Tuesday 25 March 2014

The Tree, The Council and The Street Lamp

Regular readers may remember a blog post from late 2011 regarding a street lamp outside my house and a tree that has grown to such an extent it was blocking light and maintenance access. The council at the time, citing the Highways Act 1980, gave me 14 days to complete the work or they would do it themselves and seek to recover the costs.

One small problem the tree and the lamp post is on land which is not mine, so I’m not liable. This was pointed out to them at the time which had a confirmation reply that my response was noted and recorded.

2 ½ years later the tree remains untouched. Funnily enough when they thought it grew on my land it was urgent yet when it turns out to be their problem it was less urgent.

And so the lack of pruning of the tree has resulted in another letter to me from my local council, virtually identical in wording to the original, that as a result of a maintenance inspection (nice to know they happen on such a regular occasion) I need to carry out the work in 14 days “or else”. My original email been lost then?

Just to "help me on my way" I have been given a sheet of illustrations that demonstrate the "council requirements for trimming trees around S/L columns - scanned below (click to enlarge):

Apparently they require that:
Clearance to be sufficient to be effective for at least 12 months but preferably as a long term solution
I'm not sure how they would know it was effective for at least 12 months given inspections seemingly happen only every 2 ½ years. Clearly then what apparently applies to me does not apply to the Council (the tree is on Highway Agency property). They admit themselves the current situation is contrary to the Highways Act so that then applies to them as well.

One is now having mischievous thoughts...

13 comments:

  1. Turnover of personnel in the department must be about 2 1/2 years. New automaton taken over and hasn't a clue about, well I suspect, anything to do with their role as public servant.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have a "new inspector" as a contact so yes you're right I'm probably dealing with the consquences of "turnover".

      Though new staff still means same old 14 day deadline...rules apply to me but not to them.

      Delete
  2. You could try fencing the land on the basis the council claim you own it? You would have to prune the tree but it might be worth it. Then you could also claim some leeway payments for the lamp post that was placed on your land without approval.

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    Replies
    1. Aye...the charging of payments of the lamp post if the council insist it's on my land is something I'm keeping up my sleeve.

      My solicitor, who dealt with the original conveyancing when I bought the house has a draft letter ready to go…

      Delete
    2. Try the new version of 'I'll tell my dad!'

      It goes, 'Just wait till my son gets back from Syria!!'...

      Delete
  3. And so the lack of pruning of the tree has resulted in another letter to me from my local council

    John in Cheshire probably had it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The council did a similar thing with our business. They were leaning on us very hard with environmental charges ( which they later withdrew). The surrounding area mostly belonged to a property company and was " ripe for development" . A councillor worked for the firm. Amongst other complaints they said we had an unsafe chimney which required immediate attention. We pointed out that the chimney was not part of our property. It was unrepaired and untouched fifteen years later when we sold the site.

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  5. I know what i would like to do which involve both the councillor and the street lamp. but maybe i should keep that to myself.

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  6. Is it too obvious to say: ignore the demands, leave the council to bring the matter to court and then eschew all responsibility? It's not that easy, is it?

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    Replies
    1. Or write to them refusing to cut back the tree but not say why (it's not your tree and it would be unlawful for you to cut it back) and invite them to take you to court - with an absolute defence.

      Delete
  7. I agree with the previous comment... Ignore it, then the Council will spend the money to do the job thinking they can recover it from you, then point out your previous correspondence and their reply.

    Job done.

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  8. Send a letter to the Council claiming the lamp post is interfering with your tree.

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  9. Can't help thinking that if you hadn't emailed them they would have done the work, billed you, then when you didn't pay, would have sent in those ever so friendly bailiffs/debt collectors, had your credit standing demolished and would generally have been held up as a pariah of the community to show that Yes local government does work!

    ReplyDelete