recoveringbuilder Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 Has anyone on here ever had to remove trees from the verge of their plots for any reason? as you may know we have two plots we are currently marketing and we have a chap who has applied for detailed permission on one of them. At the time when we got the planning in principle the roads department were concerned with the lack of enough visibility splays and we then had to do a traffic survey. at the conclusion of this they agreed to relax the visibility splay and agreed that this could be achieved by removing some of the trees on the verge. Now I’ve had this potential buyer asking me about removing the trees and who should he gain permission to do this from,roads department have advised him 4 trees will have to be removed or he will not get the permission, after making some enquires I’ve been told the trees will belong to the roads department, he is afraid he won’t get the necessary permission but surely if they are suggesting it they must be willing to allow this to happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 I suspect "different departments" will come into play here. The highways man says they need to come down. The tree officer may say no. Look carefully at your deeds. Where is your boundary? are they actually on your land? It would be a shame if something happened to them and they died. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recoveringbuilder Posted June 7, 2019 Author Share Posted June 7, 2019 Yeah personally if I’d been dealing directly with this they would have mysteriously disappeared but it’s out of my hands, he’s got back to me to say he’s spoken to planning and roads and as you rightly say it’s a different department, planner has said he’ll speak to them next week ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamieled Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 We had to do this, although we did it via the proper channels before we got planning. In our case the roads dept were keen to see the trees go for a number of reasons. I think we told the tree officer and FC what was going on (felling exceeded 5m3 so we needed a felling license exemption ). Suspect it might be a bit different if the only reason for removal is to create a new access. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 We similarly had two trees right on the verge that were in the way, one was where our drive needed to go, the other had grown around an overhead power cable that needed to be moved. Before submitting our planning application I got a chap in to cut both of them down. Didn't tell anyone before hand, in case they objected. I got a few moans about it afterwards, but it wasn't as if I could have glued the things back. The council received a couple of complaints but couldn't be bothered to do anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 We have a wooded area to two sides and a line of trees at the front We decided to cut down seven mtr trees Nothing happened Over the next three weeks we cut down a further twenty six Most land owners are not bothered Unless you ask for a contribution Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 1 hour ago, jamieled said: (felling exceeded 5m3 so we needed a felling license exemption ). What is this 5 cubic metre thing, and a felling licence? I have some trees on my land to trim. I don't expect to ask anyone or get a licence. There are no TPO's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 (edited) 2 minutes ago, ProDave said: What is this 5 cubic metre thing, and a felling licence? I have some trees on my land to trim. I don't expect to ask anyone or get a licence. There are no TPO's. Removal of > 5 cubic m within one quarter requires a felling license from the Forestry Commission. Do it 4 cubic m bits, 14 weeks apart. Except for nests and bats. F Edited June 7, 2019 by Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 2 minutes ago, Ferdinand said: Removal of > 5 cubic m within one quarter requires a felling license from the Forestry Commission. F Over what time period? I have a tree thinning program, removing bits gradually over a number of years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recoveringbuilder Posted June 7, 2019 Author Share Posted June 7, 2019 2 minutes ago, ProDave said: What is this 5 cubic metre thing, and a felling licence? I have some trees on my land to trim. I don't expect to ask anyone or get a licence. There are no TPO's. I’ve read about this felling thing but seems to purport to trees on your own land however these trees are on the verge so out-with our ownership, I wouldn’t foresee a problem as it’s not a conservation area and there are a few trees within 100m which have been removed recently, don’t know who these were felled by Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 (edited) 8 minutes ago, ProDave said: Over what time period? I have a tree thinning program, removing bits gradually over a number of years. A Calendar Quarter. FC booklet: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/699889/treefellingaugust.pdf You are going to be exempt if you do not sell it I think. Edited June 7, 2019 by Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 13 minutes ago, ProDave said: What is this 5 cubic metre thing, and a felling licence? I have some trees on my land to trim. I don't expect to ask anyone or get a licence. There are no TPO's. I was all for asking permission till my wife pointed out that while there where no Tpos showing on the web That could quickly change 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temp Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 (edited) Under some circumstances you may own the land to the middle of the highway... Hope this link to a pdf works.. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.britfordparishcouncil.co.uk/app/download/18560551/Presumption%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bcase%2Bof%2Ba%2BHighway%2B-%2BDitches.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjU6qi0htjiAhVhqnEKHS41AMkQFjAKegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw1qzWi9B5BMLR7EF6-EvX-Q Edited June 7, 2019 by Temp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temp Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://gateleyplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Beware-red-line-boundaries-1.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjU6qi0htjiAhVhqnEKHS41AMkQFjAQegQICBAB&usg=AOvVaw1Mjbtjs6A3v5zwudKsepBf&cshid=1559934616390 "Roads and rivers There is also a legal presumption in relation to roads. Plans will often show that the boundary runs up to the edge of the road. In fact, there is a presumption that the boundary runs down the middle of the road. If the road is a public highway, then the Highways Authority owns the surface and the necessary amount of airspace above it, but the adjoining landowner still owns the land underneath, up to the middle of the road." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recoveringbuilder Posted June 7, 2019 Author Share Posted June 7, 2019 Thanks @Temp, I will speak to solicitor on Monday regarding this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roundtuit Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 Interesting. I had to query land ownership with the highways authority as I wanted to put a culvert in the ditch at the front of the plot to improve access onto the road. They said that they had ownership of 1m either side of the highway (i.e. road and footpath), and that they had no interest in anything outside of that. As above, if the trees are a little way into the verge, they might be yours anyway. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patp Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 There is something called the "Riparian" ownership of land next to a watercourse and this includes ditches. We, the landowner are the riparian owners of it which means that Highways can control what happens to it but we can maintain it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recoveringbuilder Posted June 14, 2019 Author Share Posted June 14, 2019 (edited) I’ve spoken to solicitor about this but heard nothing back from him or my prospective buyer, here are the trees in question Edited June 23, 2019 by Christine Walker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 Second one in looks unstable anyway ..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recoveringbuilder Posted June 23, 2019 Author Share Posted June 23, 2019 So my next question is, have any of you bought a plot which needed trees removed and did you have to pay for this yourselves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 2 minutes ago, Christine Walker said: So my next question is, have any of you bought a plot which needed trees removed and did you have to pay for this yourselves? Well there were trees on my plot that needed removing. Since at the time there was nothing to damage by felling them, I felled them myself and used my digger to dig the stumps out. One of the potential plots we looked at, would have needed a tree removed to make room for an entrance, and if we had bought that I would have expected it to be me organising it's removal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamieled Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 7 hours ago, Christine Walker said: So my next question is, have any of you bought a plot which needed trees removed and did you have to pay for this yourselves? Yes to the first question and 'sort of' to the second. We have various tickets for chainsaw work, but we also paid people to do the bits we couldn't (mainly aerial work and extraction). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simplysimon Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 hedge is still there but only about 6 trees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now