Each year we get many reports about trees, hedges and shrubs which are overhanging public roads, footways and cycleways. Such growth can present unnecessary risk to pedestrians and sometimes to road users.
Prioritisation
While we welcome all reports using our online form, we must prioritise our resources.
We assess each report based on the level of risk the vegetation causes. To help us assess the risk, we need photographs that clearly show:
- the extent of the obstruction
- the location
If photographs are not provided on the report, it takes us longer to assess as the inspection team will need to carry out an initial assessment.
What the council can do
When overhanging vegetation is obstructing the highway from private land, the landowner is likely to be responsible for the obstruction. The council can require the owner to cut back their overgrowing vegetation. If they fail to do this we have powers to cut it back and recover costs.
Where possible we encourage residents to resolve local problems for themselves. If our contractors are tasked to cut back to the edge of the highway, they will do just this. The result, potentially, could be:
- the loss of the shrub
- a visually less acceptable finish than might otherwise have been the case
- an invoice for the work