Date published: 2008/07/15
The BBC says:
A tree in Surrey has been valued at £500,000 by the county council.
The Oak in Weybridge has been assessed according to its size, health, history and how many people live nearby.
The tree is thought to be about 300 years old but Surrey County Council said it would not be able to get an exact figure without damaging it.
Under a new valuation system brought in by the authority, the link between high value trees and subsidence must be proved before they can be felled.
Trees are often cut down after being blamed for subsidence, when other factors may be responsible.
Needless to say, this valuation is arbitrary. They just wanted a large number, any large number, so that they could justify telling home owners to get stuffed when they complain that some tree or other is causing subsidence. If this tree were really worth 500k, and if some nearby home owner said it was causing 400k worth of subsidence, then logically the tree would not be able to be cut. Of course since it is the council that made up this arbitrary valuation, and enforces it, the council should compensate the home owner 400k and be happy, because they would have just "saved" the local area 100k by not cutting the tree down. Needless to say, instead the council will compensate the owner zero. All part of ripoff Britain, where the biggest ripoff merchant of them all is the government.
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