Edmund -
I may be able to help here: when I was managing the woody estate on the
trunk route network 'Area 8', I regularly made use of Section 154 of the
Highways Act 1980. This allowed me as, in effect, a Statutory authority, to:
1] Require remedial work to be undertaken to privately-owned unsafe trees,
at 14-days completion
2] Order the work myself if it was not done in time, or if the danger was
immediate and
3] Contra-charge the cost to the landowner
Rights of access for inspection and implementation are also enshrined in
this provision, as I told one farmer from the nasty end of a 12-gauge!
It is my understanding that the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions)
Act 1976 makes a similar provision, at Section 23 'Dangerous trees and
excavations', except that the completion time is 21 days.
Sorry if this is well known to you, I know you asked about systems. What I
used to do to implement the provision, was to write to the owner, quote the
Statute, enclose a copy of the invoice from the contractors, and ask the
owner to contact me to arrange payment terms. When, invariably, this did not
happen, I passed the matter to the authority's accounts department to chase
in the normal way.
In a broader context, the highways authority for Area 8 contra-charge for
vehicle accident damage to infrastructure. Eg: 'Sorry missus, you hubbie's
bought the farm. Here's our invoice for the dent his head put in our Armco'.
In practice, of course, the insurance company pays.
Hope this helps a bit.
Julian.
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