Trees and Arboriculture – Page 2
BS 5837 tree surveys, root protection, method statements and Tree Preservation Orders.
Trees and Arboriculture articles – page 2
262 articlesTrees on a boundary: ownership, severance and consent
A tree belongs to whoever owns the ground its trunk stands on, and a trunk crossing the boundary is jointly owned. Consent from the council is not consent from the owner.
How a hedgerow unit is counted for biodiversity net gain
The hedgerow module of the statutory metric works in kilometres, needs its own 10 per cent gain, and treats a line of three trees differently from a single tree in a lawn.
Arboricultural site monitoring during construction
The monitoring schedule is the part of an arboricultural condition that proves the method statement was followed. Hold points, site records, incursions and close-out.
Specifying crown works correctly in a tree application
Applications to work on protected trees fail on wording more often than on arboriculture. Use the standard operations, give finished dimensions and state the reason for each cut.
Visibility splays and protected trees: resolving the conflict
A slender stem inside a visibility splay can often be accepted. A low crown across it cannot. The difference decides whether the tree survives the access design.
Shade and leaf fall from a neighbour's tree: your options
Shade, leaf fall and overhanging branches from an existing tree are not planning matters. Three other routes exist, and only one of them is statutory.
Agreeing pre-commencement conditions for tree protection
Pre-commencement conditions need your written agreement, unless the council serves notice and you fail to respond in ten working days. What to accept, what to renegotiate and how to discharge it cleanly.
Replacement tree conditions and the duty to replant
Removing a protected tree creates an automatic duty to replant, even where the felling was lawful because the tree was dead or dangerous. How the notice, appeal and dispensation routes work.
Which works to a protected tree are exempt from consent
The 2012 Regulations narrowed the exemptions to dead trees and the immediate risk of serious harm. What each one covers, and why the burden of proof sits with you.
Serving a section 211 notice for conservation area trees
In a conservation area you give the council six weeks notice of tree works. It cannot refuse, only make an Order. The threshold, the notice contents and the exemptions that need no notice.
Veteran tree management plans secured by condition
Conditions protect a veteran tree during construction. Thirty years of management needs a named responsible body, a funding mechanism and an obligation that binds the land.
When to commission advanced tree decay detection
Advanced decay detection pays for itself only where visual inspection has raised a question it cannot answer. Here is what each technique measures, what it does not, and how to use the result to support retention or removal.
Woodland creation and when planning permission is needed
The trees need no planning permission. The screening opinion, the access track, the designated site consent and the grant conditions are four separate processes with four timescales.
Applying for tree consent when you do not own the tree
A TPO consent or an expired section 211 notice lifts the statutory prohibition. It confers no civil right over your neighbour's tree, which is where most of these cases come unstuck.
Highway trees, sightlines and street lighting conflicts
Highway safety comes first, adoption standards second, and the planting intention has to work within both. The most reliable street trees are the ones planted just outside the highway boundary.
Deadwood and habitat features as a design benefit
Standing monoliths and habitat piles are the least costly ecological provision on most sites, and they earn almost nothing in the statutory metric. Where to put them and how to secure them.
Ash dieback and its effect on retention decisions
Ash dieback pushes most affected trees into BS 5837 category U, but the 2012 Regulations exempt only dead trees and immediate risks, so a dying ash still needs consent.
Plant health and biosecurity in a planting specification
A planting specification that lists species and stock size but says nothing about sourcing, plant passports or site hygiene is incomplete. What a workable biosecurity condition should ask for.
Retaining hedgerows inside a development layout
A hedge on a rear garden boundary rarely survives five years of occupation. Position, root protection, access crossings and a funded management regime decide whether retention is real.
Assessing tree shading in a daylight and sunlight study
Vegetation is excluded from daylight calculations by default because it is neither permanent nor opaque. Where retained trees change the answer, model both scenarios and state the transmittance you used.
Tree risk assessment and target zones on a development site
A layout that puts a play area under a mature tree has raised its risk without touching it. How target occupancy drives inspection intervals, and what to hand over at the end of the build.
Root barriers near buildings, drains and highways
Root barriers stop shallow root ingress but not clay shrinkage. How to specify depth, joints and terminations, and when the foundation design is the real answer.
When tree removal and replacement is the honest answer
Some trees cannot be retained whatever the layout. What evidence supports a category U finding, how to avoid overstating the case, and what replacement planting has to specify.
Answering a tree officer objection with evidence
A tree officer objection is rarely about whether trees matter. It is about survey accuracy, root protection area incursion or long-term pressure on retained trees, and each needs different evidence.
Not sure which documents your council will ask for?
Enter your postcode and PlanScope recommends the right reports for your project, then drafts them in minutes.
Enter your postcode on PlanScope