Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint that the Council will not remove a tree from outside the complainant’s home. It is unlikely he would find evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, has complained about debris falling from a Council-owned tree in front of his house. He believes the Council should remove it as the debris gets into his house and it makes his car dirty.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered what Mr B said in his complaint and the Council’s replies to him.

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What I found

4. The Council has no legal liability to clear leaves, flowers or pollen etc falling from a tree; that responsibility lies with the owner of the land on which they fall.
5. The Council’s policy is to not to remove a healthy tree to mitigate the effect of leaves etc falling from it.
6. The Council has inspected the tree outside Mr B’s home and considers it is healthy. It has explained to Mr B it will not remove the tree as this would be against its policy.

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Final decision

7. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman