[lockstock]

I'm sitting minding my own business clutching a cup of tea when a man appears and starts cutting branches off our trees in the front. Amazing. It's the council trimming off overhanging foliage from paths and overhead wires. It was a job we had been meaning to do and now we find they do it for you. The whole street's getting a short back and sides - and they're taking away the trimmings too. Marvellous.:nice1

[JandM]

I wondered what this was going to be about when I saw the heading! Glad it turned out to be a piece of good news.

A few months back, I was minding my own business indoors, and suddenly I heard a loud engine-type noise outside, sounding as if it was really close, which it shouldn't have been as our garden is enclosed and quite secluded. There was a man up one of our trees, cutting off branches with a chain-saw, and another man at the foot of the tree, on our land. It turned out our next-door neighbour had hired these tree-surgeons to trim the branches of the tree which overhang the boundary and touch her shed (which she's legally entitled to do), but she'd told them it would be perfectly all right for them to go into our garden and up into the tree to do it, without mentioning a word of it to us. I was NOT happy. It wasn't the men's fault, and they were horribly embarrassed when they realized they had no permission, so I was trying to put a good face on things for their benefit, while steaming inside about the neighbour.

[Georgebulldog]

It's these little things that I love about about NZ.

Have you spoken to your neighbour JandM? You would think they might have mentioned it, it's a bit off not surprised your fuming

[Hesh]

hehe.. I can imagine how JandM must've felt.. it sounded like "the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy"

[CJ22]

We drove into Birkenhead last night and everybody had emptied their garages of old rubbish onto the streets (including old mattresses and sofas and the like). Presumably, someone from the council was going to come along at some point and collect it all.

NZ has to be one of the cleanest places on Earth. Even in Auckland, there's so little garbage around that you actually notice litter in the street! It puts US and UK cities to shame, it really does.

[ant7jen]

I would supervise the process. Here in the US, they do the same service and do a good job, but here in my area, a woman had a hedge 4 feet tall and took a few years to establish. The trimmers took them down for no known reason as they were not a problem to the wires above. So I would recommend watching them if they get to crazy cutting away. They might just cut something they are not supposed to!

[Steven & Ann]

I seem to recall an advert in our local paper. if householders didnt cut the trees back as per the rules, the electrical line company would come along in a month or so and do this for you and .....

submit the bill by post.

Having said that, I havent heard of anyone being invoiced for the work.

P.s. Its a legal requirement to cut them back, unless they have grown too close to the wires, when it then has to be left to the professionals. I think there was some diagrams of how to trim them back, depending on the height of the wire and tree.

[JandM]

It's these little things that I love about about NZ.

Have you spoken to your neighbour JandM? You would think they might have mentioned it, it's a bit off not surprised your fumingOh, of course we spoke to her about it, but you never feel really satisfied about that kind of conversation. For one thing, you can't really say all the things you'd like to (well, I can't!), because of knowing that you've lived beside one another for years and continue to do so, and it's easier if you're on superficially friendly terms. For another, she does live on another planet at times (Hitchhiker's Guide isn't far out), so you're never going to nail things in any final manner - you'd just feel cruel if you kept pounding away to make your point. She's one of those people that insists on assuming you think the same as she does. Coming away from a party we'd all attended, she said, 'Nice there, wasn't it?'

I said, 'Yes, but. I'm glad to get out and get some air - I found it really stuffy.'

'You should've had another drink when I was getting some,' she said.

'But I wasn't thirsty - there just wasn't enough fresh air.'

'Yes, you needed a drink.'

And she does the same thing - hears what she wants to hear - on all sorts of topics from politics, to factual matters, to where you'd rather do your shopping. Grrr!

When approached about the tree surgeons, she said, 'Oh, goodness me, darling, didn't I mention it? I know I was going to tell you...' (false acting manner), when of course 'tell' doesn't actually cover sending strangers onto our property. I also had a sneaking suspicion that this could've been deliberately booked for a day when usually I would've been out working (so wouldn't have seen them in action), only that particular week the client didn't need me.:mad:

[Steven & Ann]

I seem to recall an advert in our local paper. if householders didnt cut the trees back as per the rules, the electrical line company would come along in a month or so and do this for you and .....

submit the bill by post.

Having said that, I havent heard of anyone being invoiced for the work.

P.s. Its a legal requirement to cut them back, unless they have grown too close to the wires, when it then has to be left to the professionals. I think there was some diagrams of how to trim them back, depending on the height of the wire and tree.