Severn Valley Railway warns landowners about their liability after last year’s catastrophic landslip is caused by ‘fallen tree from adjacent land’
The Severn Valley Railway has warned landowners with properties next to their rail line that they are liable for the trees on their property.
In a letter to owners of properties backing onto the SVR line, Managing Director of SVR (Holdings) Jonathan Dunster said that a fallen tree had been responsible for last year’s landslip that caused major disruption between Bridgnorth and Hampton Loade for six months and cost SVR "significantly" more than £500,000 to fix.
In his letter, Mr Dunster said: “As I am sure you are aware Severn Valley Railway suffered a catastrophic collapse at Mor Brook this year and this was caused by a tree on adjacent land. The tree fell across the brook and caused damage to the wing wall causing the collapse. This could have been substantially worse had a train been running and the consequences would have had severe repercussions.
“This has highlighted the need to manage not only trees on our land but remind our neighbours along the line of their responsibilities to maintain and look after trees that border the railway. We have recently carried out surveys and almost 70% of the trees along the line are not on railway land but are close enough that if they fell could cause damage to not only infrastructure but also trains.”
In the letter, which was sent to landowners bordering the SVR by recorded post, Mr Dunster added: “As owners of trees you have a legal obligation to ensure they are properly maintained. Under the Occupiers Liability Acts of 1957 and 1984 landowners are responsible for managing and maintaining trees on their land to prevent nuisance or harm to adjacent land and particularly infrastructure such as railways which carry passengers.”
He continued: Failure to comply could make you liable for the damage caused, including the cost of repairs and any disruption, together with a potential prosecution, should injuries occur. Tall trees near the railway can cause severe disruption and even serious accidents, with potential loss of life and it is therefore important for SVR to identify your liability.
“We would strongly recommend that you should employ a qualified arborist to review trees where the height exceeds the distance to the railway boundary, to identify their condition and undertake any mitigation works that may be required.”
Not all neighbours to the SVR line appreciated the warning from SVR.
One user wrote on Facebook: “Has anyone else had one of these letters whose property backs onto SVR? (It) came signed for.
“To be honest it makes me feel incredibly angry; we don't have trees on our property but there are some massive ones over the fence on SVR land which worry me when there's a storm/high winds and several trees that are dead/recently died. I'm not sending them threatening letters!”
Mr Gunster told the Shropshire Star that the letter was sent following advice from SVR';s civil engineers and insurers.
He said: “The serious landslip last year at Mor Brook bridge resulted in the closure of the northern section of the Severn Valley line for almost six months.
“Following this, and on the advice of our consultant civil engineer and our insurers, we wrote to adjacent landowners reminding them of their legal obligations. This is something that Network Rail also do periodically with neighbouring landowners.
"Changing weather patterns and more extreme weather events such as convective rainfall are now routine, because of the impact of climate change. As a result we must all be more aware of the effects of this, and plan accordingly.
"Saturated ground conditions followed by high winds often occur now. This presents a significantly increased risk of trees falling as we’ve seen across the country in recent years."
