Summary: There was no fault in the Council’s decision to cut down several trees at the rear of Mr X’s property.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council:
1. acted inappropriately when it cut down several aspen trees at the rear of his property. He says he only asked for the ash tree to be cut down, not the surrounding aspen trees; and
2. failed to deal appropriately with the stumps of the trees after it had cut them down
2. Mr X says felling the aspen trees has increased noise pollution from the road behind him, which is significantly affecting his enjoyment of the property and has decreased its market value.

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What I have investigated

3. I have investigated the complaint in paragraph 1a). I explain why I have not investigated the complaint in paragraph 1b) at the end of this decision statement.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
6. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered the information provided by Mr X and the Council.
8. I considered the information regarding tree management provided on the Council’s website.
9. I carefully considered comments made by Mr X on my draft decision statement before making this final decision.

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What I found

What happened

10. Mr X moved to his property in 2021. Prior to moving in, he noticed an ash tree at the rear of the property which looked to be diseased and brought this to the Council’s attention.
11. The Council found the ash tree had ‘ash dieback’ and cut the tree down. At the same time, the Council cut down several surrounding aspen trees. These trees were not diseased.
12. Mr X complained to the Council and the Council said it cut the aspen trees down at the request of his neighbours. Mr X says his neighbours told him they only requested the aspen trees to be cut back, not cut down.
13. The Council says the reason it cut down the aspen trees rather than pruning them back is because they have poor regrowth from pruning.
14. As a goodwill gesture, the Council agreed to plant several fast-growing trees at the rear of Mr X’s property to replace the felled trees.
15. Mr X does not believe these trees will grow to become a like-for-like sound barrier in his lifetime. He wants the Council to install another form of soundproofing at the rear of his home.

My findings

16. It is for the Council to determine how to deal with trees located on land it owns. As it states on its website, it has no duty to carry out work exactly as a resident requests. Following communications with Mr X and his neighbours, the Council assessed the situation and made decisions based on good arboricultural practice. There was no fault in the Council’s actions.
17. The Council has no duty to provide like-for-like soundproofing to Mr X or to protect the market value of his property. However, it has arranged to plant new trees in place of the aspens as a goodwill gesture. There was no fault in the Council’s actions.

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Final decision

18. There was no fault in the Council’s decision to cut down several trees at the rear of Mr X’s property.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

19. I have not investigated Mr X’s complaint in paragraph 1b) relating to the Council’s treatment of the tree stumps.
20. It is for the Council to determine how to deal with the stumps on land that they own. Therefore, it is unlikely I would find fault. In any case, whatever the decision made by the Council regarding the stumps, this part of the complaint would not constitute enough significant personal injustice to Mr X to warrant our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman