"Mike" wrote in message ...
| In article , David J Clarke
| writes
|
| Yes, sometimes. Coucil folk consist of relativelt normal people trying to do
| their job within there own ridiculous constraints of
| the council (I say ridiculous, but they will have good reason for it, I'm sure)
|
|
| Would I be correct in saying that you don't know the difference between
| a 'Councillor' and a 'Council Employee'?
|
| By your reply it would seem not.
|
|
A councillor is some **** elected for the post, totally irrelevant to this post I think (there I go again),
A council employee and his colleagues will be the folks that get the work done. They, I consider, to be reasonably normal.

ok?

"Top Cat" wrote in
news:hril9.895$Op4.110994@newsfep2-gui:

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
stand by to be sued by anyone ...
who objects to you
damaging that beautiful tree which they own just as much as you do,
being rate payers etc. etc. ;-(

I think it's stretching it a bit to call a Silver Birch a beautiful
tree......................

I think a silver birch *in the right place* is one of the most beautiful of
trees: a copse of them in spring underplanted with bluebells and primroses
is a glorious thing. Probably my second favorite tree (after beech, and
you don't want one of them right next to your drive either...)

http://www.treesforlife.org.uk/tfl.birch.html and say they aren't
beautiful!

Not to minimise your problem, but I think Sacha is right to point out that
your neighbours may have another view of it.

In article , David J Clarke
writes

|
|
A councillor is some **** elected for the post, totally irrelevant to this post
I think (there I go again),
A council employee and his colleagues will be the folks that get the work done.
They, I consider, to be reasonably normal.

ok?


:-)) Yes fine. (Council employees as you say are reasonably normal more
often than not)

However, do you know what Audit Department do and how the two are tied
together? (I feel sure you will know by your suitably apt comment about
Councillors)

In article , hugh
] writes

I agree. Having a word with your local councillor also might be useful.
You can always fall back on the legal letters if you get nowhere.

"MIGHT" !! If you are going down that line you are wasting a couple of
weeks and might just as well do as I say. Or go on a cruise after you
have written to him/her :-(((((

Audit Department kicks in a whole lot sooner :-))
The secret is "WRITE".

No telephone calls.
No visits.

"WRITE"

:-))

In article , Victoria
Clare writes

don't want one of them right next to your drive either...)

The whole point of the thread :-))

Not to minimise your problem, but I think Sacha is right to point out that
your neighbours may have another view of it.

well let them come and clean the car :-))


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When the gates are all down and the signals are flashing
The whistle is screaming in vain,
If you stay on the tracks ignoring the facts
You can't blame the wreck on the train.

| |
| A councillor is some **** elected for the post, totally irrelevant to this post
| I think (there I go again),
| A council employee and his colleagues will be the folks that get the work done.
| They, I consider, to be reasonably normal.
|
| ok?
|
|
| :-)) Yes fine. (Council employees as you say are reasonably normal more
| often than not)
|
| However, do you know what Audit Department do and how the two are tied
| together? (I feel sure you will know by your suitably apt comment about
| Councillors)

No. You have now lost me on this one. Please enlighten me.

Mike wrote in message ...
In article vjhl9.751$Op4.96001@newsfep2-gui, Top Cat
writes
I've got a very large Silver Birch tree just outside my boundary. It's on
a
council owned verge, overhangs my property, and the sap makes a hell of
the
mess of my car when parked on the driveway, it's a bloody nuisance!. Do
you
think as if I asked the council they would be obliged to remove it and
plant
something else more appropiate?

P.S. I'm a private householder.


Word your letter to the Council very carefully about you 'charging them'
to have your car cleaned every week/fortnight if they do not keep their
tree under control and from overhanging your land. Remind them that you
are quite within the law to prune any overhanging branches and return
the Prunings to them, ie dump them in the road. Give them 7 days to do
it and add that you will accept no responsibility if the tree dies or is
effected in any way by your lawful action if you do have to do it
yourself. Have the letter delivered by recorded delivery.

Copy the letter to the Council Ombudsman and the Citizens Advice Bureaux

Mike


My area has many council-owned trees and I act on behalf of my residents
association. Any problems with trees and I phone the council parks dept guy
responsible for our area. He meets me on site, usually within a couple of
days. We have a chat, agree a solution to the problem, and agree a schedule
according to the urgency of the problem. You might want to try that approach
instead. There are no extra costs associated with using a pleasant personal
approach; in fact it's cheaper, quicker and frequently more productive ;-)

N.

In article , David J Clarke
writes
|
| However, do you know what Audit Department do and how the two are tied
| together? (I feel sure you will know by your suitably apt comment about
| Councillors)

No. You have now lost me on this one. Please enlighten me.

Your Local Council must deliver the best service for you.

Fine if they were allowed to get on with it, but Councillors set the
guide lines, set the rules, dictate what has or what has not got to be
done. 'THEY' crack the whip, might not have any idea what the hell they
are talking about, but will go on a jolly at Rate Payer's (or what ever
it is called this week) and dream up all sorts of unworkable ideas. Mini
Roundabouts. Pedestrianisation. 'Green' Topics such as re-cycling ideas
etc etc etc etc and so on and so on :-((

All in the interest of the Council Tax Payers (or what ever they are
called this week) and 'supposed' to be for the benefit of said people.

OK?

Audit are supposed to monitor who does what and that it is cost
effective. For example. If one of their employees is sitting on a
computer all day surfing the net and replying to the various newsgroups
which are irrelevant and have no connection to the Council Business,
then he is not cost effective to the Council and is not required.

Therefore, if you write to the Council with a complaint, such as our
poster with the complaint about a Council tree, then as soon as the
letter hits the desk of the relevant department, they 'MUST' swing into
action and either action it or at least reply to it within a certain
time.

Let me give you a classic example. When you move or re mortgage your
house for example and your solicitor sends in a search, that MUST, by
Audits guidelines, be turned around and out within 10 days. We are not
talking in 'some' part of the country, we are talking Countrywide. Now
if you are biting your nails and ring your Solicitor up and ask whet the
delay is, he will answer 'Waiting for the search to come back'. The fact
that it is STILL sitting on his desk doesn't matter to him, but
unbeknown to him, all searches are logged in and logged out and Audit
keep an account of it.

I was surfing the web only yesterday and I fell across a sight which
gives the results of the targets set and how the council meets them and
what their score is. Fascinating sight, cannot remember where it was:-((

Getting back to your question, Audit are 'your' eyes on the efficiency
of the Council. I have warned Council Employees that their time/effort
is being monitored, but regret I wasn't believed:-((

Hope that helps :-))

Mike

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's frustrating when you know all the answers, but nobody bothers
to ask you the questions.

Hi
Firstly some simple questions.

Has the tree grown to such an extent since you bought the House that it now
overhangs?

Was the drive always there ?

And finally will be happy when as Wiltshire council now seem hell bent on
doing have chopped all the trees in your county down that pose any risk of
them being sued by Sap fallen branches etc .

Ian
"Top Cat" wrote in message
news:vjhl9.751$Op4.96001@newsfep2-gui...
I've got a very large Silver Birch tree just outside my boundary. It's on
a
council owned verge, overhangs my property, and the sap makes a hell of
the
mess of my car when parked on the driveway, it's a bloody nuisance!. Do
you
think as if I asked the council they would be obliged to remove it and
plant
something else more appropiate?

P.S. I'm a private householder.

|
An excellent insight to the workings, so thanks for that.

Now lets see how are man gets on with his problem....

| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| It's frustrating when you know all the answers, but nobody bothers
| to ask you the questions.
|

I wouldn't know about that. Do you really know ALL the answers?

"IP" wrote in message ...
| Hi
| Firstly some simple questions.
|
| Has the tree grown to such an extent since you bought the House that it now
| overhangs?
|
| Was the drive always there ?
|
| And finally will be happy when as Wiltshire council now seem hell bent on
| doing have chopped all the trees in your county down that pose any risk of
| them being sued by Sap fallen branches etc .
|

Are you one of these 'tree hugging' hippies or do you want to help?

In article , David J Clarke
writes

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
| It's frustrating when you know all the answers, but nobody bothers
| to ask you the questions.
|

I wouldn't know about that. Do you really know ALL the answers?

No!! Far from it!!

:-((


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GREAT TRUTHS ABOUT LIFE, THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED:
No matter how hard you try, you can't baptise cats.

In alt.uk.law David J Clarke writted:

: "IP" wrote in message ...
: | Hi
: | Firstly some simple questions.
: |
: | Has the tree grown to such an extent since you bought the House that it now
: | overhangs?
: |
: | Was the drive always there ?
: |
: | And finally will be happy when as Wiltshire council now seem hell bent on
: | doing have chopped all the trees in your county down that pose any risk of
: | them being sued by Sap fallen branches etc .
: |

: Are you one of these 'tree hugging' hippies or do you want to help?

Help comes in many forms. Perhaps you should consider that there are
other solutions than having the tree removed. If the tree goes, you get
a cleaner car, but the neighbourhood loses out by losing its green
components. The point being that there are other people involved, and
who have an interest in the tree than you and your car. I, for one,
wouldn't want a neighbour who's happy to lose a tree to keep his car from
looking spotty. Why don't you get a car cover? or get a garage if it
means that much to you.
We lost enough trees from our towns when councils panicked over
subsidence, and then again when cable companies cut through roots to
bring in multi-channel TV. As IP suggests, the last thing we need is
another reason to lose greenery from urban areas.

GW.

"Top Cat" wrote in message
news:vjhl9.751$Op4.96001@newsfep2-gui...
I've got a very large Silver Birch tree just outside my boundary. It's on
a
council owned verge, overhangs my property, and the sap makes a hell of
the
mess of my car when parked on the driveway, it's a bloody nuisance!. Do
you
think as if I asked the council they would be obliged to remove it and
plant
something else more appropiate?

P.S. I'm a private householder.

First, make sure you get the correct branch of the Council when you contact
them. There's no point barking up the wrong tree. You may have to root
around for the person responsible, unless, of course, they have turned over
a new leaf. Let's hope they twig what you are saying.

Bobby