The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s maintenance of a tree near Mr X’s driveway.
The complaint
Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to take action to trim a large fir tree in the highway verge near his home. He says it causes dust and debris on his drive and obstruction to vehicles accessing his property.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended) The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X says he has complained about a tree near his home which he says causes inconvenience from debris which falls on his driveway. The tree is set in grass in the turning head of a cul-de-sac and is one of several highway trees in the area. The Council says it has inspected the tree annually for the past 3 years and different inspectors concluded that it is healthy and does not require any maintenance work until it is scheduled in 2026.
Mr X complained and said he was not notified of any inspections so that he could be present. The tree is not on Mr X’s land and there is no reason why he would need to be present for the Council’s professional inspectors to assess its highway trees for maintenance.
Although the tree is not on Mr X’s land, he has a common-law right to remove any branches or debris which falls on it from neighbouring landowners’ trees.
When considering complaints, we may not question the merits of the decision the Council has made or offer any opinion on whether or not we agree with the judgment of the Councils’ officers or members. Instead, we focus on the process by which the decision was made. This means we will not intervene in disagreements about the merits of decisions.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s maintenance of tree near Mr X’s driveway.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman