9634 Should I do it or not?????

Hello Everyone,
Should I do it or should I not?
For the last three weeks I have been having problems with the bus driver and him not wanting to collect my children for school. Well today I found out the problem and wanted to see what you lot thought.
His reason for not wanting to come anymore is that on a neighbours property is a overhanging tree that keeps hitting the bus driver bus and as its new he would have to pay for any damages. So he says that I must cut it down or he won't collect my children.
As you can imagine I was quite angry I said why didn't he go to the comune and get them to sort it out as the road is a communal road and it's there responsibility. He said it wasn't his job and as the bus company is now private they don't have to collect any children from houses where the roads would cause damage to the buses.
So what did I pay 50 euro's to my comune to collect my children if the bus aren't going to come down the road because the comune can't keep the road clear.
What option do I have but to cut this over hanging branch down? The owner of the property lives away and doesn't maintain the land. What makes it worst is the fact that its a rather nice cherry tree and the branch is the main one.
Should I just go and do it or should I have my kids stay at home for the next 2 weeks until the end of school year.
I can't take them to school as I leave very earlier for work in our only vehicle and also why should I as I've paid the comune to collect them for school.
Advice please?

Category
General chat about Italy

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/24/2008 - 13:05

A) Speak to the comune and see what they have to say
B) Arrange with bus driver for him to collect your children just before the offending tree (assuming it is not a huge distance away)
C) As we have had a lot of high winds lately branches have been coming down, and if your neighbours are not there and do not tend the land there is a risk of trees becoming dangerous so go for the chop - if they complain blame the wind.
D) Explain situation to neighbour (assuming you know how to contact him) and ask him if you can trim the tree sufficiently to allow the bus to pass.
(We had a similar problem with some poplars on neighbouring land at the side of the white road - one very large one blew down and blocked the white road - fortunately no one was hurt. The land is owned by Italians who rarely visit. Our Italian neighbours and ourselves dealt with the fallen tree - apparently it is the landowners responsibility to ensure that tress do not become too large and overhang too much or become dangerous - as such, with some persuasion, he chopped all the others down - our nieghbours quoted H&S at him and threatened a denuncia.)

If its any consolation we pay 5 times more than you for the school bus service and yes, the drivers do look after their buses very zealously.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 05/25/2008 - 06:28

Cacciatore, As I am not a resident of Italy, I can not offer advice, except to advise you on how I would handle this problem in Australia.

I would arrange for all residents on the street to attend a meeting at my place with refreshments provided beforehand in the form of a barbeque with grog supplied.
After dining and grogging on for a while, we would convene the meeting to discuss the matter, with the possibility to elect an executive comittee to advise on various modes of action, We woud then break off onto smaller groups to give our reactions to the proposals and reconvene to put our best advice to the plenum and ask for a show of hands to agree on a commonly approved action to be taken.

Whil this is going on, I would have taken a chainsaw to the tree and chopped it into tiny pieces.

It's easier to ask for pardon than to ask for permission.

Phil,

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 05/26/2008 - 15:09

I used to be upset at how the locals were so brutal in slashing away all the plants, but after a couple of years here it is obvious, in the UK we had to work hard to get things to grow, here it is hard to stop them. The main branch things sounds like an excuse. If that main branch wasn't there another one would take its place!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 05:38

I personally would take the tree/branch down as soon as poss, regardless of school bus, what happens if you need an ambulance? or fire truck,
If the owners dont live there then they probably wont notice anyway.