Can anything be done about trees blocking the view?

D

delgirl

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We, along with our neighbours, purchased houses 9 years ago with the only land between our houses and the sea being a flat golf course. We paid a premium for the sea view.

A year ago, the golf course planted rows of coniferous trees, I'm not sure what variety they are, but they are very fast growing.

These trees have now partially blocked the sea view and in about 1 -2 year's time, will obscure it totally.

We have approached the Golf Club and have asked if they would be willing to top these trees and keep them to a reasonable height so as not to totally obscure the view of about 50 properties. They refused and said that the trees will grow to approx 40-50 feet and they are happy with that.

My question is, has anyone else been in a similar situation and what course of action can we take to keep the trees at a reasonable height?

Do we have any rights to the view at all, for which we paid a premium?
 
I feel terribly sorry for you. I do hope you get some satisfaction. We had a near miss with our mountain view and proposed planning application.
 
I stand to be corrected but I don't think there is anything you can do. Relatives had a similar problem - Holiday home had a fantastic view of the sea, new neighbours moved in & they planted a row of trees. My relatives sked about them being cut & they were told no. AFAIK, they followed up at the time to see if they had an recourse & they were told no.
 
As alluded to in previous posts - you do not own a view and all though its unfortunate it makes sense. The golf course owners in this case is entitled to enclose their grounds. Your best option is to discuss this with them and see if they would be willing to keep them at a certain height? Maybe if you agreed to contribute towards some of the costs, they may be ammenable.
 
Peeete said:
As alluded to in previous posts - you do not own a view and all though its unfortunate it makes sense. The golf course owners in this case is entitled to enclose their grounds. Your best option is to discuss this with them and see if they would be willing to keep them at a certain height? Maybe if you agreed to contribute towards some of the costs, they may be ammenable.
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This is a sensible approach.

I would however add that easements do exist. An easement is essentially a right enjoyed by one land owner over anothers one of which is a right to light.
Also the planting of the trees may constitute a nuisance in terms of roots and over-hanging branches encroaching upon your property. This can be actionable by way of injunction.

Worth checking out with a solicitor if all else fails
 
As McCrack mentioned, you hold the right to light. Do these trees impair yours ot your neighbour's light. If they do you have a case. Otherwise it's down to tit for tat. Otherwise you are bunched because these Golf Clubs hold a superiority complex.
 
you may not necessarily have a right to light, especially as you mention the fact that you bought the house nine years ago. Was it a new build, if so then you probably will have no luck. You will have no luck at all in claiming a right to a view.
 
Surely if the house was there prior to the trees and the light within the house is being infringed upon, then the OP is entitled to the light that was there prior to the trees, and especially he has made his views known.
 
Surely if the house was there prior to the trees and the light within the house is being infringed upon, then the OP is entitled to the light that was there prior to the trees, and especially he has made his views known.
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Not necessarily, it depends upon on how long the houses were there for. From memory the period required to gain an easement of light by prescription is twenty years. There may have been an express or implied grant of an easement of light but the OP gives no indication of that. Even if there is an easement of light these trees may not infringe upon that, it would be important to know how far away they are from the house.
 
There is no general right to a scenic view in Ireland.

The only views that are protected are those which are listed as such in the local authorities Development Plan. Usually these are in the form of the view of some monument/building/area is protected from a particular public vantage point rather than something along the lines that residents in an area have a sea view.

The blocking of light by the trees is only relevant if the trees are very close to the OPs house.
 
Yes, you shopuld approach the golf course and offer to pay for the topping of the trees. They may have a valid reason for refusing etc, but if they are unwilling to help at all, I'm sure you can invite your local press out for a nice photo and story. Also lobby the golf club members etc. I am lucky to have a very nice view of the wicklow mountains and was the reason we bought the site so i sympathise with your plight.

There may be a compremise where you can trim back some branches, remove some tree etc - but i would suspect they will want you to pay for it.

Also, talk to the club president face to face and not the front desk

Cutting down the tree without permission would be criminal damage, so avoid that at all costs.
 
bertson said:
Yes, you shopuld approach the golf course and offer to pay for the topping of the trees. They may have a valid reason for refusing etc, but if they are unwilling to help at all, I'm sure you can invite your local press out for a nice photo and story. Also lobby the golf club members etc. I am lucky to have a very nice view of the wicklow mountains and was the reason we bought the site so i sympathise with your plight.

There may be a compremise where you can trim back some branches, remove some tree etc - but i would suspect they will want you to pay for it.

Also, talk to the club president face to face and not the front desk

Cutting down the tree without permission would be criminal damage, so avoid that at all costs.
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I don't think it would be much use speaking to the club President - don't they change every year or two? I would think you would need to speak to whoever owns the golf course. The OP did say they have approached the golf club. Maybe they should get some legal advise.
 
Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

The trees are approximately 200 yards from the houses, so the issue of them blocking light doesn't arise.

We have discovered a map of the local area, made before our estate was built, which has 'Listed Views' marked on it opposite part of the golf course to the left of our estate.

Our next move is to approach the local planning office to see if they can tell us if these listed views have been/can be extended further along the coast and what exactly does 'Listed View' mean.

We're devastated at the prospect of losing almost all of our sea view - that's the main reason we decided to live here and are all astonished that someone can unilaterally decide to take it away without the necessity for planning permission or some kind of consultation with affected property owners.

I'll post back if we get anywhere.
 
We have discovered a map of the local area, made before our estate was built, which has 'Listed Views' marked on it opposite part of the golf course to the left of our estate.

Our next move is to approach the local planning office to see if they can tell us if these listed views have been/can be extended further along the coast and what exactly does 'Listed View' mean.
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Means that the particular view cannot be blocked. All listed views would be catelogued in your local authority Development Plan (or an appendix to it). Development Plan should be online on the councils website. Additional views can only be added as a variation to the Development Plan or in the next version of the Development Plan - and this is voted on by the Council. If the trees are already in place, you cannot retrospectively apply a listed view which would force them to be removed.

A "listed view" is a view of a particular building/place/monument from another specified location. Development Plan maps would usually have the specific view highlighted.
 
A "listed view" would generally apply to the blocking of a site of interest to the general public by for example a housing development. I can't see how a "listed view" would apply to an individuals view from there private property. This would be very prohibitive to land owners.
For example what if I have a nice site in the country with a nice view of fields around me. I would not be able to block a planning application because I like the view of the field.

In this case its unfortunate, but I can't see the trees being removed/reduced without consultation with the golf course.
 
I don't think you have any legal or planning act remedy.

Suggest you contact the golf club to see if the plantation can be thinned out in any way so as to be able to see the see between the trees.
 
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