The trees and the woodland which we manage are inspected on a regular basis and work is programmed on a priority basis. Work includes hazard and risk assessment, removal of large diameter dead wood and broken branches, crown lifting, felling and stump removal, and tree planting.
Dundee City Council do not undertake private works.
Visit Dundee City Council website to find out if trees are protected by a Tree Preservation Order, are within a Conservation area, or areas that are maintained by Dundee City Council.
What we will do to a tree
- Inspect Dundee City Council owned trees to assess their health and stability
- Raise a low crown over roads, paths, or cycle ways
- Reduce or remove snapped or broken branches in proximity to high use areas & residences
What we will not do to a tree
- Fell healthy trees.
- Prune trees encroaching on private property (you are legally entitled to prune any overhanging vegetation back to your boundary)
- Reduce the height of trees (topping or lopping)
- Prune trees to improve light levels at properties (as a resident you do not have a legal right to light that may be blocked by trees; however, we do take this into consideration when planting and recommending tree pruning works on an individual basis).
- Prune trees to improve TV/satellite reception
- Prune or fell trees to remove or reduce seasonal occurrences such as leaf fall.
- Dundee City Council do not undertake Tree Root pruning.
Tree Roots
Tree roots are opportunistic and do cross boundaries. Under Common Law in Scotland, tree roots are treated the same as overhanging branches, i.e. there is no duty placed on the tree owner to remove overhanging branches or encroaching roots. You do however have the common law right to cut back root's encroachment to the boundary line but not to the detriment of tree health and stability. Therefore root pruning is unadvised without professional advice.
Council Owned Trees and Telephone Cables
It is the landline internet service providers responsibility to maintain the service. Several options are available to the utility company that do not require the pruning of a tree to maintain the service. Often pruning is a temporary solution and the problem may reoccur when branches grow back.
For example, the cable can be sheathed at points of high friction; the line can also be redirected through the tree canopy. It may be that the telephone service provider is able to suggest an alternative solution to the problem of trees affecting telephone wires.
The Council will not prune or fell a Council owned tree to remove or reduce interference with telephone wires.
Council Owned Trees and Overhead Power Cables
Scottish and Southern Electricity inspect all their overhead power cables and notify the Council of any proposed tree works affecting Council owned trees. The Council is not required to routinely prune trees to clear power cables. Members of the public enquiring about trees and overhead power cables should contact SSE.
Privately Owned Trees
The council has no powers to make owners prune/remove trees bothering neighbours. Only when a Tree is assessed as dangerous or has fallen or causing a problem on a public highway or path will the council intervene, which may involve a cost to the owner.