"jane" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 20 Sep 2007 13:35:08 +0100, Broadback
wrote:

~shazzbat wrote:
~ wrote in message
~ oups.com...
~ My neighbour has a lovely big black poplar. Last night a big old
~ branch dropped out of hte sky and squashed my garden:
~
~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/1384782...n/photostream/
~
~ The inside of the branch is really rotten:
~
~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/1384782...n/photostream/
~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/1384782...n/photostream/
~
~ The pale stuff is nice strong wood, the darker brown is just squishy
~ goo.
~
~ He's a decent chap and immediately accepted responsibility for
~ clearing up. What I'm worried about is how safe the tree is. There are
~ plenty more big branches that could fall on me or my kids, and I'm
~ concerned that the rot might be in other branches.
~
~ Any tree experts in the house? What needs to be done now?
~
~
~ Change the setting. 50 is way too much. :-))
~
~ Steve
~
~
~Get your neighbour to contact his insurance company, they may well be
~happy to pay for someone to come out and declare it safe of not.

I had two entwined whitebeams fall on next door in the January gales.
They flattened his shed and half the contents (not to mention ruining
my shed and the foundations too, and the fence...) . Insurance picked
up the tab with no complaints.

The trick would be to get a proper registered tree surgeon to come
and remove the branch and do an assessment of the rest of it at the
same time. Don't get an odd job man as they can't tell if the rest of
the tree is likely to go any time soon, though I'd say it's a safe
assumption that it is. Winter gales might well finish it off, in who
knows which direction?

It's sad to lose a tree - I was quite upset as the robins usually
built in the ivy and the whole tree was full of wildlife. My
replacement shed's further forward so I can get round the back, and up
have gone bird boxes

My problem is a 40' sycamore looming over the house from land adjacent
- and not one of the three councils covering my area (town, area and
county) want to take responsibility.


Write (don't phone) to all three councils, asking who is responsible for the
safety of the tree. Something along the lines of "Is it you? If not you, who
is it? They can't ignore a letter, they have to log it in, then when they've
replied, they haven't got the excuse "We didn't know about it"

Steve