Woman tries to get to root of tree problems

West Fife resident says she is still in shade after more than a year of calling council in bid to get branches cut

A Fife woman says she is living in darkness because of a 42ft tree behind her home, despite paying £380 to get the council to cut it back a year ago.

Anne Sinclair says that after more than a year of reporting the issue, she is still in the shade.

Last September the 62-year-old paid £380 to take out a high hedges notice to try to get the tree cut.

But almost a year later it still hasn’t been done, and now she said council bosses have said it won’t be until the bird-nesting season finishes.

Anne, from Cairneyhill, said: “I live in darkness, all I see is shadows.

“I can’t even get sunlight until 2.30pm and that’s when the sun moves to the other side of my building. And even then it is little glimpses of light.

“This is the best summer we have had since 1976 and I can’t even get a beautiful view of it.

“The house is cold all the time. I can’t even put the washing out because of the birds pooing everywhere,” she said.

“The council own four of the trees behind my garden, I want to be able to see around where I live.”

She said between September and April she made about 15 phone calls to see what could be done.

“I asked for them to be taken down a long time ago and still nothing has been done. I contacted the council in March 2017.

“I then paid £380 last September to take out a high hedges notice and I got told it would be cut by last Christmas.

“But now they are saying it will be done by October 2. That’s when I said enough was enough.

“They have taken my money and they still haven’t done it.

“I have gone through everything legally and I am still waiting.

“If I decided to wait until October 2 then it would have taken them 14 months to do it.

“They are hiding behind the birds nesting season.

“I live in a 40ft semi-detached building but this tree is two feet higher.

“Why the council are not cutting this, I don’t know. They won’t give me an answer,” she said.

“I’m not saying I want the trees to be taken away, I’m just saying that I want them to be maintained.”

Anne, who has lived at her home for 25 years, said: “They couldn’t deal with it.

“I have complained about this nearly every year since I moved here. Reading between the lines, the council’s planning department has had to serve a notice on the council parks department to get the tree cut back.

“They have had to go through their own legal department to get something done with it and I am paying for this.

“They now say they aren’t able to do it until after the bird nesting season is over but I have never seen any birds nesting in there.”

She said: “The council own four trees and my neighbour owned three trees. I have no problem with my neighbour’s trees now, it’s just the council’s trees.”

Environment, protective services and community safety committee convener Ross Vettraino said: “I’ve visited the area and can understand the concerns.

“Council officers are in correspondence with the Fife Housing Group and the council’s legal team is looking into the agreement between the former Dunfermline District Council and former Scottish Homes to determine the extent of Fife Council’s liability for tree maintenance.

“It is my view that tree root work is not part of normal maintenance procedures.

“I hope that officers will soon be able to provide more clarity on where the responsibility lies for ongoing tree maintenance within this housing estate but I think it is unlikely to cover tree roots within individual properties.”

I live in darkness, all I see is shadows... The house is cold all the time. ANNE SINCLAIR

Picture: SWNS. Anne Sinclair of Cairneyhill and the tree which she says is casting a shadow over her life.