The high winds experienced during Storm Darragh and resulting falling branches and trees has brought a greater spotlight on the risks posed in particularly from ash trees which have succumbed to ash dieback. There are two main questions being asked – who is responsible for maintaining roadside trees and is a felling license required to cut trees?

Owner responsibility

The legislation governing who is responsible for managing roadside trees and hedgerows is laid out clearly in a joint publication by the Department of Agriculture and Tree Council of Ireland named 'A Guide for Landowners to Managing Roadside Trees'.

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Section two of the publication states “The trees on your land are your property and as a landowner you are responsible for their care. Land ownership normally extends to the centre of the road; therefore, it is the landowner – not the local authority – who is responsible for the trees and hedges beside the road”.

The document advises landowners to be aware of the full legal extent of their land ownership and to consult deeds / land registry maps and take appropriate advice.

Where a branch or tree falls causing injury or damage to an individual or property the owner of the tree could be liable if found to be negligent.

To tease out further what constitutes negligence the publication states: “Negligence will usually depend upon whether the tree was in an obviously dangerous condition, and whether the landowner had a programme of checking and managing roadside trees. That is, if the accident was reasonably foreseeable and could have been prevented”.

It adds that “An ‘Act of God’ is not a viable defence if the tree involved was obviously defective and the landowner had not checked their trees”. The legislation is contained in the Roads Act 1993 which “requires owners or occupiers of land to take all reasonable steps to ensure that trees or other vegetation on their land are not a hazard to persons using a public road”.

Signs of tree failure

There are certain defects or signs in trees which are listed as commonly indicating a high risk of tree failure.

Examples included in the booklet include:

a) A dead tree or branch

b) Signs of root plate movement or an unstable lean

c) Extensive, active and progressive decay of the stem base

d) Deep cracks or splits in the wood of the main stem or branches

“Other factors such as a sudden increase in wind exposure or loss of root anchorage due to excavation or waterlogging can also increase the risk of failure, but this document focuses on signs in the tree itself.

Combined with severe weather (high winds in particular) these risk factors can indicate a tree whose failure is reasonably foreseeable."

The advice listed for farmers with a property that contains a significant number of mature roadside trees is to have them assessed by an arborist or forester who will then advise you on when they should be checked again.

Great care should be taken when cutting trees and in particular where cutting trees that are dead as they can split or fall in a different flight path than normal. Safety should alsways be put first and the services of preofessionals used. / Donal O' Leary

Checking trees

Tips given on how to check trees to ensure they are not hazardous include the following:

  • Set aside a time each year to do the check, and keep a record of when you did it.
  • If your trees have heavy ivy cover, carefully remove a section of ivy from the lower trunk to allow for an inspection.
  • If your site is large, have a map/plan on which to locate trees of concern.
  • Walk your roadside boundaries to undertake a visual check of all mature and semi-mature trees within falling distance of the road.
  • When checking your trees, plan your route and ensure your own safety when on the road or on uneven ground beside it.

  • Mark any trees of concern – these can then be checked by a professional and a management decision can be made.
  • Include regular brief checks at other times of year as part of your general activities, including after any severe weather events.

    • The advice is not to focus on deciding if a tree is ‘safe’; instead concentrate on identifying whether it is obviously ‘dangerous’.

    The publication states “It is not necessary to record every tree inspected but it is necessary to record the following;

  • The areas that were inspected, when and by whom

  • The trees that were deemed to require attention; and
  • The tree work that was carried out, when and by whom.

    • In the rare event of an accident occurring, records provide the basis of proof of reasonable tree management having been carried out.”

    The publication, which can be found here, also goes through many examples of tree defects and how to handle leaning trees, decaying trees and trees which have split or cracked.

    Ash dieback infected trees ar a common sight throughout Ireland and Northern Ireland. \ P McCann

    Approval for cutting

    Approval may be required in certain circumstances for the felling of a tree or trees. The decision is governed by a Forestry Act 2014 which details the requirements, rights and obligations in relation to tree felling licences.

    A guidance document published by the Department of Agriculture lists that for a tree outside a forest, within 10 metres of a public road and which “in the opinion of the owner (being an opinion formed on reasonable grounds), is dangerous to persons using the public road on account of its age or condition” can be felled without the need to submit a tree felling licence application.

    Other common scenarios where trees can be felled without the need to submit a tree felling licence include:

  • A tree in an urban area -an urban area is an area that comprised a city, town or borough.
  • A tree within 30 metres of a building (other than a wall or temporary structure), but excluding any building built after the trees were planted.

  • A tree less than 5 years of age that came about through natural regeneration and removed from a field as part of the normal maintenance of agricultural land (but not where the tree is standing in a hedgerow).
  • A tree uprooted in a nursery for the purpose of transplantation.
  • A tree of the willow or poplar species planted and maintained solely for fuel under a short rotation coppice.
  • Tree outside a forest— the removal of which is specified in a grant of planning permission.
  • Tree outside a forest— on an agricultural holding and removed by the owner for use on that holding, provided —

    • 1. It does not form part of a decorative avenue or ring of trees,

    2. Its volume does not exceed 3 cubic metres, and

    3. The removal of it, by the owner for the foregoing purpose, when taken together with the removal of other such trees by the owner for that purpose, would not result in the total volume of trees, on that holding and removed by the owner for that purpose, exceeding 15 cubic metres in any period of 12 months.

    There are caveats to the three points above including trees older than 150 years old, within the grounds of a protected structure, within an area subject to a special amenity or landscape conservation area or national monuments.

  • Tree outside a forest— of the hawthorn or blackthorn species.
  • Tree outside a forest— in a hedgerow and felled for the purposes of its trimming, provided that the tree does not exceed 20 centimetres in diameter when measured 1.3 metres from the ground.