Overview
The complainant (Mr C) raised a number of concerns about the tree preservation order (TPO) protecting trees on his land and The City of Edinburgh Council (the Council)'s response, in relation to the site, to a Public Local Inquiry (PLI).
Specific complaints and conclusions
The complaints which have been investigated are that the Council:
- (a) revoked the consent granted to Mr C in 1998 to fell trees covered by a TPO without a valid reason and without informing him of this fact (upheld);
- (b) gave Mr C erroneous information about the legislation governing TPOs (upheld); and
- (c) gave incorrect information to the PLI about the management plan in place for the Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM) and trees on Mr C's land (upheld).
Redress and recommendations
The Ombudsman recommends that the Council:
- (i) apologise to Mr C for wrongly informing him that the consent granted to him to fell the trees had expired;
- (ii) formally request the necessary information from Mr C on the trees to be felled so that their knowledge on the tree work is up-to-date;
- (iii) apologise to Mr C for giving him erroneous information about the legislation governing TPOs and about the statutory time limit placed on the removal of the trees;
- (iv) remind staff of the importance of giving accurate information in response to enquiries from members of the public;
- (v) apologise to Mr C for the fact that they gave incorrect information about the management plan to the PLI; and
- (vi) take steps to investigate how this error occurred and to ensure that officers are in possession of accurate information when responding to a PLI.
The Council have accepted the recommendations and will act on them accordingly.