Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Overgrown and dangerous tree in neighbour's garden
I wondered whether anyone had any experience of dealing with a helpful Harringay Council person (or other local official) re matters similar to the above. There is a beautiful but huge tree in our neighbours' garden two doors down which blocks out light, has caused some structural damage and is dangerously tall, not to mention the leaves that have blocked our gutters and caused problems with damp etc...The main issue is the property in question is rented and the owner is in prison due to a vast array of misdemeanours including illegal house conversions into flats (such as the house in question) and stealing electricity etc. The Council say that because there is not a preservation order on the tree they have no powers to do anything and have suggested that we put a note through the door! This is despite the Noel Park Estate being a Conservation Area. Ourselves and some of the neighbours are willing to pay to have some of the height chopped down (while the tree has no leaves on it) but without permission from the landlord we can't really access his garden as we'd be tresspassing and I don't fancy upsetting the him!! We've spoken to the Noel Park councillor who suggested we send a petition to Harringay Council but I'm not conviced they'd act on this. We just don't know who to try and speak to next. Any suggestions very gratefully received. Hx
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Speak to your insurance company. In fact, make a claim for the damage caused then it becomes their problem and they should chase. Watch out though, if there's no preservation order they'll just look to get the entire tree cut down.
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Permalink Reply by HK on
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We don't want the tree to be cut down as no doubt this would cause other problems such as waterlogging as it must suck up a lot of the ground moisture but we could certainly look into making a claim. The roots have lifted the neighbours patio and there is a huge crack in the garden wall and the tree is the prime suspect. Thanks very much for your advice!
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Not an easy area HK. This article makes pretty clear what you can and can't do as far as the law is concerned. You'll see that you do have rights if either leaves or roots can be shown to cause damage.
Why not try writing to the landlord under the auspices of a group name like Noel Park Residents' Action Group or something. Writing as a group depersonalises it a bit. You can point out that there is potential damage to all properties and that by dealing with the problem you'll be protecting the value of his property as well as yours. That together with the fact that you're willing to pay should make it more likely that he'll just give you permission. Either that or be prepared to go through legal proceedings, or via your insurance company, regarding the damage the tree's causing. Alternatively, take a risk and just get it cut back, but we couldn't possibly advise you to do that.
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Hugh, many thanks for the article. That's really helpful. In fact I think there are a couple of local conservation area groups that we haven't tried contacting that could also possibly help us out. I'll let you know if we have any success.
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Did you notice the discussion forum it links to - loads of stuff to wade through there; may even be the odd gem.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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I laughed at the suggestion - truly from a councillor? - that you should all get-up a petition to send into the Council. Why bother having councillors?
From the background you give, I assume you may be talking about an owner called Harish Parmar. (I give his name since the case was fully reported in the local press. See Ham & High Broadway 23 April 2009.) If so, I suggest it may be worthwhile to write to Mr Parmar directly in prison. Explain the problem and seek his written permission for the works you and your neighbours want to do.
As one of the councillors for Tottenham Hale ward, I spent many happy hours dealing with a case where Mr Parmar had built a breeze-block extension blocking out light to a nearby school classroom. But he was, finally, cooperative and demolished the extension.
Mr Parmar may ignore your letter. In which case you've wasted the cost of a stamp. But he may welcome the opportunity, in a small way, to begin re-establishing his public reputation.
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Thanks for letting us know, HK. I hope you and your neighbours do decide to contact Harish Parmar. If so, please post on HoL and tell us all whether or not he is willing to cooperate as a good neighbour, and give you written permission to do the necessary works.
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Permalink Reply by BBU on
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"wondered whether anyone had any experience of dealing with a helpful Harringay Council person" - sorry they don't exist.
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Now-now BBU, that's not quite fair. There are actually quite a number of posts on here that mention helpful individuals. Here's one that Liz blogged about recently.
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BBU, I've never and would never defend poor services and badly performing Haringey staff. Several thousand people work for the Council. Their performance and capabilities range from the truly dire (a tiny number); to the good and sometimes excellent (very many more).
In any organisation - or any social setting come to that - you tend to get the best from people if you expect, invite and encourage the best.
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