| No, the council officer expressed concern for the foundations of our flats as well as the conservatory. The arbor forum experts suggested that the 'safe' distance for a this species is somewhere between 7 and 15 m from a building, depending on what reference material you read, ground substrate etc. My tree is about 3m from the house, which means that it could cause subsidence through drying soil around foundations, causing the soil to shrink, or if it falls in wind cause direct damage to property and further risk to foundations from roots being pulled out.
I'm not concerned to remove the tree on wildlife grounds as it has never had a nest, and I’ve rarely even seen birds perching on it. The soil under the tree is parched and overshaded with no ground flora, and our garden's mice all burrow on the other side of the garden, where there is more vegetation and they can make good use of our bird table (more a mouse table really). Even the hedgehog family that forage in our garden don't take a route under this tree.  |