Ask our experts for advice on your property problems
Can I ask for a tree to be cut down?
Q There’s a mature tree on public/private ground overlooking our house, making the property dark and uninviting. Can I force the tree to be cut down, especially as if it falls, it’ll destroy the house?
A THE SIMPLE answer is no, you cannot not force the local authority or another individual to remove their tree. However any landowner and/or local authorities who have trees on their land have a legal duty of care to ensure that their tree stock is maintained at a level of acceptable risk and that they have taken all reasonable steps to ensure this.
The only way to eliminate risk totally would be to remove every tree close to a property. This is not an option as trees provide us with too many benefits. A hazardous tree assessment would need to be carried out by a qualified arborist: should it be deemed a hazard, the tree can be justifiably removed.
Proactive tree management is essential to avoid healthy trees being unnecessarily removed. If you have mature trees on your property, have them annually inspected by a qualified arborist who will undertake an impartial tree hazard assessment in order to identify any foreseeable hazards contained within the tree.
The arborist will provide a report stipulating any necessary works that should be carried out. The arborist will only prescribe works that will benefit the tree and/or mitigate any hazards as opposed to prescribing unnecessary works for profit. The report can be used to justify the tree removal. This report should then be passed on to a qualified tree surgeon who can carry out the necessary works.
By undertaking these reasonable steps, the tree owner should be covered in the eyes of the court should a mishap occur.
Michael Garryis a consulting arborist and Director of Crann, a voluntary organisation dedicated to the promotion and protection of trees. See crann.ie
Can a developer use special voting rights against tenants?
Q I LIVE IN an apartment complex, where the owners have decided to increase the service charge by 10 per cent to provide for some security services. All the owners agreed that it was a good idea because we have had a lot of problems.
But we were really annoyed and shocked when the original developer, who owns a lot of apartments, used some special voting powers and outvoted our decision as he wanted to keep the service charge low. Is there anything we can do about this?
A Yes, there is. From your reference to special voting powers, it would seem your developer exercised his original “subscriber” votes which were weighted in his favour in order to outvote the decision of the majority of owners.
The Multi-Unit Developments (MUD) Act 2011, which came into effect on April 1st, 2011, outlawed this practice and you may now be able to convene an EGM to challenge the validity of the vote and reverse this decision.
Prior to the Act it was recognised that occasional inappropriate use of weighted/subscriber votes was occurring and the legislation’s intention is to outlaw such practices and to facilitate the decision of the majority of owners by only allowing equal voting, (ie) one vote of equal value to each unit. In fact in any existing multi-unit development (excluding mixed-use schemes) any person now wishing to exercise weighted voting rights must seek approval from the court to do so.
Concerns for affordability are usually behind objections to increased costs. To counter this it is important to ensure that any security arrangements proposed offer clear value and a practical benefit in reducing trespass and crime.
I would recommend that before embarking on any significant works it is best to have your managing agent arrange a consultation with the local Community Garda liaison officer. The Garda Síochána have dedicated Crime Prevention Officers (CPOs) within each Garda division who are trained to advise on crime prevention to both the private and business community. Generally they will visit your development and advise on the most suitable types of security measures available to you.
Following this, and based on the specifications recommended, competitive quotations can be sought from a number of specialist contractors. It may be possible to spread the work and cost over a few years to reduce the cost to each owner.
Siobhán O'Dwyeris a Chartered Surveyor and Chair of the Property and Facilities Management Professional Group of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland. See scsi.ie
Send your queries to propertyquestions@irishtimes.com or to Property Questions, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2. This column is a readers' service. Advice given is general and individual advice should always be sought
