Tales from the dark side

For building permits there are regulations on the need for light, but what about the neighbours' trees? Joanna Davies reports.
Every autumn, Stewart McMillan prunes the trees and hedges that hang over his fence from his neighbour's property.
He trims them back to the fenceline, and watches as they creep back over the fence during winter.
"I have to trim them back because moss grows on the driveway in winter and it can get slippery," says the Te Atatu Peninsula resident.
Mr McMillan believes he's lucky to have a good relationship with his neighbours, so they can keep the trees and plants under control along their shared boundaries.
"There are a lot of people who just plant different things along boundary lines because they will look nice, but they aren't thinking of the long-term maintenance," he says.
"Some of the bigger trees that are planted too close to the boundaries will do damage to people's fences and driveways, and get too large to manage."
Mr McMillan is making a submission on Auckland Council's new planning document, the Auckland Plan, asking for guidelines and restrictions on what may be planted along these boundaries.
"I'm not against greenery and trees, but I do think we need to have a bit more awareness of our neighbours' properties.
"When we built this house we had to cut the corners off our roof to make sure the neighbours had enough light, but there are no restrictions on planting large trees in our gardens that block out the light and make properties damp in the winter."
Landscape architect Paul Murphy says when people buy plants and trees from garden centres they don't always realise how big some of them will grow.
"It might say on the label that a tree will grow 4m by 3m, but that might be when it's 5 years old," he says. "In 10 years it could be a lot bigger than that."
He recommends people find out how much maintenance the plants or trees will need to keep them contained before planting them.
"For boundaries, hedges can be maintained to a certain size quite easily, and they are reasonably common and inexpensive."
Auckland Council spokesman John Evans says that there are no regulations on trees restricting light or overhanging into neighbouring properties. "If an unscheduled tree has branches which overhang from a neighbouring property, they can be trimmed up to 20 per cent or up to 30 per cent if the work is done by a qualified arborist.
"Should the work not be agreed through negotiation between neighbours, recourse to a civil court is another possible option."
If a tree is scheduled in a district plan, resource consent is required to trim it.
Out on a limb
You may prune or trim trees on your property without applying for resource consent as long as the trees are not scheduled or located in coastal or cliffline areas, or you live in an "urban environment"
You still need resource consent to prune, trim or remove trees on streets, council parks and reserves, and on Hauraki Gulf islands
You need resource consent to work near or around generally protected or scheduled trees.
For more information, see: www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz