J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

As expected and as I mentioned the other day the tree outside our house has caused the insurance company to refuse insurance, the tree belongs to the council to whom I pay £2100 a year or therabouts to secure there services, in that matter I have no choice, no alternative and go to prison if I refuse to pay.

So, imagine my surprise on contacting them that they tell me they cannot afford to do anything about it due to their budgets, its amusing how I have to pay my tax despite my budgetary constrains yet they dont have to fulfil their obligations, they seem to forget that householders are custoers and a flat refusal to put something right is not good enough. I bet if I were on benefits and was too fat to walk or not born here I would get every consideration.

J4CKO is on the brink of a full on hissy fit, tempted to cancel the direct debit to the useless f*ckers, between that and the insurance I am not paying I will save £300 a month !

Seriously though, any suggestions, we have already

Spoken to our solicitor.
Contacted a tree surgeon.
Asked for the refusal in writing.

Matteeboy

Our council collects the rubbish and employs a contractor clearly in bed with them to wreck all our roads at peak times. And that's about it.

Oh and I always enjoy giving them those extra "tips" called parking tickets too.

Contact your local newspaper - they might cover the story.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Cheers Matt, good suggestion and one we are considering but to be honest I dont want to go in the paper sat looking all glum whilst pointing at a tree and being described as "J4CKO, Outraged Householder (38)".

Could do a swampy and camp in it but that might not work as I wan tthem to cut it down.

JackClark

Set the tree on fire, you'll then see your council tax come and put it out. Problem solved.

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

I, for one, would get the paper especially that day just to see that picture

Why dont you slip a backhander to some tree surgeon to say the tree has got dutch elm disease and it will be down before you can even utter " I've got wood !!! "

austinwrx

don't chop it down yrself- a pakistani bloke here in bradford felled the old trees in his garden and then pretended he was in pakistan whilst it happened and he knew nothing of it.

was fined £20,000. result.


contact yr MP etc. councils can't use lack of budget as an excuse. its the begining of the financial yr, not the end.

stilover

Wait for a particularily windy day. The very next day phone the council back up. Inform them that as you were walking to/from your property, a branch was shaken loose by the high winds. It missed your head by about an inch.

If said branch had hit you, would would have been forced to sue. Obviously, you'll need a branch to be on the floor. They'll probably be round the very next day pruning the tree.

Did this a few years ago. Tree's outside my Mams house. The very next day after I phoned, they sent a few bloke out to start pruning.

j4ckos mate

Be careful, this is a few doors down from one of my customers
£5,000 fine for chopping down tree - News - Manchester Evening News

tell them its unsafe and is causing possible damage to your property, tell them in writing, its a neglect of their duty and you hold them responsible for damage occuring to it. if its knackering your house it will be knackering the road as well.

what did you want them to do trim it or pull it down

JPL

Put a load of copper clouts in it?

SJ_Skyline

Get a tree root survey done and make sure that it shows that it is threatening your property with subsidence. From what I understand, one of these reports can then force the council to fell the tree - even if it is subject to a preservation order, failure to do so in posession of such evidence will leave them liable for any damage to your property by said tree. Anybody in the know that can corroborate/ correct this then please do!

FlightMan

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

I'd go with the above, but I would also get my local MP involved.

ScoobyWon't

Move house - probably a quicker process than waiting on your council to do anything.

Become a full-time student an you are then exempt from council tax, that'll save you some money.

dsmith

You pay council tax to fund the guaranteed final salary pensions of local government employees.

Nowt to do with services.

j4ckos mate

leave the tree there,
rambo will have something to **** against

bish667

iTrader: (1)

Is that another way the council make money? by refusing to cut it down for you until you get so p1ssed of with it that you cut it down yourself and then give you a hefty fine for cutting it down, which they should have done in the first place

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

The guy I spoke to couldnt have been less interested, ok, it isn't that interesting but it is his job to do stuff like that, both I and the wife spoke to him and got the impressionm he was there waiting for his pension.

Current status is that we have been quote 550 quid to get the job done, will just pay it and then attempt to claim it back from the council.

Leslie

Do you require their permission to get it removed J4CKO. I would not do anything without that for the obvious reason. And you will never get the money back from them.

Somehow I think you have to force their hand so they have to do it.

Les

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Les, yes we will ge ttheir permission, the Tree Surgeon wont do anything anyway, unless authorised. I suspect that the council will probably object for fun.

The insurance have graciously granted us seven whole days of insurance cover whilst we get it sorted, we pointed out via the (very helful) broker that cancelling our policy on the last day leaving us uninsured, though perfectly within their rights was a **** trick to pull and probably not good for publicity if it went in the local paper.

Leslie

Good luck then J4CKO, if the Council do object you may have a way to force them to sort it out themselves. Glad the insurance co. has seen sense and hope they take the criticism of their action.

Les

SVXNUT

As an trained tree surgeon, I suggest you dig a small hole at about 4 points around the trees base. Drill some 3/4inch holes 1 1/2 inches into the roots you find. Pack with table salt and fill the holes in making sure the ground appears undisturbed. Tree will be dead, or very sick within 3-4 weeks. Council will take it down.