Ethical issue, would you cut these?

Eric Frei

A series of pics to show you the problem. Pic 2 shows the shrubs we're focusing on.

Her choices in order of preference are.

1/ Removal/stump grind

2/ Retop/pollard

3/ Hedge trim level with top of fence



Lady wants tree work done including hedging, "pollarding" all around the house.

On the footpath there's a row of shrubs, in the past they get whacked which you can see. Now the shrubs served a purpose till she got a colour bond fence.

So, technically these are council trees.

What would you do? You have 4 choices to I suppose.

1/ Removal/stump grind

2/ Retop/pollard

3/ Hedge trim level with top of fence

4/ Do nothing coz it's council shrubs

Attached Thumbnails

       

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Drouin Tree Service

Being council id pass the job up,otherwise....wham bam thankyou mam!

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Drouin Tree Services | Excavator Hire - Drouin and SE Gippsland | Landclearing Melbourne

TreeCo

2/ Retop/pollard



Of course I don't know how the Counsil fits into the equation. Those trees looked pretty well wrecked from previous butchering.

Jamie Myers

i d speak to the council to see if they had any objection to the resident having the work done. fell and grind would be my punt

Steve Tipton

I'm with Pomme, seek council approval to remove and relace with something more suitable and maintain replacements correctly.

Sunraysia Tree Solutions

Council trees,maybe but they didn't plant them, so rather than ring the council and have to waite three months and countless phone calls for a decision, cut and grind,

Eric Frei

Here's the council's answer.

Dear Mr Frei

Thank you for submitting your request to Brisbane City Council regarding Tree maintenance / Removal of trees.

The Brisbane City Council is the only authority that can remove street trees. It is an offence under Council Local Laws for an unauthorised person to remove street trees.

I have forwarded a service request regarding your enquiry to the work unit responsible for street tree removal. The service request reference number is 1196177.

Council will not remove healthy trees unless they are causing damage to property/services or creating a hazard that cannot be fixed using other methods. A Council representative will inspect within 15 working days and then assess the situation depending upon the reasons given.

If you have any further Brisbane City Council enquiries, please access the Contact Information page available from the Home Page at Home - Brisbane City Council or phone our 24 hour Contact Centre on (07) 3403 8888.

Yours faithfully,

Robert
Customer Contact Centre
Officer Code: sccc50

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TrevMcRev

Is the fence the actual boundary?

Sometimes they get put up within the boundary and could mean that although the trees are outside the fence they may not actually be on council land.

Eric Frei

Yeah, fence is bang on the boundary.

Previous owners prior to fence planted them shrubs ... is a bus stop just there.

So, you cant prune the trees but you must cut the lawn.

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treefeller

Over here if its on council property we tend to let them deal with it or submit an order to undertake the work. If the prev owner planted the shrubs then they are hers to deal with as she pleases, providing she can prove it

JohN Dee

Jebus... Put em' outta their misery. Cut n grind n replace....

But it seems if the work can be done, council is gunna do it... What a way to burst your bubble... And you can sure aswell bet that if the council won't do it, and if you wont do it with out their permission then they'll get the first hacks they can, to do it...

I know down here if you remove a street tree, the fine starts at $600 and rises...

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We are what we repeatedly do... Excellence then, is not an act, but HABIT...

Red : Green : Blue

Eric Frei

BCC have advised that they will remove and stump grind.

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dr dendro

The council have the obligation to be good neighbours just as any residential property owner does. If the trees are of little significance, I think it is often unreasonable for a council to refuse to do anything, solely on the basis of the trees being owned by the council.
In my country, if the tree is no protected, the neighbour always has the right to cut the tree to the property line, provided it is at their cost, and that they do not further damage the tree.
Fortunately in this case the council involved has seen the light and there has been a good outcome.

Apocalypsse

It basically comes down to if Council wants to pay for it or not, especially if they use contractors to do the work. If its not a protected tree its just a simple yes or no to remove, half the time they don't even look at the trees on site, just via their version of street view.

KevinE

A couple 2 doors down from me re-landscaped their front yard 2 or 3 years ago & asked me to remove the mass of trees in the front yard before they did it (I wish I had taken a pic!) A couple of the trees were too big for me & I don't own a grinder, so I referred them onto the guy I use in those circumstances. He gladly took the lot out for them, including 2 street trees that they had planted themselves in years gone by. The landscaping was subsequently completed (great job too!) & a few weeks later the council arborist shows up asking why he had removed 2 of "their" trees? HO says "but I planted them" council guy says "yeah, but on our land, we own them" Council guy reads the riot act to them & tells them he's just fined another guy $2,500 each for two removing larger trees (google earth?), tells them to buy 2 advanced trees & plant them where the other trees had been, even nominated the species. HO complies! Matter closed. Turns out the council guy was acting on a complaint! Yet another story about a nose picking neighbour sticking their beak into other people's business! Do nothing, it can bite you!

old school

#2 lol hatrack,start from the begining,sign off on the potental death of the trees/bushes,charge her for a 5year term ,next year start selective prune and start the process to turn them back into trees,educate her ,keep the patients alive,if at the end 0f the 5 years and 5 trimmings she not happy then walk away,but you, me, all tree guys need to take the time to educate,you dont owe it to the people but to the trees

Apocalypsse

In my area when I come across topped trees, its near impossible to educate people, for the most part they are 60+ years old, the young ones though always get to you after you reduce all those crappy epidermics and rage at you.

old school

im not trying to change the world,i told a friend DR. Gilman,who is trying,maybe 2 -3 hundred more years,we ,no matter how small of a difference must do our part,so maybe my great great great grand kids will hear [hatrack whats that] ,,,,lol

Eric Frei

I've seen specifications written to top mangrove trees.

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old school

mangroves hatrack not here miami f.l ,you have to be certified,lots of rules,i trim them here,just to controll them ,best way if you think you will have the accout for a long time,and want to controll them theres a apical bud,just hand snip it out lol at the end of an 8 hour day all you shud have is a bucket of debree,sounds silly ,its called a supretion cut,just like subordination,stuns the grouth,very affective, hard to explain a long day of work with not much to show lol,but here the greater mogority are on land/water where the people have 2-5 million dollar manions ,so if they want to continue to see the water they pay to do it the real way