oak tree advice

palarsehater

property over the back of mine has been granted permission for a double story extension. the issue is at the back of my garden there is an oak tree, i am worried that when they dig down to create footings, drainage etc it will damage the oak tree routes my next door neighbour some years ago had roots come up in her living room floor and oak tree roots grow up to 4 times the height of the tree, my issue is will the owner over the back digging and cutting roots cause issue to my property, possible subsidence etc? 

Rob7Lee

I assume you have:

house
garden
garden
house

if so their extension isn’t going to cause you issue with things like subsidence. Subsidence (if on clay) is caused generally by leaking drains or removal of too much moisture causing the clay to shrink.

if they are excavating within I think 3m of your foundations party wall laws apply.

how far is the oak tree from their extension?

DaveMehmet

I would tell you a joke about this but it’s acorny one.

palarsehater

@Rob7Lee the oak tree is about 1m from there extension wall. I have made a sketch to show location, I expressed concerns to council as it has been ignored and permission has been granted.

Rob7Lee

How bigs your garden?

Yes they will have to cut roots, they will also likely have to put in deeper foundations with some form of tree root barrier otherwise they themselves could suffer subsidence in the future if we have a very dry summer (again assuming you are on clay). Although oak roots tend to be quite shallow.

building control will deal with what’s needed for their foundations.

oaks are quite hardy, if you cut smaller roots the tree will regrow, if they are cutting large roots it could effect the tree stability and health. Might be worth consulting an Arborist and speaking to them.

worth pointing out to the neighbour if it weakens the tree stability and we have a large storm/hurricane the tree is likely to end up on their new extension!

palarsehater

@Rob7Lee
thanks for this, i agree that they themselves are at more risk, suppose what i was wondering is if they cut the roots at the side would the roots start regrowing my side?. 

my garden is 18.6m x 6m

Rob7Lee

If you cut a large root it will tend not to reshoot (by large talking 4” plus). Possibly your side would grow more but unlikely, it’ll just make the tree unstable potentially.

if they have drainage near the extension they are at risk of the tree damaging the drains (which could cause subsidence).

id talk to the neighbour and employ an arborist for advice.

palarsehater

Thanks @Rob7Lee

blackpool72

Just chop the bloody tree down.
Problem solved 

SuedeAdidas

Where is our resident neighbour / tree issue expert when you need him?

Rob7Lee

blackpool72 said:

Just chop the bloody tree down.
Problem solved 

Apart from it may cause Heave........

Addickted

Just tie a yellow ribbon round it.

Salad

ask for a Tree Preservation Order

SoundAsa£

I think you need to speak to your neighbour ASAP and tell him that you are going to have to seek professional advice, otherwise you will unfortunately be left with no alternative than to object to his application.....which you may do anyway, depending on the surveyors report.
He needs to consider that he will be held responsible for the payment of the survey you are planning......if he doesn’t agree, inform him that you will be left with no alternative other than to apply for a tree preservation order, which, for a well established oak, should be a formality.
In fact, seeing as it’s an oak, I have an in-cling the tree may well already be protected.
I remember a few years back the tree officer in Bromley was shit hot on this kind of issue and she would go to just about any lengths to save protected species.........of which I believe oak is one.
Property developers in Bromley used to run shit scared of her, she took no prisoners......and rightly so.

bobmunro

SoundAsa£ said:

I think you need to speak to your neighbour ASAP and tell him that you are going to have to seek professional advice, otherwise you will unfortunately be left with no alternative than to object to his application.....which you may do anyway, depending on the surveyors report.
He needs to consider that he will be held responsible for the payment of the survey you are planning......if he doesn’t agree, inform him that you will be left with no alternative other than to apply for a tree preservation order, which, for a well established oak, should be a formality.
In fact, seeing as it’s an oak, I have an in-cling the tree may well already be protected.
I remember a few years back the tree officer in Bromley was shit hot on this kind of issue and she would go to just about any lengths to save protected species.........of which I believe oak is one.
Property developers in Bromley used to run shit scared of her, she took no prisoners......and rightly so.

There is no TPO blanket coverage for oak trees.

I have a 300 year old in my garden that does have a TPO, not that I would ever want it taken down or damaged.

As far as this situation is concerned I would second the comments about having a survey.  

Covered End

I can't believe anyone would start a thread about a tree

bobmunro

Covered End said:

I can't believe anyone would start a thread about a tree

Really? Just to remind you, this is Charlton Life.

SoundAsa£

Covered End said:

I can't believe anyone would start a thread about a tree

Oi......it ain’t any old tree......it’s a mighty British Oak.

MrWalker

bobmunro said:

Covered End said:

I can't believe anyone would start a thread about a tree

Really? Just to remind you, this is Charlton Life.

...which has branches everywhere.....

palarsehater

thanks all

charlton life as per always brings some great response and v useful

johnny73

Once a planning application has been approved you have no real powers to object. You can report the process to the local government ombudsman but they can't force a change in decision.

ricky_otto

@Bill_Stumps is your man. 

palarsehater

Leading on from this, we objected the application - it was granted anyway, the neighbour next door to me unfortunately died in October so she couldn’t object, a preservation order was served on the tree so you could cut bits off but couldn’t remove it entirely, this is where the problems began, the neighbour from the back came round and politely asked if he could trim the tree from his garden and some bits might land in my garden and also that a scaffold would need to be put up for his extension and some tubes may stick out over my garden - I agreed for peace and that aslong as no damage to my garden is done fine, my mum is in the kitchen at 8.30am and is greeted with 4 builders in my garden standing all over plants and with 2 panels on my back fence taken down, they explain that they’ve had to do this to allow for scaffolding to be put up and it will be secure by time they leave, this was in November so pretty dark when I get home, I get in and I have 2 missing fence panels with a wire type scaffold fence simply half arsed put up and leant against the fence so I go round to him he’s an arrogant fucker ( a teacher actually ) won’t mention the school but his love of ganja May be mentioned to his employers and he gets the sack hopefully, he explains that he didn’t realise the fence would need to be taken down and that he’s sorry and he would have it secured ASAP , 2 weeks go by and he comes round and explains that’s works will be finished by end of January and that he was fully within his rights to erect scaffolding in my garden and remove my fence as once an application is granted it can’t be stopped and we can’t legally stop him from putting stuff in our garden and taking the fence down, and that once works are completed he will have a new fence entirely erected and any plants damaged he will get replaced.

Here is how my garden currently looks 

what would anyone’s advice be,I could take an angle grinder to the scaffolding and simply chuck it over his garden - although don’t want to get nasty. 

What has prompted me to challenge and get it sorted is out at the clap last night, my next door neighbour who is a child minder mentioned to me that she saw him the other day and said as im going to have kids back soon when will the scaffolding be down and the builders be finished as there constant swearing isn’t good for the kids that she looks after and his response to her was it’s not my fucking fence is it and the scaffolding will come down when the jobs finished - being in the trade a simple extension should take 12 weeks max not 7 months! The builders he’s got don’t really know what they are doing. 

Attached are photos;

Rob7Lee

Me think your neighbour is taking the pee, although hard to see where your garden ends and his starts, what is actually in your garden, just the one pole?

What is he actually doing by way of works? They have no right to erect anything on your property without your permission other than for essential repairs.

"For extensions, the fact you may have secured planning permission wouldn’t give you the right to erect scaffolding on the neighbour’s property even it was proven as vital to carry out the work successfully. You’ll have to hope the neighbours are agreeable, and may need to have a ‘contingency plan’ if they don’t agree to your original plan. For example, it may be possible for a revised or alternative design to alleviate the need for scaffolding on their property."

palarsehater

@Rob7Lee just the one pole and 2 fence panels taken down and damaged, he’s doing a side 2 storey extension so coming up over his garage. 

Rob7Lee

Being arsey you could say remove that one pole from my garden, if thats all there is I can't see why they had to take the fence down?

palarsehater

Because they are using the side access of the property which is around 700mm to get materials in and out my worry is when they put a new fence up they nick a bit of the garden or attempt to. 

But have looked on the land registry and he hasn’t applied for that part of land as technically up until 15 years ago it was a public alley but then it was sort of left to people to extend into themselves when he moved in he cleared it and the weekend after my house got burgled as easy access. 

sussexred

While a planning permission does not take into account land ownership, it does not convey the right for somebody to enter on to private property to implement a permission. This can only be done with the permission of the land owner. If refused, there is nothing they can do.

He may try and rely on your earlier verbal agreement to allow access, I assume there is nothing in writing, but if he is unreasonable, which sounds like he is, you may need to get some legal help to remedy the issue.

Covered End

I can't offer any advice but there's no way I would have allowed him to put scaffolding up in my garden.
I literally can't believe the front of some people.

Addickted

The only way your neighbour is allowed to utilise your garden without your permission is with a party wall award.

He is taking the piss big time.

I'd give him 48 hours notice to remove the scaffolding in your garden, replace the fence, make provision for putting right the chaos his builder's have carried out to your garden and to provide you with some compensation for your inconvenience and lack of being able to utilise your own facilities.

You really need to speak to a brief.

soapy_jones

Covered End said:

I can't believe anyone would start a thread about a tree

Bollox!  I have an issue with my Barberton Daisy...