Low hanging tree - is it the Council's problem?

We have a huge palm tree out the front of our house. It's right next to the opening of our driveway, by the road, and definitely not on our property so it's not our tree. The problem is, it's gotten far too big! The top is actually in the power lines, pushing them close together. We had a massive storm here the other day and it was kinda scary thinking what it could do. I called the council who directed me to ETSA - they're coming out in the next few months to fix it, and said to call their emergency line if it cuts out our power or we see sparks or anything.

The other problem though, that ETSA won't fix, is that it also hangs very low. The branches hanging over our driveway brush the top of our cars when we go in and out, this bothers DH a lot! Granted, we have two 4wds, and it probably wouldn't touch a regular sedan. I didn't mention this to the council, and I figure DH could just trim those branches/leaves and they're not likely to care are they? Or should we get them to do it, given it's not actually our tree? Would they do that because we have a problem with our cars?

I'd resort to self-help. Take photos of the problem, record the dates you contacted the authorities, and cut the branches.

I would get advice from the council in regards to that issue.

It sounds like the whole tree just needs to be removed. Palm trees can’t be pruned back like other trees because they only have one growing point (at the top). The problem is only going to get worse if it is growing up into power lines.

Yep, take photos, write all your issues down and contact the Council.

I guess it depends on what your local laws say about them. Here, trees have to clear the footpath to a height of 3m. It's hard to know what a council will do if you prune it yourself. I'd probably do it to my (council) tree on the naturestrip, but my council is pretty useless!

Thanks guys. So it's definitely a council issue? I'll have to call them back, the guy I spoke to was really unhelpful. He was pretty snippy, and as soon as I mentioned power lines he just said to call ETSA and rushed me off the phone. He didn't seem to care that it was a palm tree, not a regular tree, and I didn't get a chance to mention about it hitting the cars.

DH thought the same thing Epacris, that the whole thing would have to go, as if ETSA takes the top off to clear the power lines what happens to it then? And the hanging branches aren't exactly easy to trim.

Reckon I might take some piccies and call them back, thanks :)

Our council is responsible for the trees on the street and they cut them around power lines. I also got them to trim one of their trees that was overhanging our front steps. They came and trimmed it the next week after I reported it. It does depend on the local by-laws but generally if the tree is on concil land it is council property and therefore their problem. If it was reversed (ie your tree overhanging their land) you would be resonsible for pruning it.

I think its probably 2 seperate issues. The tree touching the powerlines is something that should be looked after by the power company as the council wont generally touch it if its interfering with powerlines. However the trimming/removal of the tree is definately council. If you dont get much of a response over the phone, pop them an email or letter. This means it will actually be recorded in their system & logged as a job to address. Everything has to be 'official' with councils lol.