Overhanging trees

[Peanutte]

Our house and garden are next to a school field. The entire school boundary has very high trees growing up to about 10ft of the house. (Our house and garden are sideways to the field.)

Today (not for the first time) I had bird poo on my washing from the pigeons that sit in the overhanging branches. Fortunately it was only on a T shirt, which I threw away, but it could have been on school uniform or something else which I could not easily discard.

I have looked on the Council website and they talk about damage caused by their trees (they will not be responsible) but it only seems to refer to root damage.

Do I have any recourse to the Council? to the school? Can I ask them to cut the trees back or should I get a quote from a tree surgeon and ask them to pay? It would not be a case of just pruning back a few branches - these are very tall, mature trees - more than twice the height of the house.

Access would be really tricky whether from our side or the school side. I seem to remember that you can cut branches which overhang your garden and then offer them back to the tree owner - but who has to pay for the tree surgeon?

Otherwise, do I have to just accept that the branches will grow and grow over our house and garden?

Thanks,

Pea.

[redsturgeon]

It depends if the trees are the subject of any tree preservation orders. If that is the case then the local tree officer from the council will have to get involved. If not then you are free to cut off any overhanging branches but you must offer them back to the owner of the tree.

If the trees are causing you significant damage then the owner must cut them back but that seems unlikely in the event of a bit of bird poo.

John

[Peanutte]

No tree preservation order.

The problem with cutting the branches is the scale of the problem. They are huge, well established trees. They were pretty big when we moved here over 30 years ago and have continued to grow.

It's a dense, quite deep area of woodland. I don't think the Council or the school would care if we cut the trees back - they would not know because they can't see this side from the school buildings, which are quite far away. Any cutting would involve tree surgeons.

The problem with the pigeons effectively means we cannot use half our garden.

I think an email to my local Councillor is my next step.

Pea.

[swill453]

I get that pigeon poo is annoying, but don't understand why you had to throw the t-shirt away. Why not wash it?

Scott.

[Bminusrob]

You know there is an issue. Isn't the simple solution to move the washing line?

[PinkDalek]

No tree preservation order.

The problem with cutting the branches is the scale of the problem. They are huge, well established trees. They were pretty big when we moved here over 30 years ago and have continued to grow.

It's a dense, quite deep area of woodland. I don't think the Council or the school would care if we cut the trees back - they would not know because they can't see this side from the school buildings, which are quite far away. Any cutting would involve tree surgeons.

The problem with the pigeons effectively means we cannot use half our garden.

I think an email to my local Councillor is my next step.

Pea.

Not an expert but the first step appears to be engaging with the school or whoever owns the school field, depending on the type of trees:

Resolving neighbour disputes - High hedges, trees and boundaries
https://www.gov.uk/how-to-resolve-neigh ... boundaries

You must try to settle a dispute about a high hedge informally before the council can intervene.

Ask your council for a complaint form if the hedge is all of these:

2 or more mostly evergreen or semi-evergreen trees or shrubs over 2 metres tall

affecting your enjoyment of your home or garden because it’s too tall

You might have to pay the council a fee to consider your complaint.

Read more about complaining to your council about a high hedge.

That leads to https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... he-council and https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... rden-hedge

[redsturgeon]

No tree preservation order.

The problem with cutting the branches is the scale of the problem. They are huge, well established trees. They were pretty big when we moved here over 30 years ago and have continued to grow.

It's a dense, quite deep area of woodland. I don't think the Council or the school would care if we cut the trees back - they would not know because they can't see this side from the school buildings, which are quite far away. Any cutting would involve tree surgeons.

The problem with the pigeons effectively means we cannot use half our garden.

I think an email to my local Councillor is my next step.

Pea.

Not an expert but the first step appears to be engaging with the school or whoever owns the school field, depending on the type of trees:

Resolving neighbour disputes - High hedges, trees and boundaries
https://www.gov.uk/how-to-resolve-neigh ... boundaries

You must try to settle a dispute about a high hedge informally before the council can intervene.

Ask your council for a complaint form if the hedge is all of these:

2 or more mostly evergreen or semi-evergreen trees or shrubs over 2 metres tall

affecting your enjoyment of your home or garden because it’s too tall

You might have to pay the council a fee to consider your complaint.

Read more about complaining to your council about a high hedge.

That leads to https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... he-council and https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... rden-hedge

I'm not sure these trees would qualify as a high hedge, they just sound like trees to me. I could be wrong.

In which case although it is worth contacting whoever owns the trees, they probably cannot be forced to either do anything or pay for anything, unless it can be shown that significant damage is being caused. I'd say bird poo is not significant damage.

You are however perfectly entitled to chop of any overhanging branches that cross onto your land as long as you offer to give them back to the owner.

John

[PinkDalek]

You must try to settle a dispute about a high hedge informally before the council can intervene.

Ask your council for a complaint form if the hedge is all of these:

2 or more mostly evergreen or semi-evergreen trees or shrubs over 2 metres tall

affecting your enjoyment of your home or garden because it’s too tall

You might have to pay the council a fee to consider your complaint.

Read more about complaining to your council about a high hedge.

...

I'm not sure these trees would qualify as a high hedge, they just sound like trees to me. I could be wrong.

It is confusing but my attempt at bold above. This one https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... o-complain talks about:

3. What sorts of complaint can the council look at? ...

Is the hedge (or the part of it that’s causing problems) a ‘high hedge’? Is the hedge:

growing on land owned or occupied by someone else?
made up of a line of 2 or more trees or shrubs?
mostly evergreen or semi-evergreen?
more than 2 metres tall?
a barrier to light or access (even if there are gaps)?

Does this hedge’s height harm the reasonable enjoyment of a home you own or occupy and/or its garden or yard?

Are you the owner or occupier of this domestic property?

Noting the word "line", which wasn't in the earlier extracts.

That link goes to the legislation http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/38/part/8 which mentions "line" and certain types of tree and gaps:

66 High hedges
(1) In this Part “high hedge” means so much of a barrier to light or access as—
(a) is formed wholly or predominantly by a line of two or more evergreens; and
(b) rises to a height of more than two metres above ground level.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) a line of evergreens is not to be regarded as forming a barrier to light or access if the existence of gaps significantly affects its overall effect as such a barrier at heights of more than two metres above ground level.
(3) In this section “evergreen” means an evergreen tree or shrub or a semi-evergreen tree or shrub.

From the OP's follow up post It's a dense, quite deep area of woodland. so maybe not a line of evergreens at all!

[fuiseog]

The High Hedge legislation does not apply to deciduous trees (that lose foliage in winter), only evergreens.

I would be careful of the potential for politics.
I think it very unlikely that the bird sh1t argument is the route to go down. It is likely to be misinterpreted by bird lovers, casting you in an unfavourable light. Bird sh1tting is part of nature, especially if you’re a nimby. Many people will contend (other peoples) trees that harbour birds are good and try to ‘save’ the trees.
Whatever approach you take it will sweeten the pill, as a tree lover, when asking for the removal of the trees if you request replacement with more appropriate species that will grow more in scale with the site.

It would be helpful to know the tree species, the distance of the trunks from your house, and the approximate height of the trees. This information would help to a good degree in determining whether they could be considered a hazard to your dwelling. If they do represent a hazard, this would represent a more advantageous argument for removal.
Without this information, we’re shooting in the dark here -:(

[PinkDalek]

The High Hedge legislation does not apply to deciduous trees (that lose foliage in winter), only evergreens. ...

It would be helpful to know the tree species, ...

Yes, “mostly” evergreens and semi-evergreens as per earlier posts. Unfortunately the OP hasn’t logged in since 9 May but it would be interesting to hear further on this.

[dspp]

1. Personally I wash the shirt again if a pigeon craps on it.

2. Do the trees predate boundary & your ownership, or does the boundary and the trees predate you ?

regards, dspp