Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with Miss X’s concerns about a tree near her property. This is because he is unlikely to find fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss X, has complained about a Council owned tree located outside her home. Miss X says the Council has failed to maintain the tree and its roots are encroaching on her land causing a hazard and preventing her from completing an extension to her property.

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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 must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if 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 Miss X’s complaint and the Council’s responses. I invited Miss X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

4. In 2019, Miss X contacted the Council to complain about a tree located on the road outside her home. Miss X said the tree had damaged the public footpath and was encroaching on her land. Miss X said the tree was preventing her from completing an extension to her property and asked for it to be removed.
5. The Council refused Miss X’s request. It said Miss X was entitled to cut back any branches or roots on her land as long as no unnecessary damage was caused to the tree. Miss X paid to abate the roots so she could complete her extension. However, she argues it is the Council’s responsibility to maintain the tree. She says the Council should pay for the costs she has incurred and carry out the additional work required to remove the branches which still overhang her property.

Assessment

6. I will not investigate this complaint about how the Council has dealt with Miss X’s request to carry out works to a tree. This is because I am unlikely to find fault by the Council.
7. The Council’s policy says it will prune trees as and when it is needed. It may also prune the tree if it is causing damage to a person’s property or blocking light. The policy says the Council should regularly inspect trees and complete a full health check every five years.
8. In this case, the Council carried out a full health inspection of the tree in 2015 and pruning in 2017. A tree officer also visited to inspect the tree in 2019 following Miss X’s complaint. The report from the 2019 visit said the tree was being maintained and no works were needed. I understand Miss X disagrees, but this was a decision the Council was entitled to make. As it properly considered Miss X’s concerns before deciding it was not necessary to carry out any further works to the tree, it is unlikely I would find fault.
9. Furthermore, there is no requirements in law to prevent the roots growing on to a person’s land and if this happens the owner of the land has the right to prune the roots on their property provided the tree is not damaged.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because he is unlikely to find fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman