Landowners sent bills for removal of Goretti trees

Landowners are being asked to reimburse the States of Guernsey for the cost of tree surgery work during Storm Goretti.

A letter from Traffic and Highways has been sent to landowners whose trees fell from their property into public roads.

It said responsibility for clearing obstructions from the road rested with landowners but, due to the need to clear public highways, the government made the decision call out contractors at public expense.

Phil Ogier, road and traffic manager, said about 200 public incidents of obstructed roads were logged during and in just after Storm Goretti with the resulting tree surgery work costing £82,788.

Ogier added: "The number of trees or branches fallen on roads is believed to have been in the order of twice as many as Storm Ciaran, with commissioned tree surgery costs approximately three-fold greater.

"Given the timing of the storm in the evening and overnight, the scale of impact and the need to act at pace, contact was not generally made with landowners prior to the tree surgery works taking place."

He said roads had to be cleared quickly to ensure safety and provide access for islanders to get to work and school, as well as enabling access for emergency services.

"If there had needed to be a discussion about how much the costs would be, who would carry out the work and when it would suit landowners, the roads wouldn't have been able to open as quickly as they did," he said.

Ogier added so far 31 letters had been sent to attempt to recover the cost to the taxpayer for tree surgery.

"We appreciate this isn't something that happens often, and that people might not be aware of their responsibilities, but given that landowners are responsible for their property, including trees, it's important that we take steps to try to recover the cost so the taxpayer isn't left to cover this," he said.

Ogier urged anyone with specific concerns about the costs in the letters received to get in touch.

Storm Goretti brought wind speeds of 95mph (154km/h) on the night of 8 January.

Hundreds of trees were reported to have fallen with the total number lost expected to be in the thousands.

Jessica Hamon said she was "shocked" to receive a bill for £631 after one of her trees fell into the road in Castel.

"It's not always nice getting a surprise bill come through your door. I've got a family and we have bills for everything coming out," she said.

She said upon noticing the tree, as advised, she called the States to let them know.

The tree surgeons came to remove the tree and left it on the property, which her family paid to be removed at a later date, something Hamon said she was happy to do.

However, she said she was not expecting to receive a bill for the initial work to remove it from the road.

"I've recently had three trees taken down by a tree surgeon and it cost significantly less than that one tree. There isn't a breakdown of cost. I don't know where they got this number from."

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