Council Tree Causing MASSIVE Leaf Droppings In My Gutters?i

[Pickles2]

We live in Bayside Melbourne. In front of my neighbors house is a very large gum tree, around 45 yrs old, probably 35-40m high, overhangs neighbor's front garden, drops leaves EVERWHERE, but because of the way the wind invariably blows, our house is the prime recipient of leaf droppings, and I mean BIG leaf droppings,...3-4 bucket loads of leaves IN A WEEK. So, I have to climb my ladder, scoop the leave out of the gutters, but one area on the rear of the house requires me to walk on the roof to access a particularly vulnerable corner gutter.
Whilst I am getting on in years, I can still do this, but why should I have to?...When this tree was planted, my next door neighbor asked about planting such a tree, and was told, Oh no worries it's only a small tree,...10-15 FEET, and now 45 yrs later it's around 30-40 METERS & growing! It is a VERY large tree, absolutely inappropriate for a suburban street IMHO.
We've lived in the street for around 36 yrs, during which time the tree's got bigger & bigger, with a similarly bigger & bigger "influence" on our property.
So, what are the opinions from you guys about any recourse I may have upon the council, based upon the most unusually large volume of leaves dropped on my house from their tree?
Anyone else had, or know of, similar issues?
Pickles.

[Dervish]

Install Gutter Guard.

[cuppabillytea]

Yep, we have a Bottle Brush in front of our place which has displaced our sewer pipe. i'm not sure who will end up footing the bill for that one.
Local Governments everywhere have planted inappropriate trees in great numbers. Most people just deal with it but it is bloody stupid, and the Councils wash their hands of it most of the time, probably because, if they ever took responsibility for one they would go broke dealing with the rest.
Why not try one of the many effective leaf guard/gutter guard products.

[Bigbjorn]

Yep, we have a Bottle Brush in front of our place which has displaced our sewer pipe. i'm not sure who will end up footing the bill for that one.
Local Governments everywhere hav planted inappropriate trees in great numbers. Most people just deal with it but it is bloody stupid, and the Councils wash their hands of it most of the time, probably because, if they ever took responsibility for one they would go broke dealing with the rest.
Why not try one of the many effective leaf guard/gutter guard products.


Sometimes nuisance trees get sick and die. There are a number of medications that can assist with this. Check the shelves at your local Bunnings garden dept.

[ramblingboy42]

you could ask the council what your legal options are without telling them its their tree. see what they suggest.

[scarry]

If they are like the Brisbane council,don't waste your breath even calling them.
I have this issue at one of my commercial properties,and the branches even fall in an area where the staff have lunch,which is a WH&S issue.
The leaves from the tree also block the drain on the street,the water gets deep across the road,and has caused one car accident that i know of.
They won't do anything about the tree.

Oh,and in Qld there is a tribunal that you can go to called QCAT,i think it is,for residential tree issues.
They can tell someone to do something,but can't force anyone to do anything,so an utter waste of time,and money.

So looks like you are on your own[bigsad]

Gutter guard sort of works,but if its a metal roof,the roof sheets can rust out where the dirt and leaves build up against the gutter guard,particularly if the roof pitch is small.

[V8Ian]

Sometimes nuisance trees get sick and die. There are a number of medications that can assist with this. Check the shelves at your local Bunnings garden dept.
Copper nails. [bigwhistle]

[laney]

Vcat can rule and as far as I'm aware it is legally binding it meant to keep smaller disputes out of court.

[scarry]

Vcat can rule and as far as I'm aware it is legally binding it meant to keep smaller disputes out of court.

Hmmm,incorrect.

You can follow it up in court,at your cost if you want.

From the Vcat site

If the other party does not follow the order, it is up to you to enforce it through a court. VCAT does not enforce the decision or order.

Same as Qcat.

After going through the QCAt process,i asked my soliciter about it all,and he just laughed.

[JDNSW]

Sometimes nuisance trees get sick and die. There are a number of medications that can assist with this. Check the shelves at your local Bunnings garden dept.

Yes - and significant criminal court history related to this as well! Particularly for large trees that block someone's view, but could also apply to nuisance trees in general.

[PhilipA]

You should come to Avoca beach to see tree droppings.
This fortnight is "Canoe Fortnight" where every Blackbutt drops its bark sometimes in sheets 3 metres long and 50CM wide.
I have 8 in my yard and I just completely filled my green bin with jumped down bark and leaves off my driveway and deck. Probably more to come.
We had some really strong wind and rain which seemed to compress the process into a couple of days.
All the streets are awash with bark strips.
But it only lasts a while and then we are back to leaves, cleaning the slush left by the flower heads from under the gutter guard, and blowing the stuff off the roof.

But I have my own little menagerie of birds that visit all the time including thugs(lorikeets), King parrots, Coocoo doves, Scrub Turkeys, lots of Kookas ( who will steal your lunch),Butcher Birds who bring their songs, bloody Noisy Miners who don't add much but squabbles but keep Indian Minors away, Bell Birds , Whip Birds, the occasional Tawny Frogmouth, Self important Sulphur's who believe they are beautiful,and the occasional others.

I look out on trees and every night the cicadas give us a tune, and then the frogs from the creek chime in. I love it.

So think about the birds that the tree brings to your house before doing anything rash.
Regards Philip A

[1950landy]

Here in Brisbane many years the council came through & planted Leopard Trees on the foot parts , I as did others removed the trees but some left them , when the council came to water the trees & asked were the trees were I told them I don't have trees on the footpath , they are too dangerous & block your vision when exiting my property & I had planted the tree in my property so they were happy with that & went away. I do wish though that I hadn't replanted the tree as once it grew nothing would grow under the tree , the seed had to be picked up & you had to be careful mowing or you would destroy your mower or put a seed through a window :thumbsdown: . Now the one who left them have been trying to get the council to remove them. Our previous neighbour across the road ( who had bought the house after the trees had been established ) , who were in there late 70's tried for years with out success , his wife who had had 2 x hip & 2 X knee replacements done tripped on the roots a couple of times but the council would not remove the trees. Al they do is trim the tree & grind as little as possible off the roots. Every morning he would fill 2 X buckets with seed pods off the trees .

They sold recently & new neighbours told me he had asked the council to remove the tree because of the mess the tree made & he had also bent the crank shaft on his mower when he hit one of the roots . I told him he had buckle's & the only way to get rid of the tree was to put Mistletoe in the tree . In the next street to ours one of the councils trees had Mistletoe in it & the council was out within a couple of days & removed the tree :thumbsup:, when they are going to trim & grind the trees it takes a couple of months to do anything.

All the trees the council plant in Brisbane are fast growing that have large surface roots & the council would rather replace the concrete footpaths every 6 months than remove the troublesome trees . I do realize why they choose these trees because deep rooted trees interfere with the underground services but there must something more appropriate they could plant. [bighmmm]

[ATH]

"would rather replace the concrete footpaths every 6 months" Our local council did that recently and moved the path around the tree rather than destroy it. They are also demanding that people plant verge trees as they believe having just brick paving increases water run off or contributes to global warming blah blah.
Many people have spent thousand making their properties look good only to have these jumped up council employees issuing notices to force them to change them but they never offer to keep the verge well cut if it's grass or do anything at all actually to justify the rates they charge.
But they do nothing about a nearby bloke who is known for his poisoning trees etc. but as he's never actually been caught in the act, gets away with it and also has completely covered the front of his place with paving but they say nothing.
No doubt they have a good reason like being scared of his connections.....
AlanH.

[Eevo]

check this article out.

about halfway down it talks about trees and their importance in reducing heat islands.


Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane hottest suburbs: Health impacts of urban heat islands (https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/the-australian-suburbs-and-council-areas-most-vulnerable-to-extreme-heat/news-story/0df25ff17daedbb5793b20da70968671)

[Pickles2]

Well I wouldn't be doing any "bad" stuff to the tree, that's for sure.
But it is most definitely a "nuisance". Whilst it's on a nature strip, the branches stretch out well into the front of my neighbors house, totally over his front yard, & almost over his house, I don't know whether that would be the go,....that neighbor does not have to cop it OVER his property.
And it's definitely a nuisance, gutter guard is not always the answer, and for such MASSIVE leaf droppings, why should I have to go to such expense.
Anyway, I'll have a talk with my neighbor, and see if we can adopt a joint approach, BUT, at the end of the day, d'ya reckon I'll get to 1st base???...of course not, but I'll give it a go....and I will advise,....gotta get our blocked drains sorted first, which will be addressed tomorrow!
Pickles.

[goingbush]

In the past 'Someone' has accidentally crashed into & knocked over council trees on our Nature strip leaving me to clean up the mess. Branches from larger overhanging trees & sometimes complete trees have also mysteriously disappeared a few feet at a time over the course of a few years , mysteriously seems to happen when the neighbours away . No one else ever noticed, or at least never said anything if they did.

Also a I made up a length of 90mm downpipe with a U-Turn at the top then a nozzle pointing down. I put this on the end of a garden blower, Simply walk along under the gutter & blow the leaves out , A bit of experimenting with the nozzle angle & saves a lot of ladder work.

[bblaze]

We have the opisite problem, over the back fence is a lovely little creek which had 7 nice trees on the banks (native trees and not willows), which were about 20 foot high. They helped stop erosion of the banks, created privacy from the neighbors on the other side of the vreek and provided us some shade. Now there is only one tree with 3 branches. I have spent a deal of money cleaning up 25 yars of rubbish and sowing grass, had an excuvator in to do the work, also told the nieghbor not to cut the trees.
So I am off to the council tommorrow and will contact the EPA, I WANT THE TREES PUT BACK
cheers
blaze
ps not 2 foot trees either, I want at least 10 footers put back

[DiscoMick]

1. Install gutterguard.
2. Send a copy of the bill to the council with a request for payment.
3. Don't hold your breath...

[Pickles2]

Council sent two guys out, one supposedly an arborist. They didn't even read a letter I'd written or one by my neighbor, and had only a casual look at the many photos I had taken of debris on my roof & surrounding areas etc etc,...."Oh yes, we're sure it's a problem" was all they said, besides admitting that yes, it was a very big tree, inappropriate for the street and that council would not plant such a tree these days? They have agreed to come in a couple of weeks & "prune" the tree. I mentioned that all branches overhanging my neighbors property line should be cut off as we didn't have to put up with branches overhanging our property. They weren't too keen on agreeing to that one. So we shall see what we shall see, and I will advise what happens.
With respect to my blocked storm water drain, the plumber discovered a gas main warning tape "RIGHT NEXT" to a SMASHED drain, so it's apparent that when our gas mains were renewed a couple of years ago, they smashed the drain pipe,...so I've lodged a claim with the appropriate gas line people,..I'll let you know how that one goes too,....I took photos of the gas ribbon damaged pipe area etc etc!
Pickles.

[DiscoMick]

There is a whole legal minefield about aerial rights and trees overhanging a property, so I suggest you get serious advice about your rights.
Below is a link about the legal extent of property rights, including a section on air rights. Its still unclear though.
From what I can figure, a landowner would have to demonstrate an overhanging tree infringed the 'reasonable' ability to use the land, although who knows what that means.
Maybe you could just write to the council and state that you intend to prune overhanging branches if they infringe your 'reasonable' ability to use the land, and see what happens. At least you would have given the council notice of your intention, so they couldn't plead ignorance.
However, I'm definitely not a lawyer...

Definitions of property | ALRC (https://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/definitions-property-1)

[Bigbjorn]

Here in Brisbane many years the council came through & planted Leopard Trees on the foot parts , I as did others removed the trees but some left them , when the council came to water the trees & asked were the trees were I told them I don't have trees on the footpath , they are too dangerous & block your vision when exiting my property & I had planted the tree in my property so they were happy with that & went away. I do wish though that I hadn't replanted the tree as once it grew nothing would grow under the tree , the seed had to be picked up & you had to be careful mowing or you would destroy your mower or put a seed through a window :thumbsdown: . Now the one who left them have been trying to get the council to remove them. Our previous neighbour across the road ( who had bought the house after the trees had been established ) , who were in there late 70's tried for years with out success , his wife who had had 2 x hip & 2 X knee replacements done tripped on the roots a couple of times but the council would not remove the trees. Al they do is trim the tree & grind as little as possible off the roots. Every morning he would fill 2 X buckets with seed pods off the trees .

They sold recently & new neighbours told me he had asked the council to remove the tree because of the mess the tree made & he had also bent the crank shaft on his mower when he hit one of the roots . I told him he had buckle's & the only way to get rid of the tree was to put Mistletoe in the tree . In the next street to ours one of the councils trees had Mistletoe in it & the council was out within a couple of days & removed the tree :thumbsup:, when they are going to trim & grind the trees it takes a couple of months to do anything.

All the trees the council plant in Brisbane are fast growing that have large surface roots & the council would rather replace the concrete footpaths every 6 months than remove the troublesome trees . I do realize why they choose these trees because deep rooted trees interfere with the underground services but there must something more appropriate they could plant. [bighmmm]

You got leopard trees, we got golden rain/shower. I am not sure which name is correct. Ideal footpath trees said council, Shade in summer, leaves drop and allow winter sun. Lovely floral display in late summer. Lot of BS. Leaves drop in thick piles and rust out cars by getting into the air intake plenums, The pollen and sticky nectar make a mess of any vehicle parked under, and the seeds populate the neighbourhood with more trees. Not to mention the possums love the nectar and poop on your cars. Anyhow some thirty years later council has declared these an invasive woody weed and garden shops may no longer sell them. This only applies in the Brisbane council area. Bunnings in other jurisdictions still sell them. Council does not remove invasive species. I eventually got them to fell the two trees outside my place on the basis of dead branches. Took years of complaints. Of course, the stumps coppiced vigorously and took more complaints and another wait to get something done about this. Two guys with a truck and a stump grinder arrived, ground down one stump and treated the residual bit. Then started to pack up. Hold on, says I, what about the other one over there in plain sight? Work order is only for one said they and off they went. So I drilled several 25mm holes in the stump, filled them with tree killer and distillate mix. When the stump was well and truly dead I filled and refilled the holes several times with distillate and when well saturated set fire to it. All gone now and green grass there.

[Pickles2]

Ain't gonna be chopping down anything myself Disco, this is a BIG tree, I'd need a scissor lift, & like I said, I ain't gonna do anything that may contravene any laws, so I can only see how I go. Laws?...a bloody minefield, & I ain't no solicitor either.
Pickles.

[1950landy]

You got leopard trees, we got golden rain/shower. I am not sure which name is correct. Ideal footpath trees said council, Shade in summer, leaves drop and allow winter sun. Lovely floral display in late summer. Lot of BS. Leaves drop in thick piles and rust out cars by getting into the air intake plenums, The pollen and sticky nectar make a mess of any vehicle parked under, and the seeds populate the neighbourhood with more trees. Not to mention the possums love the nectar and poop on your cars. Anyhow some thirty years later council has declared these an invasive woody weed and garden shops may no longer sell them. This only applies in the Brisbane council area. Bunnings in other jurisdictions still sell them. Council does not remove invasive species. I eventually got them to fell the two trees outside my place on the basis of dead branches. Took years of complaints. Of course, the stumps coppiced vigorously and took more complaints and another wait to get something done about this. Two guys with a truck and a stump grinder arrived, ground down one stump and treated the residual bit. Then started to pack up. Hold on, says I, what about the other one over there in plain sight? Work order is only for one said they and off they went. So I drilled several 25mm holes in the stump, filled them with tree killer and distillate mix. When the stump was well and truly dead I filled and refilled the holes several times with distillate and when well saturated set fire to it. All gone now and green grass there.
Have you ever looked in the air vents for the A/C & heaters of car after parking under the trees for a day, the leaves go in & get wet & rust out the heater box.
I cleaned out my pollen filter in my Falcon ute the other day was full of Leopard tree leaves from the trees across the road & I never park under the trees.:thumbsdown:

[Pickles2]

Council have done virtually nothing, except come out & trim 2 "microscopic" branches, about 2-3' in length & maybe 3/4" thick,....will make absolutely NO difference to the nuisance this tree is causing.....all council would talk about is "wind pattern through the tree, a "balanced" tree, it's a "living, breathing thing"",...etc etc etc.
On the other hand, I did mention that I had a drain problem apparently caused by renewal of gas mains. So, took a few images of the damaged area, gas line warning tape, smashed pipe etc, and my $3K claim was paid in full.
The tree situation is on-going, neighbor is on board, ...anyway I have another issue connected with this which is the subject of a new thread...looking for some advise please.
Pickles.

[ramblingboy42]

My neighbour recently took down a large gum tree on his driveway/my fence , concern being that it was splitting in half.

Cost him near $2000 to have it removed.

Already my gutters are much healthier , ie no overflowing/ blockages in the risers further down the yard.

But now I am threatened by my own large lilypilly, which is soon to get the axe.

Trees are nice and environmentally sound...in parks and larger areas.....nice when theyre smaller , a bit like children.

I'm increasingly adding fruit trees...thats the way to go.