Water Table Has Risen And Killed Trees

[madmaz50]

Our garden water table has risen by about 12 - 18 inches, because of new build houses (last Summer) over our garden wall, and it killed newly planted trees and even established bushes since the building. This winter we had standing water in parts of the garden.
Have we any recourse against the builder (he says he hasn't done anything wrong or done anything not in his approved plans) and simply doesn't want to know ?

[boxtops]

Check with the planning office at your local council, the submitted plans should have made allowance for runoff of surface water. That's the place to start.

[The Builder]

I agree with boxers. Planning Dept... ask for Building Control, and try to speak to the Officer in charge of that job.

The builders may well have followed everything properly, but they should know that things change on site. Sometimes amendments have to be made to satisfy Building Regs. In this case ... "surface water disposal"

[chrisuk013]

I would try going to the Environment agency to see if they will investigate – water table their responsibility. [email protected]. Give them as much details as possible, photos and names of the developers etc to help.

I expect it would be hard to prove that is the cause in terms of gaining evidence, but if you were to, I would guess you have a right to claim for losses against the developer.