Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Nov 16, 2010 2:00 pm Hi everyone My neighbour behind my land has a tree hanging over my side of the fence A LOT. Its a really massive tree. Who's responsibility is it to have it trimmed back and removed? I do not think it is mine. Can I tell them to trim the tree and take care of the rubbish? Thank you Re: Neighbours tree hanging over my fence 2Nov 16, 2010 2:11 pm Hire a 5' long sawfish style cutter and have yourself some fun Re: Neighbours tree hanging over my fence 3Nov 16, 2010 2:14 pm Have you discussed it with them? They may not realise it is bothering you. If you are having no luck with them, try talking to your council as they may be able to advise you on the local laws. Re: Neighbours tree hanging over my fence 4Nov 16, 2010 2:18 pm I haven't spoken to them yet, I just wanted to know who's issue it was before blindly telling them to cut the tree then later finding out it was my responsibility. I assume they're meant to cut it though afterall..it is theirs :S Re: Neighbours tree hanging over my fence 6Nov 16, 2010 3:01 pm To my knowledge, if your neighbours branches are overhanging your property, you have the right to cut off the branches to the fence line (your property boundary). However, you cannot cut any branches inside your neighbours boundary. You can cut back the branches that overhang into your property without your neighbours permission or knowledge. Any branches that you cut off the tree still belong to your neighbour, as they are the owner of the tree on their land. You can return the branches to your neighbour to dispose of. It probably isn't best to just dump the branches over the fence making a mess of their yard, it would be best speak to your neighbour and come to some agreement. Or you can throw out the branches yourself, with the neighbours permission. Or if the tree is causing damage to your house, write a letter to your neighbour and keep a copy. That way, you have notified your neighbour that there is an issue and they have a responsibility to fix it. Re: Neighbours tree hanging over my fence 7Nov 16, 2010 4:41 pm My understanding of the laws regarding this sort of situation is that you have the right to remove anything hanging over your property line but have to OFFER the neighbour any cuttings (fruit/foliage/children) back; and if they don't want them then you have to dispose/eat/set fire to them yourself. No permission required if you are not affecting the source (and as said above, cutting beyond your boundary) but politeness and common sense would be advisable. Re: Neighbours tree hanging over my fence 8Nov 19, 2010 1:05 am We have a massive tree in our backyard that hangs over our back neighbours yard.. that i'm sure would annoy them because it annoys us. We have tried very hard applying to council to get permission to cut the tree down. We have been denied permission because it is classified as a significant landscape tree due to its girth size. We aren't even allowed to do any more than 20% pruning of the tree without approval "A maximum of 20% removal of the live foliage volume of a tree is permitted in any 12 month period. I can't find the exact quote right now but I know as well that if we do decide to prune the tree it has to be equal on all sides.. i.e we can't just prune one side. There are significant fines if we do break these rules... our neighbour's builder got fined $15000 for knocking down a protected tree when they were preparing the land for the slab. We would love to cut down our tree. I'm sure that when our backyard neighbours start building they would love for the tree to be cut down too. However, I would assume that they would have to follow the same rules as us regarding getting rid of the tree/ pruning the tree.. so just be careful before doing anything too drastic. This is relevant for Brisbane City Council.. it will obviously be different for different councils. Our new house - moved in but so much more to do! https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=31696&p=442009#p442009 Re: Neighbours tree hanging over my fence 9Nov 19, 2010 5:18 pm We had this problem in our previous house - the neighbours had an overgrown tree (in fact everything on their side was overgrown!) that would hang into a section of our yard almost onto our gutter. We just pruned it on our side up to the fence line. We disposed of the branches/mess ourselves. It did annoy the sh** out of us as it wasn't our tree and we weren't the ones to neglect it but we wanted a nice/neat garden so just did it ourselves. it depends on the natural ground level, if they excavated their boundary wall needed to be built as a retaining wall. If you filled, which sounds like the case then you… 1 7084 The only thing to add to these comments is that where possible it's always good to try and work with people than just say "no" because you can. Having someone… 4 17148 |