Green nuisance: Your rights and advice

Questioner

Municipal tree behind my hedge is growing very high, the roots of the tree are pushing up my garden tiles, to what extent am I within my rights to have the tree removed? I keep tripping over the crooked tiles. My garden is already 20 cm higher than the municipal land, I can't go any higher.

Lawyer

Dear Sir/Madam, your situation is also called 'green nuisance': you are bothered by (municipal) greenery. The law and jurisprudence do not provide many guidelines on what you should tolerate and what not, because people react quite differently to greenery: what one person finds great (shade, birds in the trees, etc.), another finds horrible (no light, noise, root pressure, etc.). There are a few rules of thumb, but nothing more. The Travelling Judge has ruled on this several times and you can check its website to see whether your situation is similar to the rulings it has made on this matter. However, first talk to the municipality to see if a solution is possible. Ask for a supervisor of the field service or an employee who is responsible for the green (usually from the department 'cultivation technology' or 'green management' or 'municipal works'). And if you can't figure it out together, you can contact a specialized lawyer to see what your legal options are. As a lawyer for public space, I have a lot of experience with these kinds of cases.

Questioner

Thank you for your explanation, I will submit an application to the municipality and see what the outcome is. I also like greenery and trees, but not when the carrots in my garden make things unsafe, that's what I'm most concerned about. Thank you for your response

Lawyer

Don't mention it. I would also like to advise you not to use the term 'application', because municipalities and other authorities usually understand something different by it - this way you avoid misunderstandings. I would simply ask for a visit from a supervisor or other green management employee. The term you could use is 'notification' for example.