A neighbour has a large tree which blocks out much of the sunlight from my
garden. Also, our house had to be underpinned a few years ago and trees
were quoted as a contributing factor. This tree is about 20 feet from the
house, so I'm concerned about future problems. I haven't approached them
yet, I wanted to find out what the position is before I did so, as I suspect
they will not take kindly to being asked to pay a big tree surgeon's bill!

many thanks,

John

In article , JK
writes
A neighbour has a large tree which blocks out much of the sunlight from my
garden. Also, our house had to be underpinned a few years ago and trees
were quoted as a contributing factor. This tree is about 20 feet from the
house, so I'm concerned about future problems. I haven't approached them
yet, I wanted to find out what the position is before I did so, as I suspect
they will not take kindly to being asked to pay a big tree surgeon's bill!

many thanks,

John


As far as the sunlight, light or views are concerned, there is very
little you can do about it, except talk nicely to your neighbour, but as
far as the damage to your house is concerned, talk to the Insurance
Company you have your House, not Contents, but House insurance with.

'They' will be very interested and 'might' take up the battle with you,
if it comes to that.

???Is there a 'Tree Preservation Order' on the tree? :-(( if there is,
but not a surmountable problem

Mike

Been there, done that, got the tree shirt.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forthcoming reunions. H.M.S.Collingwood Association Chatham May 30th - June 2nd
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FortyEight16 wrote:
Why not offer to pay the bill yourself? Maybe I'm particularly
selfish but if a neighbour came to me with a proposal that he
benefited from but expected me to pay for, I wouldn't be too keen on
agreeing.

If the tree has damaged the OP's house then it will have damaged the
nextdoor neighbours house and the tree owners house, yes/no?

In which case sorting out the tree will benefit othes as well as the tree
owner. Maybe he is not aware of the trouble the tree is causing. If he is,
then the insurance company and the courts are the way to go yes/no?

In message , FortyEight16
writes

"JK" wrote in message
...
A neighbour has a large tree which blocks out much of the sunlight from my
garden. Also, our house had to be underpinned a few years ago and trees
were quoted as a contributing factor. This tree is about 20 feet from the
house, so I'm concerned about future problems. I haven't approached them
yet, I wanted to find out what the position is before I did so, as I
suspect
they will not take kindly to being asked to pay a big tree surgeon's bill!


Why not offer to pay the bill yourself? Maybe I'm particularly selfish but
if a neighbour came to me with a proposal that he benefited from but
expected me to pay for, I wouldn't be too keen on agreeing.

OTOH, if it's potentially damaging the OP's property then what must it
be doing to the tree owner's property - you may be doing her a favour.

--
dave @ stejonda

?why do Americans chatter during West End Theatre?

Certainly I don't think you can expect them to pay the bill given that
it is aimed at benefiting you, but they might be amenable to you
paying
to have some work done on the tree.


According to that line of thinking I could grow an garden full of enormous
tall trees and completely block out a neighbour's view / light, and get them
to pay for pruning my trees when it needs doing?

I have a tree in my own garden. I believe I have responsibility for keeping
it cut back to levels that won't bother my neighbours or damage their
property, and I pay a tree surgeon to do just that. I think other people
have the same responsibility, I would hate to live in a world where
everything people did was a simple matter of whether it directly benefitted
them or not.

It seems that the law is a bit confusing on this, I hope the new hedge law
clarifies the matter.

"JK" wrote in message
...

I have a tree in my own garden. I believe I have responsibility for
keeping
it cut back to levels that won't bother my neighbours or damage their
property, and I pay a tree surgeon to do just that. I think other people
have the same responsibility,

I'll second that - but fear we are in the minority (probably not in the
refined world of URG but certaily in the real world!)


It seems that the law is a bit confusing on this, I hope the new hedge law
clarifies the matter.


WRT hedges yes, trees no.

pk

In article , JK
writes

I'm surprised the hedge law would not be applicable to trees; what is the
difference, after all a hedge could be made of just a couple of trees, or
even just one. THere would have to be an explicit statement in the law to
exclude trees.

Well, according to the draft I've seen, a hedge has to have more than
one tree, and they have to be evergreen.


--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

In message , Paul Kelly
writes
"dave @ stejonda" wrote in message
...
In message , JK
writes
I would hate to live in a world where everything people did was a
simple matter of whether it directly benefitted them or not.

definition of Capitalism

Wrong:

Capitalism is a social system based on the principle of individual rights.

Thank you for confirming that Paul. Without people having a mindset
which includes trying to accommodate the rights of others in their
decision making we unsurprisingly have the situations described in this
thread. Thatcher's damage to the social fabric of this country
continues.

--
dave @ stejonda

In message , Nick Maclaren
writes
In article ,
Kay Easton wrote:
In article , JK
writes

I'm surprised the hedge law would not be applicable to trees; what is the
difference, after all a hedge could be made of just a couple of trees, or
even just one. THere would have to be an explicit statement in the law to
exclude trees.

Well, according to the draft I've seen, a hedge has to have more than
one tree, and they have to be evergreen.

And how have those brass-bound bureaucratic baboons defined THAT?

They haven't, AFAICS.

THe bill defines 'evergreen' as:

any evergreen tree or shrub or semi-evergreen tree
or shrub.

Whatever semi-evergreen might mean. It says nothing else about this.

It will be left to the courts at some point no doubt in the future to
decide on the criteria for applying this.
--
Chris French and Helen Johnson, Leeds
urg Suppliers and References FAQ:
http://www.familyfrench.co.uk/garden/urgfaq/index.html

"Chris French and Helen Johnson" wrote in
message

Whatever semi-evergreen might mean. It says nothing else about this.

Standard horticultural speak has it as:

semievergreen (alt. semievergreen)
Retaining at least some green foliage well into winter, or shedding leaves
only in cold climates.

At least the wording avoids spurious defences along the lines "It's not an
ever green 'cos it shed its leaves in Seattle"

pk

On Fri, 2 May 2003 19:58:57 +0000 (UTC), Paul Kelly wrote:

At least the wording avoids spurious defences along the lines "It's not an
ever green 'cos it shed its leaves in Seattle"

Hey, what's wrong with Seattle? It's a nice city.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

On Sat, 3 May 2003 15:45:54 +0000 (UTC), Paul Kelly wrote:


"Rodger Whitlock" wrote in
message ...
On Fri, 2 May 2003 19:58:57 +0000 (UTC), Paul Kelly wrote:

At least the wording avoids spurious defences along the lines "It's not
an
ever green 'cos it shed its leaves in Seattle"

Hey, what's wrong with Seattle? It's a nice city.


But very cold in winter and some UK evergreens are not when v cold.

"Very cold"? Not so. Its climate is essentially the same as here
in Victoria, BC. Serious cold is really rather rare in both
cities.

The arboretum in Seattle is a truly great one, btw. It seems to
have a specimen of every tree and shrub hardy in the northern
temperate zone. Full of mature specimens of a lot of unusual
woody material.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada