15 Denewood Road, HornseyLondon · N6 4AQ

works to the mature Austrian Pine situated in the front garden of our property. The tree is protected by a Tree Preservation Order and we fully recognise its contribution to the character and amenity of the area. Our objective is to manage the tree responsibly and retain it as an attractive and healthy feature of the property. The tree was last pruned in 2021 and in 2024 an application to prune the tree was denied. The tree has therefore been allowed to grow without maintenance for approximately five years. There is also an important practical consideration which we ask the Council to take into account. Our home is insured under a Brit Private Client policy. The General Policy Conditions impose an express "Duty of Care" upon us as policyholders. It requires us to: "take all reasonable steps to prevent loss, damage, accident or bodily injury and to maintain the property insured in a good state of repair." The policy also makes routine maintenance the responsibility of the policyholder rather than the insurer and contains exclusions relating to loss or damage caused by faulty acts or omissions in maintenance. We are not suggesting that our insurance policy requires this particular tree to be reduced to a particular size, nor that it overrides the Tree Preservation Order. It plainly does not. However, it does place upon us a responsibility to take reasonable preventative measures to protect our property and others from foreseeable loss, damage, accident or bodily injury. Earlier this year a five foot long branch fell from the tree onto the public pavement (see attached photo) - this obviously focused our minds on the need for maintenance. Our tree surgeon is Christopher Hill of Woodland Tree Surgery and the following schedule of work follows his recommendations: Works to tree protected by a TPO. T1: Austrian Pine (22m): Reduce by up to 2.5m over driveway and reduce back by up to 1m from the house. The Austrian pine has heavy overextending branches leaving them susceptible to failure when exposed to heavy loading in wet and windy weather which it is frequently subjected to. Branch failure would result in snapping further along the branch towards the trunk impacting on the tree’s aesthetics and amenity value. Given its prominent position and proximity to road / buildings, minor reduction work to mitigate against potential branch failure is an appropriate method of managing the tree. The pruning works will be carried out with the use of a MEWP to ensure a sympathetic reduction. (Works to T2: Bay will be considered separately under Section 211 Notice ref. HGY/2026/2690, as this tree is not protected by a TPO but is located within a Conservation Area)