Trees and Arboriculture
BS 5837 tree surveys, root protection, method statements and Tree Preservation Orders.
Latest in Trees and Arboriculture
262 articlesWoodland and area Tree Preservation Orders compared
The difference between an area and a woodland designation is time. One is a snapshot of what stood there; the other covers everything that grows afterwards.
Trees protected by a planning condition, not an Order
Felling a tree under a Tree Preservation Order is an offence. Felling one a condition required you to keep is a breach that can put the whole development outside its permission.
Development under a canopy and future pressure to fell
The future pressure to fell argument refuses layouts where dwellings sit too close to retained trees. What the shading evidence has to show and how separation is designed in.
Tree-lined streets and what new layouts must show
Drawing green circles on a layout does not create rooting volume. What a tree-lined street needs in section, and which constraints delete trees after permission.
Who consents works to a street tree
A tree in adopted highway land is the highway authority's to prune or fell. Where Tree Preservation Orders, conservation area notices and the consultation duty fit around that.
Hedgerow translocation and reinstatement
Translocation moves hedge stock rather than habitat. What the method statement needs, how to reinstate around a new access, and why hedgerow units cannot be traded for other habitat.
Overhanging branches and encroaching roots
The common law right of abatement lets you cut back to the boundary line without notice, but not beyond it, not onto the neighbour's land, and not where a Tree Preservation Order applies.
Trees in a listed building curtilage: what protects them
Section 1(5) of the Listed Buildings Act extends listing to structures in the curtilage, not to trees. What does control the work is a TPO, conservation area notice, a planning condition or a felling licence.
Provisional orders and the six month confirmation period
A Tree Preservation Order takes provisional effect immediately and expires after six months unless the authority confirms it. What that window means and what persuades on an objection.
Tree surveys where the site cannot be accessed
A BS 5837 survey carried out from outside the boundary can still support an application if estimated values are labelled and root protection areas are calculated on the cautious side.
Damage to a protected tree during development
Wilful damage to a tree protected by a Tree Preservation Order is an offence even where nobody intended to harm the tree. What counts as damage, what the authority can do about it, and how to report a breach.
Tree planting conditions: species, size and maintenance
Tree planting conditions ask for a plan, a species schedule, a specification and a maintenance period. A complete discharge package is usually determined without correspondence.
Pruning specifications councils will condition
Reduce by 30 per cent means nothing to a tree officer. BS 3998 specifies pruning by the dimensions of the crown that remains, and a specification written that way can be approved in one pass.
Soil volumes and pit design for new street trees
Soil volume decides whether a street tree reaches the size on the drawing or dies at fifteen years. Sizing it from mature canopy area, and specifying the pit, matters more than species choice.
Answering a tree officer's loss of amenity objection
A tree officer's objection is a professional opinion, not a refusal. Answer it on arboricultural terms by isolating what is disputed and evidencing that point alone.
Trees, subsidence and the planning answer
Blaming a protected tree for cracks is not enough. Consent turns on a full season of monitoring, trial pits, soil desiccation data and root identification, plus the heave risk of removal.
Woodland creation on a development site and its upkeep
New woodland is easy to draw and hard to keep alive. The planting design, the establishment regime and the legal mechanism all have to agree with each other.
Tree officer site visits and what they inspect
The officer looks at the fence line first. Here is the full checklist, the consequences of an incursion, and the site record that protects you.
The five year maintenance condition on new planting
Planting that dies within five years must be replaced in the next planting season. The obligation runs with the land and survives the sale of the house.
Tree pits, structural soils and street tree establishment
Street trees fail on soil volume, not species choice. Work backwards from the mature canopy, put the volume on the drawing, and resolve the service corridor first.
Tree roots and proximity to a public sewer or drain
Most undertakers control building and planting within around 3m of a public sewer. Resolving that against retained trees is a layout decision, not a condition to discharge later.
Ash dieback and what it changes in a tree survey
Infected ash is not automatically a category U tree. How to record crown decline and basal lesions, categorise honestly, and handle protected ash under the 2012 exemption.
Clearing a site before an application and the risk it creates
Stripping a site before you apply raises the biodiversity baseline, invites a provisional Tree Preservation Order and can create criminal liability. What a council can prove, and what to do if the clearance has already happened.
Scaffolding and crane oversail over a protected tree
Temporary works are controlled by the arboricultural condition on your permission. What consent scaffold pruning needs, how to protect the ground beneath a scaffold base, and what settles a crane position.
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