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Dangerous Trees

If you have identified a dangerous tree, you will firstly need to establish who owns the land that the tree is growing from.
To find out if the tree(s) are growing from land owned by the Council, please contact the Property Information Team on:

The Council can only confirm if the land is owned by the Council, it cannot advise on private ownerships. 

If the tree(s) are NOT growing from Council land, we recommend you express your concerns to the relevant landowner. To enquire as to whom the landowner is you will need to contact HM land registry on:

Trees Fallen into a River

If a tree has fallen into a main watercourse / river, and/or there is potential risk of flooding, please contact (NRW) Natural Resources Wales Incident Communications Centre 

Dangerous Trees on Council Owned land

Dangerous trees on Council-owned land should be reported to our Customer Services Team on 01443 425 001 they will then direct your query to the relevant Council department to be dealt with as appropriate.

Dangerous Trees affecting a Highway

RCT Highways will deal with trees in the following circumstances:

  • Trees obscuring vehicle sight line at junctions
  • Trees within head/ eye height on/ over footways
  • Trees fallen across the Highway/footpath

Trees affecting the Highway – A470 + M4 Corridor (including verges)

Please report dangerous trees along the A470 and M4 corridor directly to SWTRA

South Wales Trunk Road Agency:

Trees affecting the Highway - A465

The A465 `Head of the Valleys` Road, from Rhigos roundabout to Dowlais top (Merthyr) is subject to extensive up-grade works. From May 1st 2021 this section no longer falls under the maintenance remit of The South Wales Trunk Road Agent but rather the Future Valleys Project. They are responsible for both the initial construction and future maintenance of this particular section of the highway.

To ensure that your enquiry is resolved as quickly as possible please contact the Future Valleys Public Liaison Team, directly:-

Dangerous Trees on private land

The Council will only deal with trees that are imminently dangerous and are at risk of causing life-threatening injury.

Trees can become imminently dangerous due to a singular event such as a storm, flood or vehicular damage in an accident, resulting in part, or all, of the tree presenting a danger to the public.  Alternatively, a tree may reach a dangerous state by ongoing decay or disease, or may have grown in such a way as to be structurally unsound.

The Council will only investigate complaints if the tree is considered imminently dangerous. For example, a large broken hanging branch or severed roots allowing an entire tree to rock at soil level. 

The Council will not deal with trees where there is a perceived danger, such as a tall tree, one close to a building or one that sways in the wind.  These trees are not considered to be in a dangerous condition and pose no imminent danger. The Council will not consider the prospects of the future condition of the tree and will only consider its current condition.

If you consider a tree to be imminently dangerous and there is a risk of causing life threatening injury, then please report the matter to the Public Health and Protection Section via 01443 425001. At the time of making the report you must state why you think the tree is imminently dangerous and who it will affect if the whole tree or parts of the tree were to fall.

If the tree is on private land and you deem it dangerous:

  1. you will need to complete a Dangerous Tree Questionnaire
  2. include photographs of the issue(s)/tree(s)
  3. include evidence of attempts to contact the landowner
  4. Arboricultural evidence that the tree(s) or branch(es) are dangerous.

 

A completed dangerous tree questionnaire, with the associated evidence, should be submitted directly to Public Health at publichealthprojectsupport@rctcbc.gov.uk

 If your enquiry is not answered here, please email us at Trees@rctcbc.gov.uk