily of parenchyma cells which are highly resistant to decay due to the presence of phenolic compounds. The result of small wounds and wood with a higher than average level of resistance to decay significantly reduces the risk of fungal colonisation. Conversely, topping of a mature tree leaves large wounds which in reality may never occlude. Although the wound wood will form around the edges the cross sectional branch material remains exposed for many years and so open to colonisation. There is a detailed description of pollarding within BS3998:2010 if you wish to read more. Hope this helps, Cheers,

I've seen those given on appeal on more than one occasion. Is that the front of the building or the rear? What is its public visibility like?

This will clearly open a can of worms which everyone seems to be trying to avoid these day but I will say it anyway. That would not be pollarding!

It doesn't stack up either. If you build a drive up to your boundary and your neighbours tree causes damage, it doesn't matter what was there first you can still claim for the damage.

You would have no chance of defending that through the PINS. The appropriate time to consider that is at the planning application stage. If its inappropriate retention based on proximity, shading and dominance you would struggle to defend it. After all, these are issues that should be considered by the AIA.

Good advice. Make sure you get your reasons right though. Your main issues seem to be shading and dominance.

Soil dwelling pathogens such as honey fungus and Phytophthora sp. are associated with sub-optimal soil conditions. Not a bad way of describing the site really. Amazing that it survived this long.

I agree with Jesse, the leaves are showing shot hole symptoms from Pseudomonas infection. Although as far as I am aware the holes are as a direct result of the bacteria (Pseudomonas) not a secondary fungus. Tree is as suggested, Prunus padus.

Doesn't look like beech bark disease to me.

Its not just the LA's. The government has been quite open about building our way out of recession for years so there has never been a better time to get planning consent. If the LA refuses there's a good chance the pins inspector will give it. If you work in LA you will see it all the time. Plus there is a national housing shortage. Secondly LA's need to generate income especially since the government has cut central funding. Planning apps attract a fee as does the discharge of conditions. Then you have s106 and CIL money if you manage to squeeze it out of the developer although the term 'not in the margins' is becoming more and more familiar in planning committee meetings. Most importantly luxury homes or any type of home for that matter pay council tax and the inhabitants spend money in the local supermarket so yet more wealth for the district. There is your planning justification. What would the LPA get out of giving consent to store extra bins? if they are visible from the street scene just a load of complaints in my experience.

Jesse's comments are spot on about tree life. I did tech cert with them and my level 6. The work load for L6 is unbelievable but well worth it. You have to meet 100% of the assessment criteria so no trying to wing it as you could with the old exam based stuff like I did a bit with my tech cert in places. Its though but good. If Warwick are telling you that you can do L4 in 10 weeks I would go back and ask them how many pass on that basis as I doubt any do. Its designed to be a 1 year course as day release. That is how tree life run it and they wrote the syllabus. I know a lad who started L4 there a year before I started L6, I've been finished for a year now and he is still going. The best way to do the courses is day release but tree life do a correspondence version called treemail also. They don't really recommend it though as you will get so much from the sessions. Speak with Dave from tree life about your entry level as they also do L2 now as well. What is also worth remembering is that as Dave Dowson from tree life wrote the syllabus for L2, L4, and L6, if anyone can teach it he can. The other training providers go to him for guidance. Its a no brainer mate. Good luck.

Sounds like an engineering operation so you may need planning consent although LPA's usually try to dodge it. What about a concrete raft on mini piles with a clear void beneath. Fence posts and gravel boards around the outside and infill with what you like. Cell web may be best. You would need to redistribute surface water underneath somehow. Irrigation pipes connected to weep holes maybe or drainage holes in the bottom with something to stop them clogging. A bit out there bit I don't see why it wouldn't work. Expensive also and needs an engineers input maybe.

You can do L6 by treemail - tree life's correspondence version. It would be tough though.

Spot on.

H mate, I faced the same dilemma (see my other post) a coupe of years ago and went L6. My initial thoughts. 1. Both are L6 on QCF and that is what makes them recognisable worldwide. 2. I know I said I was told BSc would be less work by the tutor from Warwick but I would still think it would be heavy duty. 3. The L6 is ridiculous in terms of workload but the support from TL is excellent. 4. I'm working on ICF at the moment and they haven't made any objection to L6. I know it has less points on the academic side but its not an academic qualification. Its professional so has to be supplemented by work experience. At least that's my understanding but the guidance from ICF is vague at best. My decision went like this, what do I want it for? My long term aim is AA reg consultant. Who would I like to set me on my way with my L6 qualification, a college lecturer or an actual reg consultant? i.e. Dave Dowson. That is why I went L6, I think its more aimed at consultancy and taught by a top consultant. If I wanted to be a college lecturer or to be involved in research I would have gone for the BSc. I don't think you can do the BSc in two years as you would need to do the FDSc first. If you have the L4 I think there may be some bridging modules you can do instead but essentially its not designed to bolt onto L4 while the L6 is. That was another reason for my decision. I did the old tech cert so L6 was the obvious progression. As Gary said doing L6 in two years is tough. I did mine in two years but I worked every night and weekend and through the hols. I had no social life for two years which is hard but doable once you get into the mind set. The trick is to think strategically, set yourself small goals that you can meet but that also fit into the overall two years. Get re-submissions in quickly as each tick in the box is a little incentive which really helped me. Set yourself max times for each assignment and try not to exceed them it will put you behind on the others. Its easy to go overboard with the research which is counter productive. If you want to know more about something go back after the course. Just do enough to meet the AC. Hope that helps, Good luck,

I spoke with Brian Higginson from Warwick college before I started my L6 about the options as they do BSc and L6. His exact words were 'if you don't have the time to commit to it, do the Bsc as it's less work, the workload for L6 is not to be underestimated'. I would imagine the BSc is no walk in the park either though. The only reason I went with L6 is because it was Tree Life. I do a lot of training with them and have always found the courses to be excellent.

It may have unfortunately. If they have already dug the footings and damaged the tree then it may need to be felled on safety grounds. I doubt that the council will see this as a planning consideration (unless its protected) so any loss you experience is likely to only be addressed as a civil claim. Even then they have a common law right to cut back the over hang which includes the roots so not straight forward.

There is no height of first branch and direction or canopy clearance which are very important. The P and S condition fields are more in accordance with the 2005 standard, they tend to be grouped together under general observations now. Not a big deal though. Writing satisfactory for structural condition is a cop out as it would indicate that the tree has some defects that can be remediated but give no details. These should be identified in detail in my opinion. e.g. cavity, fungal fruiting bodies, deadwood, over extended branches, weak forks, etc. It would be interesting to see what was written for the impact assessment. In my experience most of these 5837 reports make no attempt to even identify impacts never mind evaluate or mitigate them.

Picky but good point. I doubt it would get you far with the PINS inspector. Eucalyptus gunnii or cider gum is the species. i.e. the full name. What people usually refer to as the species (i.e. gunnii) is actually correctly termed the specific epithet. Windthrow is failure from the rootplate during storms. Cheers