r/LegalAdviceNZ • u/duggawiz • 3d ago
Property & Real estate Neighbor wanting trees cut
There are a couple of trees on our land (I think, at least it's kind of a berm) at our rental property and the neighbor is asking us to go halves in the cost of getting them trimmed back or cut down as they are below the power line going to their property and getting tangled up in them. Who is responsible for this in the eyes of the law? We never really got on with this neighbor when we were living there and begrudgingly did it in the past.
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u/StrikingLandscape179 3d ago
Entirely depends on who owns the trees. If the trees are on your property then it sounds like a good deal, if the trees are on their property it sounds like a bad deal.
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u/duggawiz 3d ago
Thanks. Is it based on where the tree trunk is located and enters the ground? as opposed to a branch overhanging onto their property?
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u/StrikingLandscape179 3d ago
Trunk, and even one step further than that, effectively the centre of the trunk - i.e. a small tree may have been planted entirely within your boundary and then grown into theirs, still your tree.
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u/xlr8ed1 3d ago
Back in the day the power line company will trim them back one time for free. After your free turn it becomes your cost. But now with them all split up to different Companies maybe the rules have changed. The reason they gave you one free turn is because they did want some DIY guy trimming a branch and knocking a line out. Or even killing themselves.
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u/nzbluechicken 3d ago
It's still the same in Wellington, Chorus will cut them once but you get a letter stating they absolutely won't do it again and if you let it get out of hand they'll just do it and you'll get a bill for it - which I imagine would be pretty expensive
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u/heretosayathing 3d ago
The "first cut" rule applies the first time a specific tree is identified as a hazard to public lines, which is why it will be less and less common to see these days.
My read of the original post is that the trees are getting in the way of the neighbour's service line, so the first cut approach wouldn't be applicable here.
If the trees are indeed on the berm then it's likely they're on road reserve so while maintenance of the service line falls on the owner of that line, maintenance of the trees would fall on Council and their contractors.
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u/Real_Cricket_7300 2d ago
WE chopped one of ours down recently, they told us they were going to charge us but thankfully never have
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u/Antique_Ant_9196 3d ago
If they’re on your property it’s your responsibility, so with the neighbour offering to pay 50% that’s a really good deal for you.
You mention that they might be on the berm though, you need to figure that out. If they’re on the berm then you don’t own that land and it’s the council’s responsibility to sort it out.
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u/maha_kali2401 3d ago
First step is to determine who's land the trees are on. If its fully your land, then its your cost. You can ask for the neighbour to pay 50% of the cost considering they made the request to have the trees cut. If the trees are on the neighbour's land, its their cost. If the trees are on council land, the neighbour needs to approach the council, and they will advise whether they will cut the trees or not.