Tree planted on verge 1.6 m from garage doorpost.

Somewhere between 2002 and 2005 the City Parks Dept planted an Ash Jaspidea on their grass verge close to our side fence and almost opposite the left side door pillar of our garage. The distance from the centre of the tree to the door pillar is only about 1.6m. The local subsoil is deep clay, known to contract in long dry periods. The garage was built in 1975 and there was absolutely no problem with subsidence before the tree was planted.

Significant problems with the tree only began in September 2019 at the end of a long dry period when a distortion of the front of the garage occurred. The lintol of the front doors moved by some 6mm towards the ash tree. By January 2020 after wet weather the doors were back in alignment. This has been the pattern after similar dry summers.

The current situation is that after the long dry spell this summer the lintol moved to the left by 30.8mm with the result that my husband was unable to open he garage doors; he eventually had to use a crowbar to force them open. Since the recent rainfall this autumn the lintol has partially moved back again so that the crowbar is no longer needed.. However this is clearly not a sustainable situation in the long term. We feel that the only solution is for the tree to be removed and the damage to the garage repaired. In view of this we are prepared to cover the cost of a replacement tree elsewhere in the Close.