Search the Community

Hi all, So I work as a tree officer for a large housing association. We own a lot of open spaces, including parks, canals and trees near housing. A lot of the enquiries I get through come from residents with trees near their properties. Recently I have had a number of complaints relating to trees damaging hard surfaces - in particular block paved driveways, patios etc. Usually it is quite clear that it is the roots of our trees causing the issues. My question is... how do local authority tree officers respond to such enquiries/complaints? (Obviously each situation is assessed individually based on merits of the tree etc) but for example, lets say theres a line of leylandi on the boundary of our property, acting as screening between a large block of flats and some private housing on a neighbouring street. Neighbouring homeowner calls to complain that the leylandi are lifting the block paving in her garden. You go to assess, clearly it is leylandi tree roots causing the issue... Would a LA agree to repair the damage to the paving? In this particular situation I believe it would have a knock on effect where other neighbours would expect us to repair their paving too (felling the trees wouldnt be an option as they act as screening, and in my mind, the trees are more valuable than the block paving, but obviously the homeowner would disagree). Are we, as the owners of the trees, liable for minor damage such as lifting block paving? It may seem like an easy fix to just repair the paving, but this would end up being a massive cost if neighbours followed suit to put in similar complaints and requests for repair... (Sorry for babbling on!) Appreciate your responses in advance. R