Ramsbottom dad’s row with Bury Council over large tree

Cameron Dickson said he first reported the large tree on Nuttall Lane in Ramsbottom 18 months ago.

The dad-of-two claims he asked the council for details about when the tree was surveyed and believes it has not been reviewed by the council.

The tree overhangs both the highway and Cameron’s garden, he claims.

Cameron said earlier correspondence from the council led him to believe they would maintain the tree, which is why he has not taken action yet.

He said he is unsure what proportion of the tree can be cut back on his side as a landowner.

Cameron, who works in the construction industry, said: “At one point, there were some large twigs, branches, whatever you want to call them, falling into my garden where my two daughters play, and they’re three and one.

“I just think it poses a risk to not only us and my children but also the road users, given that at least 50 per cent of it hangs over the road.”

He said he brought the issue to his local councillor, Gareth Staples-Jones, who Cameron described as “helpful”, but he claims they have not had a response from the council.

Cllr Gareth Staples-Jones said: “Originally, Cam contacted me over a year ago, the council did a site visit and arborists agreed upon inspection the tree needed pruning – as a councillor I’ve chased every month for the last 12 months.

“Every time I chase, I’m given a specific month the tree is to be pruned by, and then we reach that month, the tree has not been touched. Cam and I exchange emails where I apologise, tell him I shall chase up the matter again – I then get given a new date, and the cycle has so far repeated for 12 months.

“I’ve now raised the matter directly with the chief executive of the council.

“Sadly, we’re no further along, and I’ve not received any other updates.

“As a councillor, despite my challenges to escalate the case due to the time taken, I’ve been told by the council that this is not possible given the lack of arborists currently employed by the council, due to historic financial constraints.

“However, I’ve been told that there will be a plan to recruit more arborists in the long term.

“I have previously suggested getting contractors in to clear the backlog and to tackle specific cases, but have again been told that, due to financial constraints, this is not possible. I’ll continue to engage with Cam until we get this resolved.”

Cameron said: “Council tax is up at the moment. They barely empty the bins, and they don’t grit the roads properly.

“If it were anybody else, I would be changing providers, but unfortunately, you can’t do that.

“At what point do things like this constitute us not paying council tax? It’s just not right.

“I’m not a ‘Karen’, you know, I don’t go looking for things like this.”

A council spokesperson said: “We are writing to Mr Dickson to confirm that the work is on our work programme to be carried out before the end of June, to apologise for the delay and to thank him for his patience.

“We can confirm that there is no tree preservation order for the tree, and works will include pruning of the overhanging limbs, without having to access Mr Dickson’s property.

“We take safety very seriously and do a survey of the location every year, with the next review to take place by the end of the year.

“We do need to prioritise urgent safety works, particularly related to the issue of ash dieback disease, but we are working to improve response times where possible.

“Thank you to Cllr Staples-Jones for advocating on the resident’s behalf.”