Neighbour's trees encroaching into house compound

[drandy]

My neighbour has a very tall tree (more than 3 storey high) planted just about one foot away from our dividing wall, branches are growing into our airspace, together with its acoomponiment of dead leaves and branches , as well as bird droppings. We felt this will post a hazard to surrounding buildings and inhabitants, with so many trees falling after thunderstorms recently, besides hygienic problems and problems with roots which may cause damage to surrounding structures like pipes, drains and wall later
That is only one of the many trees that he planted along our common border, other trees that have long branches growing into our compound include: a star fruit tree, nangka tree, rambutan tree, guava tree and papaya trees, with their good droppings of dead leaves, immature and petrified fruits and flowers, and the drones of bees and flies circling around those vegetation.

Any suggestion of what to do? we had talked to them but they are reluctant to chop down the trees. I know you may say "complain to MPSJ', but what if there is inaction and they keep dragging their feet? I have tried complaining to them about some digging of road to lay pipes few years back, which had caused massive traffic jams leading to my housing,they took a few weeks to acknowledge my letter, and there was inaction, a reply to a second letter plus a few phone calls, and they called me to say they will look into it. All in all, the contractors took more than 6 months to complete work on a stretch of road which was less tha one kilometer. And it looked like whether we complain or not , the outcome is the same.

[Justme123]

Generally, I think (?) you are legally entitled to the relevant air-space upward
from ground (not till heaven though ) within your property.

As such you have a legal recourse to whatever is infringing on your space,
including asking your neighbor to ensure his trees or other items do not
intrude into your space.

I don't think this issue has anything to do with MPSJ and it is not within
their property, space or jurisdiction.
It is not related to renovation where one need permission from MPSJ.

When our neighbor told me they wanted to cut a 30 ft tall tree on their side,
I told them I hope you do not have to do it as it was providing very
significant shade against the hot afternoon sun.
But I told them it is their discretion and they chopped down the tree, now
hot like hell.

Since those are fruit trees, you could get a written agreement with your
neighbor that whatever fruits is in your space, then they are yours.

If the trees has no benefits to you at all, then you should discuss with the
neighbor to express your intentions that are within your legal rights.
If your neighbor is unco-operative, then you'll need to seek legal advice on
how to go about it.

[jan tomaswaki]

psst...since those stubborn,unconsiderate,snobbish neighbor put some posion in the tree,finish the whole story

[tupai]

my neighbor's tree also hv huge branches encroaching into my air space but along with the leaves, twigs...I get 200-800gm each of juicy, fragrant, yellowish/reddish Mangoes. YUMMY!!!!

My neighbor said, 'yang kat sebelah yr side, mango semo lu punya'

YES! i have been wrapping harvesting these nectar of gods for the past years

Yang Amat Banyak mangos T.I.U. xlatotupai

[jimijamison]

Well...what ever goes into your airspace, you have a right to remove. So just chop off the branches! Give him an opportunity to do the right thing...and if he doesn't, then just go ahead and get rid of it.

[drandy]

How to get rid of them?

[jimijamison]

Yes, this can be tricky. Chopping is easy but at whose cost?

[drandy]

but what if the trees' owner refuse to have them chopped down, and also refuse to foot the bill

[chewie]

but what if the trees' owner refuse to have them chopped down, and also refuse to foot the bill

then you chop down on your own... and not forgetting, if the tree root gets bigger, it might damage the dividing wall...

[drandy]

What if he refuses as they are in his compound?
only branches and some roots are in my compound.
Can chop down the branches, but it may not be easy and will cost some money if we were to get someone to do it.
How to get rid of the roots creeping in?

[chewie]

What if he refuses as they are in his compound?
only branches and some roots are in my compound.
Can chop down the branches, but it may not be easy and will cost some money if we were to get someone to do it.
How to get rid of the roots creeping in?

actually for wht reason you want to chop it down? is it due to the hassle of cleaning up the leaves?

[cml]

I came across a case in my work last time when the owner of an upstairs unit of a townhouse felt that a growing tree was blocking his view of the surroundings whilst the owner of the unit downstairs felt that it would give shade and would prefer for the trees to be left as it is as it had taken it more than 10 years for the trees to grow to a certain size. The owner of the upstairs unit pulled down most of the branches of the palm trees thus killing the branches . the owner of the downstairs was screaming murder and I had to be the one in the middle. the trees was sitting on common property. the fella upstairs said the branches are already dead now. what are you going to do? sue me?

[Justme123]

What if he refuses as they are in his compound?
only branches and some roots are in my compound.
Can chop down the branches, but it may not be easy and will cost some money if we were to get someone to do it.
How to get rid of the roots creeping in?

It is very unfortunate that your neigbour has cow-sense not to understand
that his trees are encroaching on your air-space.

As I had mentioned earlier, try to get some legal advice on where you stand.

Then get a middle man (CML had mentioned above) to highlight your
neighbor's ignorance of the issue and the legal position.
Let him know of the infringements.
Sometime neighbors are very ignorant, never give it a thought or their
acts are offending the neighbours.
In the discussion, the neighbor should understand the consequences if he
did not take corrective actions, i.e.
He would have to bear the cost of the cutting and trimmings
He would have to pay for damages to the walls or drains.
Maybe your labor costs of sweeping the leaves since they started dropping.

Try the gentlemen approach first.

If still no response from your neigbor, then take legal action, if he lose he has
to pay whatever compensation and your legal costs.

If the above still fail, then its war or shift.
(btw, what is the best poison to kill big trees?)

[cml]

If you want to poison the tree from your side just dig up the earth and put in some chrorine powder. when the rain comes it would seep down to the roots and i suppose the tree will be dead in time to come. Cant blame you cos you are doing it from your side of the wall!! That is if there is no chance of an intelligent dialogue with them.

[drandy]

how much and how deep?