graeme3000

Thanks all for the advice and comments, there's much food for thought! I'll mull it over for a few days and then make a decision. Regards, Graeme

I'm in Kent. The village is Selling, just outside Faversham. No station operator here! The station is too small... NR have already confirmed that a possession is not needed, and my tree surgeon would not need access to the platform to complete the job. See above. Thanks for this advice!

Would this not make the trees unstable with an uneven load distribution? Things must have changed - there is zero appetite from NR to pay for this In short, I wouldn't mind (swaying towards a "yes"!). I'm aware that they have grown well beyond what was originally intended, so they are problematic. And things are just going to get worse as they grow larger. They do, however, offer protection from the platform - the garden would be a different place without them! They probably devalue the house, too, simply because of their size and the potential cost to remove/reduce them. Not sure, will check.. but probably not because I'm sure he would have mentioned it!

Kent! About 6 trains an hour...

Thanks - my tree surgeon intends to do exactly that, but NR want me to enter into an agreement before they comment on whether this is acceptable or not. Personally, I can't see how it has anything to do with them because the work would be low risk and in my garden!

I'm not sure TBH, would have to do a bit of research. If they were, would that mean that it would be NR's responsibility to remove them, even though they are in my garden? Wouldn't they claim something like "well you bought the house knowing about the trees, so they are your responsibility" (as I've heard before)?

Yikes! That definitely won't be suitable for my garden!

Wow, that brings it home. I definitely won't be doing this job without NR after reading that! Thanks!!

Yeah, these are the lines I'm being fed by NR, too. Scares the living daylights out of me, which is why I want to do the right thing and keep them involved. It just feels like they are taking complete advantage of my situation, though, and there's nowt I can do about it!

How would you define "reasonable access"? I've got one large entrance to the front of the house and good space down the side, but then a narrow step down into the rear garden. I should have also mentioned that there are a couple of sheds in the garden, too, which may get in the way!

Unfortunately not, the garden is not big enough for felling. I have asked my tree surgeon for a method statement and an approach to clear as much as possible from the garden side, thereby minimizing NR's involvement. So yes, in a best case scenario I would only have to pay for a few days of NR time. the NR daily rate still annoys me, though!

Hi Eddie, access is pretty bad and there's not much working room. My garden is a triangular shape, probably roughly 10m wide border-to-border at the top, and about 2.5m wide at the bottom. Typically the trees at the bottom of the garden are the tallest and most challenging to work on!

Deeds do mention that NR have access rights to my land if they need to access my property to prevent or resolve issues. Not much else. No specific mention of trees. I recon the trees were planted 20-30 years ago, I've only been in the house for 4 years! They are See pic further up in the thread. NR have already stated that I don't need a possession (thank goodness, because that's tens of thousands of pounds). The tree surgeon seems confident that he could take the overhanging branches out with winches from garden side, but NR are not prepared to take the risk. I've considered this but avoided lawyers for now because they could work out just as expensive as NR!!

They haven't informed me that they are unsafe, and none of the arborists who have looked at the job have mentioned it or showed concern. However they are pretty large trees and I know if this doesn't get addressed now I'll only be delaying the inevitable. I'd like to take action now that I have some momentum with my tree surgeon and NR. It has taken me 4 months to get this far!

Couldn't agree more! I've had that discussion with them but they are only able to cut back up to a certain height, above which they'd need a line block - which would be at my expense. I've looked at the deeds and other legal documentation regarding the purchase of the house and there's nothing that relates specifically to this issue.

Good luck with that! They would have to throw me in jail!!

Thanks matelot. There's nothing in the tile deeds other than the standard "you are responsible for your own borders" clause. Great call regarding ombudsman - I'll check that out!

Sorry, will give it another go!

Thanks drinksloe. Our garden is a bit of a funny shape but the trees are accessible from our garden. We wouldn't need to access the platform (or any other NR land) to take them down. The only issue is that they are within 3m of the line and overhang the platform.

Thanks daltontrees. There are no overhead wires, just electrified rails.

Hi Firestorm, thanks for your response. My tree surgeon is understandably risk averse so he's not keen on doing anything without Network Rail's approval

Hi all, I hope I have come to the right place to post this - and thanks for listening. I'm by no means an arborist but my tree surgeon has suggested that I use this forum to ask for a bit of advice and guidance; any of which would be welcomed and very much appreciated! I live in an old Station Master's house and my back garden runs parallel to the village station platform for about 50 meters. I have about 40-odd very large Leylandii trees bordering the station platform, most of which overhang the platform at height to a greater or lesser extent (picture attached). The rail operator has asked me to address this problem by either removing or reducing the trees, and initially suggested that I use one of their contractors. However, their contractor's price was prohibitively high (over £15k for removal) so I have looked into other options. I have found a great local, reputable alternative who can complete the job for around £5.2k. All good news.. except Network Rail (NR) are now insisting that I cannot complete the job without their involvement due to the proximity of the trees in relation to the platform and tracks. Of course NR are not willing to do this for nothing and they have effectively quoted about £1.5k PER DAY for project management, site safety officers and other "bloatware" etc etc. My tree surgeon has suggested that the job could take around 10 days, so it's easy to see how the NR costs could spiral out of control. I have considered just doing the job without NR's involvement, but they have made it very clear to me that the potential fines and liability if things go wrong are huge. I'm not sure whether this is just a scare tactic, or whether I would actually be liable if trains were delayed/damaged or NR property was damaged. I have also asked for a forward schedule of rail line closures so that I could plan the work for when trains are not running to reduce the risk, but they have declined to provide this information and are unwilling to accept this as a feasible option. I was wondering whether anyone has ever come across a similar situation - specifically dealing with Network Rail - and could advise on my rights as a private landowner or offer any advice on how I could deal with Network Rail? I'm keen to do the right thing but I am a private home owner after all, and have little cash to to burn! I think NR's costs, in comparison to my tree surgeon's costs, are ridiculous and there seems to be a reluctance from NR to consider alternatives. Thanks again all for any advice or guidance you could offer. Graeme