Trees and Arboriculture – Page 10
BS 5837 tree surveys, root protection, method statements and Tree Preservation Orders.
Trees and Arboriculture articles – page 10
262 articlesVeteran and ancient trees: buffers and the harm test
Ancient and veteran trees sit outside the usual root protection area calculation. This explains how they are identified, the buffer the standing advice expects, and what a compensation strategy has to contain.
Crown reduction, thinning and pollarding: what officers accept
Tree officers refuse far more applications for wording than for the work itself. Knowing what each recognised operation does, and what it is called, is most of the battle.
Building inside a root protection area without digging
An incursion into a root protection area is not automatically fatal. What matters is whether the construction removes soil and roots, or floats above them, and whether an arboriculturist supervises it.
Dead, dying and dangerous: the exemptions from TPO control
The exemptions from tree preservation order control are narrower than most owners think. Here are the tests, the notice rules and the evidence to keep before felling.
What a tree preservation order actually protects
A tree preservation order covers roots and overhanging branches as well as the trunk. Here is the scope of control, the four order types and who carries the risk.
Clearing a site before you apply and what it costs you
Stripping a site before applying does not tidy the planning problem away. It fixes the biodiversity baseline at what was there before, removes your evidence and can breach four separate legal regimes.
Boundary trees, shared ownership and planning
Ownership follows the trunk at ground level. The right of abatement, what a Tree Preservation Order changes, high hedge complaints and surveying a neighbour's tree.
Long term tree management secured by planning agreement
A condition cannot require payment or bind a management company for 30 years. How landscape maintenance obligations are drafted, funded and enforced.
Retained trees and daylight to habitable rooms
Retaining a mature tree on the southern boundary protects amenity and shades the nearest house. How BRE 209 treats vegetation and how to design the conflict out.
Specifying crown works councils will accept
Most applications for works to protected trees are refused for vagueness. A measurable specification with a reason attached gets consent.
Penalties for damaging or destroying a protected tree
Cutting down a protected tree is a criminal offence, and the court is required to consider what the defendant gained by it. The replanting duty then runs with the land.
How retained trees count towards biodiversity net gain
Trees enter the statutory metric as area, derived from size class and condition. Retaining them protects the baseline. Only planting and condition change move the number.
Compensation claims after a refusal under a tree order
The tree preservation regime carries a compensation right, and almost nobody uses it. Here is what can be claimed, what cannot, and the evidence a claim needs.
High hedge complaints and the council's role
A council can order a neighbour to reduce an evergreen hedge, but only under Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, and only after you have tried to settle it yourself.
Tree surveys in winter: what can be assessed
Most of a BS 5837 survey works fine in January. A few judgements do not. Here is what a winter survey can settle and how to programme the rest.
Dead, dying and dangerous trees: the five day notice
The 2012 regulations narrowed the old dead, dying or dangerous exemption. Knowing which limb you are relying on, and what notice it requires, is what keeps a felling lawful.
Appealing a refusal of consent to fell a protected tree
A refused application to fell a protected tree carries a short appeal window and a low evidential bar for the council. Winning means proving harm the tree is actually causing.
Replacement tree conditions and how councils enforce them
A landscaping condition usually carries a five year replacement clause, and a tree removed under a preservation order carries a statutory duty to replant. Both are enforceable years after the builders leave.
No dig construction over root protection areas
Build up, do not dig down. What a no dig section contains, the loading and level constraints that defeat it, and the edge and service details that undo it on site.
Applying for consent to work on a protected tree
Work to a tree under a Tree Preservation Order needs written consent, and the application costs nothing. The exemptions, the evidence that persuades a tree officer, and the conservation area notice.
Reading BS 5837 tree categories A, B, C and U
Category A trees shape the layout, category U trees come out regardless. How the BS 5837 cascade works, where the root protection area radius comes from, and the survey faults tree officers spot first.
Damaging a protected tree: the offences, fines and liability
Felling or wilfully damaging a protected tree is a criminal offence with an unlimited fine, and the court must consider any financial benefit gained. Owners, agents and contractors can all be prosecuted.
Specifying replacement trees that actually survive
Most conditioned planting dies within three summers because the specification says nothing about depth, mulch or watering. Here is what to write instead.
Soil volumes for new trees in hard landscaping
A new tree in paving fails because its roots run out of soil. Size the rooting volume against intended canopy, coordinate it with services, and put it on a detail drawing.
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