Council owned trees

Excessive shade

We will not remove or prune a council owned tree in order to lessen shade.

There is no legal requirement for tree owners to remove or prune their trees to improve the amount of natural light that reaches a neighbouring property.  

Trees touching buildings

Where a council owned tree is touching a building, for example a house, garage or wall, we will take action before any damage is caused.  

Trees overhanging a property

We will not prune or remove a council owned tree to remove the nuisance of overhanging branches.

A property owner has a legal right to remove an overhanging branch from a neighbour’s tree at the point where it crosses the property boundary. For more information see private trees and hedges.

Obstruction to highway sight lines and signs or traffic lights

We will prune or remove council owned trees that obstruct sight lines on highways or adopted roads, or where they obstruct traffic lights or highway information signs.  

Trees obstructing a view

We will not remove or prune trees in order to improve a view from a property. There is no legal right to a view and the council has no obligation to improve a view obstructed by a tree.  

Telephone wires caught up in trees

We will not prune or remove a council owned tree to remove or reduce interference with telephone wires.  

Trees, solar panels and television satellites

We will not prune or remove council owned trees to facilitate the installation of solar panels or improve TV reception and satellite signal.  

Trees obstructing street lights

We will undertake work to council owned trees to ensure that trees do not unduly obstruct street lights.

Bird droppings

We will not prune or remove a council owned tree in order to remove or reduce bird droppings. Birds naturally roost in trees. While their droppings may be a nuisance this is not considered to be a sufficient reason to prune or remove a tree.  

Warm, soapy water will usually be sufficient to remove bird droppings.  

Fallen fruit, berries and nuts

We will not normally prune or remove a council owned tree to remove or reduce the nuisance of fallen fruit, berries or nuts. We will not remove such fallen fruit from private land.

Consideration will be given where fallen fruit is leading to significant antisocial behaviour problems or risk from slips, trips and falls.

Fallen leaves

We will not prune or remove a council owned tree to reduce autumn leaf fall. The clearance of autumn leaves from gardens and gutters is regarded as being part of normal property maintenance and is the property owner or tenant’s responsibility.  

Paths in our parks and green spaces are regularly cleared of fallen leaves. Leaves on grass and shrub beds are generally left until the majority of leaves have fallen before we remove them.

Poisonous fruit

We will not normally prune or remove a council owned tree because it is alleged to bear poisonous fruit or foliage. Where evidence can clearly show that unsupervised children are likely to be exposed to a council owned tree that bares poisonous fruit, appropriate action may be considered.  

Sap falling on surfaces

We will not prune or remove a council owned tree in order to remove or reduce honeydew or other sticky residue falling from trees. Honeydew is caused by greenfly feeding on leaves and excreting a sugary sap. Honeydew is a natural and seasonal event. If honeydew is colonised by moulds, it becomes duller and may turn black.  

Some trees, such as limes or sycamore, are more prone to attack by greenfly.

Warm, soapy water will usually be sufficient to remove honeydew from cars.

Trees and personal medical complaints

We will not normally prune or remove a council owned tree where a request has been made to do so because of a personal medical complaint. We have no legal responsibility to remove a tree under such circumstances. 

Tree blossom

We will not prune or a council owned tree to remove or reduce fallen blossom. We will not remove fallen blossom from private land.

Tree blossom is a natural event, usually signalling the arrival of spring or early summer, and cannot be avoided by pruning. We will clear fallen blossom from paths through our parks and green spaces as required. 

Tree pollen

We will not prune or remove a council owned tree to remove or reduce pollen.

Wild animals and insects

We will not prune or remove a council owned tree to remove or reduce alleged problems caused by wild animals or insects such as bees and wasps.

We work with AGSOne to offer a pest control service. There is a fee for this service.

Trees alleged to be causing building subsidence

Where evidence is provided that confirms that a council owned tree is implicated in building subsidence, we will take appropriate action. You should contact your home buildings insurers as soon as possible.  

Further information is available in our tree policy.

Trees and drains

We will not prune, remove or cut the roots of a council owned tree to prevent roots entering a drain that is already broken or damaged.

Tree roots typically invade drains that are already broken or damaged. Trees themselves will rarely break or damage the drain in the first place.

If you are concerned about the condition of your drains you should contact your water and sewerage company.

Removal or pruning of trees to facilitate demolition or construction

We will not automatically permit the pruning or felling of a council owned tree to allow building works to proceed.

The maintenance of trees in council house gardens

Tenants are responsible for keeping garden hedges and trees trimmed. 

If you are a housing association tenant you can make a request through your housing association office. No assistance can be given to private homeowners or tenants.

Responsibility for trees in the garden of a former housing property

Trees within the garden of a former council property that has passed into private ownership are the responsibility of the owner.  

Rolling maintenance programme

We maintain a rolling maintenance programme which aims to reduce potential future risks and issues.

Tree planting and replacement

We aim to replace every tree we cut down to ensure that over the years the district retains its tree stock for future generations.  However, it is not always practical to replace a tree in the same location or with the same species that was previously planted.

Working with various community groups we consider new planting schemes following the Right Tree – Right Place policy.

Trees alleged to be too big or too small

We will not normally prune or remove a council owned tree because it is considered to be too big or too small for its location.  

Tree safety inspections

We conduct safety inspections in areas of:  

• high usage (each year)
• medium usage (every 3 years)
• low usage (every 5 years)

You can find further detailed information in our tree policy.