sbyorkshire

Dying  or perhaps decling tree does not  (normally) be suitable for a TP0, its ameinty value shall be detailed (by a method) and provided at the time of the the TPO, provisonal, I would suggest contacting the LPA  legal department to ask'when ' the amienty assessmrnt was actually made as we often have them 'post' dated to the TPO, ie the tree offier trying to back track.

Lets just be honest not cloak and dagger, is the tree 'worthy' oF TPO, if so prove it , time stamped at the right time of issue not manilpulated to cover your ar..e,,, by an ameinty valuation method (would be brilliant if an agreed system but a system that has transprancey and detailed to allow interrogation) done with transprancey that all qualified assesors can more or less agree on would be a major step forward.

Lets stop the manilpulation of 'truths' and perhaps the tree owners will trust the system and 'protect' more worthy trees, if they are not worthy lets just get tree owners to 'love' trees so they will plant more 'anyway' irrelevant of whether they are are 'made' to. The manipulation just makes garden/land owners hate trees !

Rant over,  maniplulating the system just gives a bad taste to tree surgeons, tree surveyors, tree owners, and they will come out fighting, the result, less trees...............

In reply to John comments, who I hold in very high regard,

Yes , go on training  courses get experience, but make sure you have insurance that covers you for subsidence surveys reporting. As ever people want a cheap report, but it is not worth the risk if you if you are not trained in that specilaist area,

CAS - Consultiing Arborist Society will be running courses soon, other providers are available too, do not undertake these specialist reports without training,you have been warned.!The more you say with out knowing what you are saying will trip you up, as John rightly says. 

Never trust the client, even the little old dears.................

Check for yourself - always. Given an approval letter, check the ref on line.

We have been dealing with a few on  behalf of the tree owner, trying to counter their own insurance companies from clear felling their gardens, and we try as I believe you are trying to do, get to the correct cause of the problem.

If tree removal was really , really expensive they indeed would look at the other aspects such as drain leakage, but because removal is cheap (in comparison to the drain repairs for example) the trees go, clients if the tree owners are reluctant to lock horns with their own insurer and tend to be passive and 'do as they are told', as they often cant afford not to.

If there was a cost value  in £  to the tree, perhaps a different decision would be made, or even the correct decision for the stability of the site.

We have to deal with the legislation we have, and that , even though it is meant to protect trees in fact lets them down badly in s211 notices  in these  cases as mentioned above a 'threat' of a TPO unless you provide what we feel acceptable will get some to do so if time frames allow, though  those hard nosed insurers will play the game and won't................ 

Thermal cameras can have a use for fungal activity which can not be seen by the 'naked' eye, we use thermal cameras in combination with other diagnostic tools. You would not (in our opinion) just use a thermal camera, it is used as another tool to aid the decision process and gives indications of vascular and fungal  'activity'. I hope that helps. If you would like more info get in touch. 

A soil test would be required as 'proof' , if sandy soils not subsidence. Perhaps the engineers know this or not already ?

You can take the samples and submit for testing but they need interpreting by someone who can understand them(some arbs can some cannot)and this needs to be done with liaison with the engineers.

If this is a claim of direct damage, by roots a possibility on shallow foundations / defective foundations where roots enter and then 'move' lintels/ supports internally, we have had this in an old cottage where internal lintels were moving not the overall property.  Sometimes roots can be removed and root barriers used if the trees stability wont be affected and that the insurance company will accept a barrier, which is not always the case.

Consider,  sands, drain issues , springs, soils............ or the fact that the damage is poor rendering.........if there is any 'damage'.

If the property is in receivership, the property is owned by the receiver, albeit they will be trying to get rid off it for a profit , therefore as the owner is 'known', the LPA are very unlikely to deal with it under the local government (miscellaneous provisons) Act, as that would be spending local tax payers money on a privately owned 'asset' .

Notify the 'owner', if known , post letter of your concerns through the letter box and copy to LPA.

Check your own insurance that you are covered for 'tree damage'  and provide them with the details of the property they will then advise you on how to best proceed in regards protecting your asset.

Monitor the lean without trespassing, by photographs so you have some evidence (or not) of progressive movement.

Your concern re tree and foundations is different to 'tree falling risk'. 

It is also proving or not as the case maybe, is the tree destabilised. There are tests for this dynamic or static testing. 

The important point is 'imminent danger'............... see below, if the property has been repossessed someone owns it and they are therefore liable for the trees.  I would suggest as the third party (you are not the tree owner)  to contact your insurers and take their advice and follow this, to protect yours (and theirs) asset the miscellaneous provisions act is rarely used, and it looks very likely that the current owner is easily traceable even if it is a bank  and your insurer would have a  set procedure for such a case  etc....

LOCAL GOVERNMENT (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT 1976This Act allows the Council to deal with dangerous trees located on private land. Trees are the responsibility of the person who owns the land on which they are growing. However, if a tree on private land becomes dangerous in a way that could harm someone else or their property and the owner does not appear to be doing anything about it, the Council may act to make the tree safe. This can be by serving a notice on the owner to make the tree safe or, in exceptional circumstances, the Council can deal with the tree themselves and recover costs from the owner. These powers are used as a last resort and are only intended for situations when there is an imminent danger.

Conservation Area -  also listed buildings can be a problem ..........

We scan and send to the client for them to put up, if they dont, it's at their risk of it been checked and can cause delays.

Non-determination if not decided in time (TPO), The LPA don't like this against their 'performance '...................stats.

check out www.treediagnostics.co.uk   for hi-tech tree kit including tomography systems. Fakopp  agent for the UK.

Online applications take under 10 mins and you have a history of what you have sent.

Just set up standard clauses like the one above, they the LPA need to know if it goes 'wrong' they have prove of what should have been done. There is no point having 2m if it doesn't relate to anything else that measurable.

Axciscape (via Chris Skellern)  import export into cad,import pdf's/ google maps etc  user defined fields. https://www.axciscape.com/

We have used this for years

Pear technology have  range which a lot of people use with and without mapping .https://www.peartechnology.co.uk/

Then if into cad Keytree is one of the cheaper ways to get an up to date CAD engine

Rugged tablets various from the more common toughpads and now  tree diagnostics   www.treediagnostics.co.uk sell sumo tablet products for forestry/tree surveyors.

The rugged tablets lets you work easier in the rain than non rugged and you can drop them without worrying!!

It depends what out puts and what type of surveys there is also a few others which I just cant remember the names !

Hi,

I thought the lilac gave it away, anyway, arb association now do a women in arb group to bring to the attention of suppliers how 'pants' the clothing and boot sizes are for some of us. Several socks is the answer  to the boots.Contact them and they will put you in touch with the group if you are a  member.

Good luck.

Sue B

(Joint Director of  a consultancy firm and unpaid assistant  for Tree Diagnostics Ltd ! - tree  'gadgets' suppliers  but came from the tools and ran a tree surgery company too, 3 children 2 of which are arborists too!)

Hi brilliant idea,

Any sites around Harrogate, York !

We told a few tree surgeons to go to the local allotment site but they are getting a bit over run with it and security is a problem.

thanks

Ensure you have access agreed, in writing , or you cannot enter the neighbours 'air space' as this would be trespass......... 

Your client can do nothing other than advise the tree owner that they feel the tree is unsafe, they do not have to act (but they are liable for any ultimate damage, except for say abrading on your client roof ( as your client should maintain their property from this encroachment) and then your client can request that you prune back  to the boundary, offering the items back (pruning so as not to make the tree decline........... as then your client could become liable, under common law.

If your client is now totally paranoid they will have to just get on with and pay ! It is not 'fair' but rarely things are.

The tree 'owner' is liable if the tree fails or causes damage*  (if you have not made unstable for example by pruning or 'chopping off roots..........)

* Some exceptions, 

Hope this helps

TPP - Ideally the RPA'S should be shown, if you have shown perhaps temporary TPF which might need removing for specific tasks, it is a remainder that its a no go area unless there is protection in place , to prevent compaction etc, easier for the workers on the ground to understand why the fencing is where you have shown it etc... other wise they may alter.

You could always provide a drawing set with and without by turning layers off , but this need referencing on the plan to avoid a mess up.....