Date: 16/09/2009
With the big digital switchover scheduled to take place in two stages across most of the borough during November and December this year, High Peak Borough Council has published advice on how to tackle reception problems caused by trees.
The advice has been prompted by the fact that there is no legal requirement for anyone to rectify a loss of television or radio service because of interference from trees or weather, while satellite and digital reception are more sensitive to interference than the old analogue transmissions.
Latest information available to the Council suggests that most cases of interference are caused by faulty aerial installations or defective receiving equipment, rather than any overhanging trees that may be nearby. Therefore, the householder's first step should be to contact an approved supplier, details of which can be obtained from the Confederation of Aerial Industries (CAI) or Registered Digital Installers' Licensing Body.
The CAI can be contacted on (01923) 803203 or at www.cai.org.uk. The licensing body can be reached on 0870 129 8015 or at www.rdi-lb.tv.
If the system has been checked and found to be in full working order, the council recommends that the householder gets written confirmation from the engineer that trees are interfering with the signal.
If the trees in question are in the householder's garden, he or she should not prune or remove them until he/she has ensured that they are not in a conservation area or protected by a tree preservation order. If the trees are protected, the householder will need to apply in writing to the council for permission to prune or fell.
If the trees are on private land not owned by the householder, he or she can ask the owner to carry out the necessary work. The owner has no legal obligation to comply and if they do agree, may ask for the cost to be met by the applicant.
If the trees are owned by the Council itself, the local authority may consider carrying out work if an approved installer confirms that careful pruning of the trees is the only potential way forward and has ruled out all other possible solutions.
Where trees are privately owned but protected or in a conservation area, the council will only consider giving permission to prune if it does not damage the tree or appearance of the area. Approval would be still be subject to a report from an approved installer that the trees were the major factor and that pruning would resolve the problem.
Possible alternative measures can include fitting an improved aerial, re-siting the aerial or using either a satellite service, either subscription or Freesat, which will also give a greater choice of viewing. If you do not receive transmissions from the Granada TV Region, the implementation date will be different.
The council will not:
Said John Haken, Executive Councillor for the Environment: "Digital TV opens up a whole new world of entertainment and information, as well as allowing viewers to do all sorts of useful things such as accessing public services. It also offers unbeatable sound and picture quality.
"However, the downside is that it's more sensitive to weather and trees than analogue television. This is why we've published advice to spell out what householders should do if they suspect that trees are spoiling their viewing. The advice also explains what the council can and can't do to help", he went on.
For more information on trees and digital TV, call Monica Gillespie on 0845 129 7777 ext. 2206 or send an e-mail to monica.gillespie@highpeak.gov.uk. For more on the digital switchover, visit www.digitaltelevision.gov.uk.