Trout

iTrader: (1)

If there is a tree protection order on it you will still need permission. You will probably have to replace it.

I had this when I wanted to cut down a dead tree in my garden. You will need to contact your local council and they will help.

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Its dead - remove it before it becomes a Health & Safety hazard

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Difference is that your tree had probably been there a couple of hundred years!

Richard_P

Just cut it down!

If anyone asks you don't know what happened, maybe some toe rag tree vandals came and cut it down in the middle of the night

Leslie

Difficult to know what to say, it might be wiser to check with the council what the regulations actually are without letting them know any personal details etc. If you did cut it down and some busybody reports it the council could hold you responsible. You just can't tell what your liabilities are these days of total control of us all by the authorities!

Les

Trout

iTrader: (1)

WRONG! DOH!

It had actually been there about eighteen months and was a motley twig. The reason it was protected was because it was on the building plans of the house I moved into. There was also a tree in the back garden in the same state.

We actually removed them and had them replaced before anyone noticed

The council wrote to use stating we could have been prosecuted if we had removed them.

In urban areas a lot of trees are protected irrespective of age. On the estate I refer to almost ALL the trees/new twigs were on the preservation order.

Iwan

Cut it down (quietly) in the middle of the night with a hand saw, then while chopping it up the next morning proclaim loudly to your neighbours about how it blew over in the night etc.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

There is a blanket TPO in our area on trees (not connifers - thankfully)

Basically it depends if the tree is out of sight in the back garden and how you get on with your nieghbours. What nobody notices, nobody will miss.

When the area got served with the TPO order....many many trees mysteriously disappeared overnight - people just can't be bothered to deal with the red tape to prune a tree, so down they went - serves the council and lentil munchers right imo.

hedgehog

You have to phone Greenpeace and David Cameron and tell them you are going to do it. Within 15 minutes a group of dirty, smelly pikeys plus the local womans Tory party will be in your back garden protesting, and handing out tea and scones.

Get yourself a cup of tea, and a scone, and ask Greenpeace not to go digging up the bodies of any of your relatives who died recently until you've spoken with them. Tell the Tories to bog off and they will soon depart most unimpressed with having to deal with such an ignorant man. Gather the pikeys around and tell them that you can offer a compromise deal: if they like the tree so much they can dig it up and take it with them.

After that all your problems are over, the Greenpeace pikeys take the tree and if there are any legal problems just tell the council that Greenpeace stole it.

You get a cup of tea, a scone and rid of the tree; the women of the local Tory party get to make tea and scones: Greenpeace pikey protestors get to save a tree which they later have to dispose of in a skip because it is dead anyhow; everyone is happy. You know it makes sense.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

...on the estate I refer to - which was in Hampshire - after about three years all the residents received a formal notice of inspection and someone came round to see if all the trees were still there. This relates to the letter I referred to around potential prosecution.

You makes your choices...

...of course if there is not a TPO then none of this applies. But you should check.

Kev_turbo

I am a Tree Surgeon so should be able to help.

If the tree is less than 4" DBH (diameter at breast height) then just cut it down. No TPO's on trees this small

If it is bigger and you live in a conservation area then chances are there is already a TPO on it. If there is and the tree 'disappears' you are liable for a £10k fine, if a tree surgeon removes it the fine is £20k.

The problem is if you contact the council and they are feeling grumpy if the tree has no TPO they could put one on it.

The official way to find out if you can remove the tree is phone the council and they will send you a form from the tree section of planning, fill this in and send it back. They have 6 weeks to respond so send it recorded. If no response chop it down, if they do respond and it is really dying (go chop off all the brances with buds on if they are small, rub mud into the cuts so you don't see they are fresh) they will say remove it and could ask for it to be replaced. If it is still alive they may say you must keep it and trim it. The councils I deal with all say the work must be carried out by a qualified person so no hiring a chainsaw and doing it yourself, they have been known to check.

Hope that helps

Kev

TopBanana

It's your garden, chop the ****** down!

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Kev,

at my house in Hampshire that simply is not true. The two trees on my property with TPOs were both only a couple of years old and I guess still saplings - certainly not 4in in diameter (trunk I presume). The council sent papers and then sent someone to inspect them three years after the estate had been built. I still have the papers here.

Maybe different in Yorkshire.

Rannoch

RON

What Turbo_kev also applies here in Mid Dorset, i suspect that your situation may well be different due to the fact that the planting of trees was more than likely a planning requirement.....

Chip Sengravy

SNet advice at its finest

as said, **** em', a bow saw will do it

Chrisgr31

I have one you can borrow!