Page 1 of Cutting down trees on council land??

My mates house has views over a golf course and there is/was a line of trees along the back of the fence that most people keep trimmed down to fence height so you can enjoy the view.

The house next door is rented and the owner is never around and the trees at the back of his house are blocking quite a bit of the view - they never get trimmed at all and obviously the council never touch them (they are a good 50-75 feet from the golf course by the way).

So, where does he stand with trimming them up/cutting branches off etc???

Can you just go ahead and do it? Should the council be asked? Should he care what the neighbour may say?

Thanks for any opinions.



why take life so seriously..its not like you are going to make it out alive

This item was edited on Wednesday, 10th October 2007, 09:33

Are the trees actually within the boundaries of the neighbour`s house? If not, then they aren`t his `property`. However, I`d strongly urge your `mate` to at least advise the council of his intentions. That said, can`t see it being a problem, seeing as everyone else does it anyway

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Nope, trees are outside the boundaries of the neighbours house. I should add that they are not particularly big trees, about 20-25 feet high.



why take life so seriously..its not like you are going to make it out alive

Then they`re technically not joined to the house itself or the tenant. As you say, the guy is hardly there, so he probably wouldn`t even notice if they`d disappeared altogether. I`d say go ahead, but again, contact the council, as I`m pretty sure they have pedantic rules about this kind of thing...

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Cut them down in the middle of the night when no one is looking.

Dr 42%er


Care in the football community is proved not to work.


It`s not easy being different. It`s not easy being cool....but somehow I manage....

As a chartered landscape architect,my professional advice is that they belong to the local authority and your mate has no right whatever to touch the trees. If they were blocking a view of a council tip rather than a golf course and the guy nextdoor decided to give them a trim you would be mighty peeved. Of course they may also be the subject of tree preservation orders which means any lopping or felling would leave you liable to hefty fines and/or prison. Your best option would be to tell the local authority they are too big and blocking your light (which you have no legal right to by the way, but claimit is an infringement of you human rights under EU law and they will normally believe you)

I am sure others will be able to give you other options, which I am by means of my professional chartership unable to do :$



The Bigman Cometh

But if you do it at midnight while no one is looking!!! That would be my professional advice as a sneaky bastard.

Dr 42%er


Care in the football community is proved not to work.


It`s not easy being different. It`s not easy being cool....but somehow I manage....

Well, there was a line of these trees along the back of the row of houses he lives in, most of the owners have trimmed/cut them down already. It`s just that this house is rented out and the owner is never there.

Oh, and they are not big trees, more like a boundary hedge that has got too big.

If there was a tree preservation order on them, would that have showed up on land registry/searches as he has not long moved to the house?

Cheers for the info so far.





why take life so seriously..its not like you are going to make it out alive

This item was edited on Wednesday, 10th October 2007, 09:33