Chris at eden

I agree. I sent 10 years working as a tree officer, 5 looking after council trees and 5 in a planning dept. In my experience MP's always get involved with refusals to carry out works to council tree stock, but rarely for planning issues. The planning inspectorate is there to do that and they are also the government, plus MP's cant supersede legislation but they can to an extent council policy. Same goes for councillors. Get a quallity tree report and go to appeal if you need to.

They will just refuse the consent if the works are bad practice or you can't demonstrate a need for the works. It wouldn't affect the planning app either, 9 times out of 10 the RPA is the constraint, not the canopy spread. You would be better off appealing the planning refusal if you think you have a case.

I read somewhere that this is about to become a legal requirement in oz? something to do with an incident at a school?

This again comes back to qualifications. You wont get PI without appropriate quals. Its one of the issues they really probe about when you get a quote. Especially if you are doing mortgage reports.

I think Aesculin may be the scientific name for smurf juice!

I agree with sloth on this one. Fungi misidentified, the merip could be some kind of honey fungus also. It would also be completely bankers to comment on that tree from these pics. Not enough info.

You could say that about all of us even native Americans. The human race evolved in Africa and that make the majority of us immigrants. Just been here longer.

I also agree but I would as that is the way I came through. In reality anyone carrying out detailed tree inspections should have a level 3 arb qualification. This is discussed in the NTSG guidance in relation to LA inspectors but I think this can be applied across the board. I think this would be reasonable. We also have a bench mark qualification for professional tree inspection in the Lantra PTI certificate. The pre-requisite for entry to the training is an L3 arb qualification so again that seems reasonable. These are issues a judge would look at when he was considering a claim, was the inspector appropriately qualified. There are some really good tree surgeons out there with good knowledge but how would you sell that to a judge without the qualifications to back up what they are saying. I cover some parts of Wales so pm me if you need anything. Hope this helps, Cheers,

The blue book, the good old days! I'm not a fan of this online version but i think it works better if you use it online with all the hyperlinks so i just have a shortcut on the desk top.

No you don't but let the TO know, it will save any issues on the day and build relationships. Someone will phone the council if they see you so it will give them the heads up.

Its a sucker. Prune out the green, if you don't you will end up with a sycamore as the grafted bit gets shaded out.

Hi, Your Acer is a cultivar (cultivated variety) of sycamore and its attractive foliage is caused by a virus. Additional to the foliage the virus makes the tree weaker and as such it will grow smaller hence what the garden centre said. These virus are pretty unstable and can begin to degrade and thus the tree loses its variegated look. If you ask most gardeners what is wrong with your tree this is what they will pit it down to. This is referred to as reversion. It is possible but I doubt this is the cause. More likely the green bit that is growing out is a sucker from the root stock. As these cultivars are weaker than the naturally occurring varieties they have their tops grafted onto a normal root stock. Stronger roots then gives the top bit a boost. Another reason they do this is that you can't propagate a cultivar from seed with any success so they are done by grafting. Problem is you can get the suckers out of the rootstock and being stronger they swamp the tree you bought. They will also produce seed as per the rootstock. Best thing to do is cut them out and the earlier you do this the better. If you post a pic on here I can give you a better answer on the implications of cutting out and a definite diagnosis on the cause. Hope this helps,

I agree with some of the other posts. That looks nothing like leaf miner. Looks more like Guignardia but don't think its that either, no yellow banding around the damage.

What is the post code of the property you wish to survey.

Cheers.

When I do mortgage reports I also assess the condition of the subject trees so if you do look at getting a tree report make sure it covers both of your concerns. Check insurance and qualifications. Insurance should be professional indemnity for advice, not public liability although some may have both. Qualifications should ideally be minimum level 3 arb qualification and a lantra PTI certificate. Mortgage reports should also be in accordance with AMIUG. As Jules said, that is the best way to indemnify yourself.

Fell it.

I find the whole tree value thing can be a little misrepresented sometimes. No doubt large properties in the leafy suburbs get a boost in value but can you really say the same about a scrappy old sycamore in a council garden which is way too small for it? Can't have a BBQ cos of shade, honeydew and greenfly. Does that still add value? I don't see it. The big value for me is the environmental gains, storm water interception, particulate uptake, etc. The effects of PM10 pollution costs the nhs billions per year, more than obesity. Now that would be some joined-up thinking, spend some of the money saved by the nhs on underpinning.

Erm, you kind of can to an extent. That's the whole point of a higher court precedent. If your neighbours house gets subs damage and he carries out an investigation that shows, your tree roots near the damage, the soil is shrinkable, and movement is seasonal, and there are no other trees you are going to lose that one. Its enough on the balance of probabilities in my opinion. To be clear, this isn't legal advice, its tree advice. I'm not a solicitor. This chap doesn't Need legal advice at this point, he needs tree advice. If this chap calls his insurance company and tells them he is concerned they will just tell him to get a tree report and probably increase his premium. My advice at the start was get a mortgage tree report if you are concerned. It will cost somewhere between 200 and 400 quid depending on the consultant. Not exactly megabucks.

Subs is tricky no doubt. It depends how important the tree is to the owner and whether they want to spend all that money on underpinning. Underpinning is a pain as well, the residents may need to move out while its being done and then you are left with the issue of how the fact the house has been underpinned will affect its value. Let me ask you this. If you went to view a house you were thinking of buying and it had been underpinned and the tree was still in place, would you pay market value? I wouldn't, in fact I wouldn't buy it full stop. Underpinning doesn't always work and you can still get secondary settlement when it does in other areas. I would say choose your battles well and don't try to save everything, you will bankrupt the country if you do. That may not be a popular view but its a fact. As you have already done tech cert you should have the underpinning knowledge (no pun intended) for the AA courses go for it. Its a good day and you get Biddle's book thrown in which is a bonus. One final point. Mate of mine who is a TO asked a while ago about a subs claim. He had soils and mpi data that said shrinkable clay, root identification from the tree near the damage, and level monitoring that said seasonal. He was going to knock it back as there was no desiccation testing. That's not reasonable in my opinion. Remember its balance of probabilities not proof that is required. Always check the data closely. You'd be surprised how often the conclusions are not supported by the findings, or trees are further away than the report states. Hope this helps,

The first one I think is probably Charlton and Charlton vs Northern Structural Services. Not aware of the second but when I did the AA subs course with Biddle I got the impression he was suggesting that you can't be done for heave as its not your tree that causes the damage, its the natural recovery of the soil. Who you gonna claim against, the rain! I asked him about the Charlton case and he hadn't heard of it but when I explained he seemed to think that was about the lack of proper investigations. Makes sense I suppose but I'm not entirely convinced as the issue hasn't really been tested much as PSMD's are extremely rare. What I would think you would be liable for is if you don't identify it as an issue in a mortgage report or subsidence investigation. Would a resident be liable if he felled a tree and the result was heave, I'm not sure. Doesn't seem logical, what if the tree was hazardous? what do you think Jules? for anyone reading don't take this as legal advice as this hasn't been tested adequately in my view. The Charlton case is real but the other comments are just me speculating.

Hi Nick, The AA course is good but quite technical if you don't already have a decent understanding. There will 20+ people in there as well so not that interactive. May not be a good choice for your first attempt. The CAS course isn't a subsidence course, its a mortgage report writing course. I've done that also. There is a difference. Subs course will be about trying to determine the cause of existing damage. A mortgage course is about trying to predict whether it will happen. Subs investigation is based on assessing accurate data such as soils analysis and trial holes. Mortgage is based on assumed values like geological surveys maps to determine soil type, and NHBC guidance to determine foundation depth based on the age of the building. You will never be asked to do level monitoring for a mortgage report and I doubt you could win a subs case by using geo survey maps. Does that make sense? I have done subs investigations as an LA TO in the past and I now do mortgage reports and although some of the info overlaps they are not the same thing. If you want to do subs investigation do a subs course. Tree life do a one day subs workshop. I haven't done this but I did my tech cert and level 6 diploma with them and you cover subs in those and that was excellent. I also did tree life's mortgage course and I would highly recommend that also if you were looking at doing mortgage reports. An excellent workshop. You can't skimp on courses with things this technical. As you can see I have already done two mortgage courses and with info gained from both I am very confident in undertaking these reports but I will still do the Myerscough one at some point. What arb qualifications have you already done and where are you based?

Hi Jon, This is completely unrelated to this thread so apologies to all but your in box is full so I can't respond to your pm. If you sort it and let me know I will respond to your question. Cheers,

If only it worked like that. The foundations would have been built in accordance with NHBC and building regs from 30years ago. These have changed since and now recommend deeper. So no you can't get away with saying that. Here is the kicker though. Say your neighbour built a really naf conservatory with 100mm foundations. As these are exempt from building regs he could do that. Its his right to build with rubbish foundations if he wishes as long as not covered by building regs. If your tree roots then caused damage you would be liable. Its unlawful to allow anything to escape your boundary and cause damage. This is an established precedent that's been tested many times dating back to Rylands vs Fletcher 1868. This was about flooded mines but the principles are the same which has been accepted in dozens of root damage claims. May not seem fair but those are the facts.