Source: https://www.gardenlaw.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=19311&sid=99e7b8ce5e609b8af9b4179a3f6a3089&start=0
Timestamp: 2018-08-15 22:14:24
Document Index: 408942631

Matched Legal Cases: ['arth15288', 'arth15288', 'arth15288', 'arth15288', 'arth15288', 'arth15288', 'arth15288']

Tree Vandalised and boundary issues - Garden Law Discussion
Post by Earth15288 » Thu May 01, 2014 1:00 pm
I desperately need some advice over a new neighbour. He had issues with our boundary and we agreed for the land registry to change the current boundaries. It was agreed the side boundary would run in line with an existing concrete post. The new posts have been erected so that they are in line with the back edge of the existing concrete post but the posts are on our property. As a result of this a large Whitebeam is now a few inches into his side of the property and a large chunk has been sliced from the base of this tree. If the posts were in the right place this would not have had to happen plus as it is a stock fence the wire could have easily been cut to go around this small area of tree. I am concerned for the tree and I know it will not kill the tree but it will weaken it structurally, plus the tree cannot fill the chunk removed so could it be more prone to disease? I am unable to post photos or links being a newbie
Post by MacadamB53 » Thu May 01, 2014 2:21 pm
If the posts were in the right place...
can you explain what you mean by this - I thought the post are now in the right place as agreed?!?
Post by arborlad » Thu May 01, 2014 3:23 pm
Earth15288 wrote: It was agreed the side boundary would run in line with an existing concrete post.
Was it also agreed who had ownership of that post?............something sadly lacking from some agreements.
Post by Earth15288 » Thu May 01, 2014 3:44 pm
The posts have not been put in the agreed place ie in line with the existing single concrete post and because of this he has vandalised our whitebeam. If the post were in the correct position this would not have happened also being a stock fence all that was needed was a small snip in the wire not cut a chunk out of the tree which was never discussed. The boundary fence is his legal responsibility but he should not be erecting it in our garden and no the existing concrete post was never claimed as his. The man is a property developer and thinks he can bulldoze people and the month he has actually owned the property has been no fun and today's actions are the last straw. I cannot be home all the time to watch what is going on and no the fence was not erected when I left this morning but I understand it now has been despite me telling his worker to stop and also to leave the tree alone. If some of you think I am being unreasonable this man was arguing over 2" yesterday despite having agreed where our fence post should be placed along the end of our garden - my exacting measurements cannot compete with his. He stands to gain far more than 2" with his actions. We have been very reasonable over the last month but the line has to drawn somewhere or he will just continue to do as he pleases
Post by MacadamB53 » Thu May 01, 2014 4:01 pm
if you read your original post there is no mention of the posts not being installed along the agreed line, unless this is what you meant by:
The new posts have been erected so that they are in line with the back edge of the existing concrete post but the posts are on our property.
as arborlad has pointed out, unless we know who owns the existing post then we can't assume any wrongdoing.
after all, you then go on to describe your issue as:
As a result of this a large Whitebeam is now a few inches into his side of the property
no mention that it shouldn't be...
anyway, am I right in thinking your actual issue is the agreement has not been honoured?
Post by Earth15288 » Thu May 01, 2014 4:25 pm
No my actual main issue is the damage to the tree which should not have been touched and would not have been happened if the posts had been in the correct place. Plus the fact it is a stock fence so even if the posts were in the correct place all that was needed was to snip the wire and not take a huge chunk put of the tree trunk must be 40cm wide 20cm high and about the same deep. It is a shame I cannot post pictures or links so it can actually be appreciated what has been done to the tree. If this damage had not been done we would have ignored the fact the posts and the newly erected fence since this morning are in the wrong place. You do not move into a woods and an area of natural outstanding beauty to chop down the trees in the garden and to vandalise other peoples trees. Over the last month he has chopped down most of the trees in the garden and it has been a battle to convince him to leave a couple of the copper beeches alone. This whitebeam in our garden is of no threat to his property it must be at least 46 metres from his house. You can only tolerate so much being shoved around, we have come home to find piles of tree branches in our garden because we were nice enough to take down our back fence so a leylandii could be felled without damaging his garage, we have had all the wood chips left up against our fence and all you get is oh it will all get sorted in the next 6 weeks. This is just the final straw in a collection of things over the last month and we have the thought that building works will start next month and will last until December. He has just taken advantage of us being nice people
Post by MacadamB53 » Thu May 01, 2014 4:40 pm
having now contributed 3 messages to this forum you can include links...
Post by Earth15288 » Thu May 01, 2014 4:50 pm
http://s1362.photobucket.com/user/Earth ... b.jpg.html
I was going to speak to the worker when he arrived first thing but was only alerted he was there after hearing a chainsaw, so I rushed out to tell him to stop. Since leaving earlier the stock fence has been finished and at this moment 6' mature beech hedging is being carried through
Post by MacadamB53 » Thu May 01, 2014 8:40 pm
He has just taken advantage of us being nice people
if everything was agreed on an informal basis - with nothing clearly set out in writing - then I'd say he may have taken advantage of you being naive, or maybe he misjudged the situation, or maybe his worker did not get clear instructions and botched it (then shrewdly didn't correct you when you blamed the neighbour).
who knows? (what does your neighbour say?)
anyway, is your sole beef that your neighbour has hacked the tree that was encroaching onto his land?
(btw, I can't quite work out what angle or location you've taken your snaps from)
Post by despair » Thu May 01, 2014 9:13 pm
Just wait till the neighbvour complains about the leaves coming off the beech hedging !!!
Post by Earth15288 » Fri May 02, 2014 12:44 am
No as I stated it was all legally agreed in writing and has been submitted to the land registry to be changed on the deeds to the property. I spoke to the new owner yesterday regarding the boundary and the post positions were agreed with both him and his worker and they have been changed. Plus there was no mention by him of the intention of doing anything to the tree and certainly not taking a chunk out of it. His worker has clearly stated he told him it would be a contentious issue hacking the tree and we should be informed and as I previously stated there was no need for him to do it and little point with the wire fence and baring in mind the hedging is being planted there anyhow. Plus all along the new owner has stated what a lovely tree it is and nothing should be done to harm it. Most of the photos are from above or to the side obviously I cannot go onto his land and take photos from the front. The damage is to the base of the tree and most of the chunk has been cut out from beyond the couple of inches that is in his garden. I have been told by a forestry worker the structure of the tree will be affected by what has been done and although it will not kill the tree out right because the bark has not been cut completely around the tree it could still become diseased because of the size of the wound. Even with putting something like seal and heal on it the area is too large to cover properly and with the wire fence now in the groove made for it a proper seal cannot be achieved
I have spoken to him several times over the past weeks at his insistence and on every occasion he either laughs things off and says just wait until I am finished the price of your property will increase or agree to things and then go ahead and do what he wants anyway or give it another few months and it will all be sorted. We moved to this house because it is a beautiful place to live as did the other neighbours, not to destroy the habitat by tearing down trees and destroying the wildlife homes. We even get dormice coming into the garden from the woods. Guess the moral of this is to get every little thing down in writing and as much as he will not like having to wait he is going to have to. Trying to take the friendly approach is obviously not worked and I should know from my working life to take what a property developer tells you with a pinch of salt but hey guess it is naive to expect anything different...........thanks Mac anyway
despair wrote: Just wait till the neighbvour complains about the leaves coming off the beech hedging !!!
nice thought but the fact we live in a woods a few extra beech hedge leaves are not going to make much impression to the amount we get already and the leaves tend to go brown and stay on the hedge at the other end of the garden. You would not believe how many wheelbarrow loads of leaves we get from the front garden let alone the third of an acre at the back.Keeps us busy at weekends when we are at home
Post by COGGY » Fri May 02, 2014 10:16 am
Why did you agree to move the fence in the first place? Did you think it was in the wrong place? Had it been moved previously? How long had the fence been in the previous position?
Post by Earth15288 » Fri May 02, 2014 11:33 am
We agreed to the fence being moved in the first place because the owner of the property was desperate(her husband had died and she was no longer happy there) to sell and the property developer would not buy it unless the boundary was agreed. As far as we were concerned there has never been an issue with the boundary in the 3 years we have lived here and the neighbour had said there was no issues with it with the people before us and in the 20 years she had lived there. the previous owner of next door had at some stage put up wire on trees to stop her dog coming through and this was about a metre from the original concrete boundary fence. From what we have found out around 25 years ago the then owner of our house sold a strip of land to the owner of the neighbouring property which appears to have caused the issue and it was never sorted. We have a very large garden and the neighbouring garden was full of leylandii so already engulfed a large strip of our garden.My main issue is with the tree, it is well over 90% is in our garden but the new person is claiming it as his tree and therefore is within his rights to hack chunks off of its trunk. I know the tree will not die as a result of his actions but it will structurally weaken it and if if falls it will be in our garden, plus now heal and seal has been painted on some of the chunk cut out which could possibly seal in moisture (yesterday we had torrential rain) and increase the risk of fungii affecting the tree. This tree is at the moment a beautiful healthy thing. I have come to the conclusion I need to determine who actually owns the tree but even then the damage has already been done. We could be really petty and tell him to take the fence down and put it in the right place but we really are not that kind of people and at the end of the day trying to be nice and help our previous neighbour has really backfired and in the future we will think twice. All I can say is he has not done much to make us consider him a good neighbour and potential friend so guess who is not coming to dinner lol
Post by arborlad » Sat May 03, 2014 9:52 am
Post by APC » Sat May 03, 2014 5:39 pm
Get him to fund fell and removal of the whitebeam. It's buggered in all likelihood. Cutting any member of the Rosaceae family at this time of year is likely to result in some form of doom. You say that matey who cut it was a forestry worker, that cutting looks almost like a crap gob-cut. It's not even tidy. Plant a suitable replacement in your garden, well away from the boundary. Enjoy your new neighbours and forget the developer.