Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Dec 26, 2013 1:38 pm Any advice would be great regarding our neighbours tree – Grey Gum. Our neighbour has a huge gum tree in her property which sits on our back fence. The roots and the main truck have ruined the back panels in the fence causing it to split and have massive gaps at the bottom. This is to the point of not being able to fix the fence unless we get a fencer in to see what can be done. This will need to be done before we move into our new home in about 5 months as we have children and a dog that will get out. Long story short we contacted the owner and she had applied to council over the years to have it removed as she hates it. It has caused her to have over 5K in plumbing work need due to the roots and she considers it to be dangerous as it drops branches at any given time. It overhangs about 30% of our house including our alfresco and back yard. Our neighbour was happy to apply again to council to have it removed and we also sent in a supporting letter outlining our concerns. Council got back to us saying it’s a healthy tree and all we need to do is have it trimmed back – problem solved. So NO was the answer. We can dispute the judgment but at this point we can see it’s going to get us nowhere. So my question is (we are dealing with Baulkham Hills Council) is there anything we can do to get this changed ?? Any advice would be very helpful ! Contacting an Arborist is not an option as they love their trees and this one is relatively healthy – the arborist report we had done prior to construction rates it as fair health with poor form and poor structure. It is categorised according to Hazard, Risk and Retention as H3, R3 and 3. Our builders have also complained to us about the branches falling without warning. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks All Re: Help Tree Removal - Council won't agree .... 3Dec 27, 2013 11:13 am What if it wasn't a healthy tree? Would they remove it? Sounds horrible but if it's a danger if rather it gone then have to wait for the day it damages your house or hurts a person (specially children playing in the yard) If the report said its a hazard send that to the council? Re: Help Tree Removal - Council won't agree .... 4Dec 27, 2013 2:46 pm A theoretical option is for you to take your neighbour to the Land and Environment Court requesting that they remove the tree as it is dangerous, is causing damage yada yada yada, this bypasses Council as the LEC can make a binding ruling for the tree removal. There is only nominal fees involved (you don't need legal representation) and it doesn't cost a fortune and as your neighbour is happy for the tree to be removed, they're not going to appeal. http://www.lec.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lec/your_legal_problem/tress_and_hedges.html My neighbours with a massive gumtree are considering taking this option as they've just had their request for the removal denied. Good luck and if you go ahead with this option let us know how it goes. Cheers Never argue with an idiot they drag you down to their level & then beat you with experience - Dilbert View Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19733 Contract signed 14Sept Slab 30Sept Bricks laid 1Dec Lock up 26Feb Keys 10Jun Re: Help Tree Removal - Council won't agree .... 5Dec 27, 2013 3:11 pm sometimes trees suddenly get quite sick and then become dangerous and need removing. might be an option if you both want the tree removed. bloody silly really though. if it is on private property the owner should be able to do what ever they want. Recently moved to a 60's home in need of some improvement! http://s797.photobucket.com/user/leenii ... ch%20House Old house: http://s797.photobucket.com/albums/yy25 ... loo/House/ Re: Help Tree Removal - Council won't agree .... 6Dec 27, 2013 5:06 pm We had a large gum tree in front of our home and went through the same process as your neighbour. After being told no, we sent an email in to council stating that we have a record of their response and that they would be held liable for any future damage to property or persons as a result of falling tree branches. We also included some photos of fallen branches and photos of the tree after it had rained showing some stuff foaming out from the bark. We had applied to remove the tree ourselves, but after my email, a council truck showed up within two days and fully removed the tree, stump and all. Council's do not like words like 'liability'. Re: Help Tree Removal - Council won't agree .... 8Dec 27, 2013 6:24 pm Ren1979 We had a large gum tree in front of our home and went through the same process as your neighbour. After being told no, we sent an email in to council stating that we have a record of their response and that they would be held liable for any future damage to property or persons as a result of falling tree branches. Council's do not like words like 'liability'. In a similar vein, contact your insurance company and advise them that the neighbour has a tree that is likely to drop branches/limbs on to your house, and get them to write to the council advising them that they will be held liable should it fall. Likewise get your neighbour to do the same thing. If you can't convince them that they are liable for damages by not allowing the tree to be cut down, then I'm sure a big bad insurance company can wake them up. Owner Building at Jimboomba Woods in Logan City Qld. Blog : http://bandlnewhomebuild.blogspot.com H1 thread : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=68283 . Re: Help Tree Removal - Council won't agree .... 9Dec 27, 2013 6:37 pm Hey great ideas guys, watching this thread.... I have an enormous Pepper tree out the front on the council land. It is so big that you cannot see much of the house. I had applied for the council to remove it and their reply was that the tree was one of the finer examples of the species and under no circumstances can it be removed. I will follow the above course again to see what happens. cheers Mark Re: Help Tree Removal - Council won't agree .... 10Dec 27, 2013 6:44 pm council are only tree huggers when its too much effort for them. Yet theres perfectly great healthy trees being ripped out all the time for land development Re: Help Tree Removal - Council won't agree .... 11Dec 27, 2013 6:47 pm LeanneR, I hear you.... I am more than happy to have a tree there but not one that is so large it eclipses the house. Plus it drops sap so nothing grows under it either..... Re: Help Tree Removal - Council won't agree .... 12Dec 28, 2013 3:29 pm Land development = money to council and probably some backhanders to individual councillors. Tree in your backyard = nothing in it for them = care factor zero. Maybe you might be able to send them a letter advising they'll be liable if soimething goes wrong but my bet would be that they would simply respond that you were told to trim it back and if you didn't do that you're the one that's at fault. Re: Help Tree Removal - Council won't agree .... 13Dec 28, 2013 11:05 pm LeanneR council are only tree huggers when its too much effort for them. Yet theres perfectly great healthy trees being ripped out all the time for land development We applied for a MCU for building envelope relaxation, and they knocked it back because we are in a vegetation protection area. The BLE finishes 31m before the back fence line, and we only wanted another 4 metres to help with house elevation... moving it forward has resulted in losing nearly 2m in elevation. However we were allowed to have the batters extend outside the BLE. We were also advised that we are entitled to remove any tree within 25m of the house that could be declared a fire hazard. The enviromental side of the council wouldn't allow us to get the BLE extended because they were concerned that we might cut down all the trees over the next 15 years or more. Funny part is that because those trees are on the southside of the house, we were planning on keeping pretty all we can there, but we could legally chop down all the way to just 6 metres before the back fence if they were a fire hazard ! FWIW, the only trees there are scrappy wattle trees and couple of skinny gumtrees. Owner Building at Jimboomba Woods in Logan City Qld. Blog : http://bandlnewhomebuild.blogspot.com H1 thread : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=68283 . Re: Help Tree Removal - Council won't agree .... 14Dec 28, 2013 11:18 pm Althom Land development = money to council and probably some backhanders to individual councillors. Sounds a bit like Logan up here, there's a new development gone ahead not far from here, that flooded in the 1974 floods, and was then included in the Q100 flood maps issued last year, only for the most recent maps to show that the Q100 marks suddenly stop on the road that borders the new development, and that it no longer will flood in a Q100. Funny part is that Logan River had a pretty bad flood at the start of the year, which the council declared a Q6 flood, and which if the water had risen another 3 - 4 metres, it would have entered that new development. I'm not going to say anything about 'brown paper bags' full of something. Owner Building at Jimboomba Woods in Logan City Qld. Blog : http://bandlnewhomebuild.blogspot.com H1 thread : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=68283 . Hi , I'm currently going through this now within the Whitehorse council which has a similar set of restrictions. 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