20m tree destroys Burwood East family pool despite pleas to council

A Melbourne family will be without their pool for summer — much to the sadness of the grandchildren — after a neighbour’s tree fell, causing significant damage.

There will be no diving, running or bombs in the Leeds’ family pool. But that’s not because of house rules — the pool is out of action.

A Melbourne family will be without their pool this summer after a 20m tree from a neighbour’s property crashed through a fence causing severe damage to the backyard.

Burwood East’s Paul Leeds said he had been pleading with Whitehorse Council since 2020 to force his neighbour to remove the tree, only to be told it was out of its hands, while the neighbour refused to cut it down.

“It means the grandkids can’t come and swim over Christmas,” he said.

“The kids were in the pool not even 12 hours beforehand.

“I don’t even want to imagine what would have happened if my grandkids were in the pool.”

A 20m fall gumtree has put the Leeds’ family pool out of business for summer.

The tree had rotted from the base, caused it to collapse over the fence and into the pool, crashing through the pool gate.

“My property has much more damage than the neighbours,” he said.

“I have no idea when it will be fixed or even when the tree will be taken away.

“After the tree fell, my neighbour did say sorry, but when you’ve been asking for it to be removed it is a bit late for that.

“I told my neighbour he had a duty of care but he didn’t listen.”

The tree caused extensive damage to the family pool.

A Whitehorse spokesperson said it was not the role of the council to intervene in matters such as this.

“Council has local laws in place to ensure public spaces such as foot paths are not obstructed by overhanging branches but no legislation to compel tree removals on private land,” the spokesperson said.

“The tree owner can engage a private arborist to inspect their tree and provide recommendations on its care but there is no requirement for them to do so.”

Residents impacted by a neighbour’s tree can apply for a permit to undertake works close to a large tree or a permit to lop a tree back to the property boundary.

There will be no pool fun for Paul Leeds’ grandchildren.

“This involves an arborist providing an assessment about how a tree on a neighbouring property may cope with a new development and the points at which roots or branches may be pruned,” the spokesperson said.

“These permits would generally not be granted if the action was to the detriment of the tree.”

Despite both the council and the neighbour refusing to intervene with the tree, Mr Leeds own insurance company has been slugged with the repair bill.

“It will be thousands of dollars just to remove the tree, let alone fix the pool and fence,” he said.

“I don’t even know what I would have done without the insurance.”