Trees and Arboriculture – Page 7
BS 5837 tree surveys, root protection, method statements and Tree Preservation Orders.
Trees and Arboriculture articles – page 7
262 articlesProportionate tree survey for a householder extension
Most extensions need either no arboricultural work or a short report with two drawings. Here is how to tell which, and how to push back on an over-broad validation list.
Evidencing a tree canopy cover policy
Canopy cover policies are lost on arithmetic, not on planting. Here is how to measure existing crowns, project new trees to a stated age, and set the calculation out so it can be checked.
Biosecurity and species choice in a landscape scheme
Landscape conditions now ask where the stock came from and what happens when a species is unavailable. Diversity rules, provenance evidence, substitution wording and the monitoring that follows.
Category U trees and removal agreed before design
A tree graded U is removed on arboricultural grounds whether or not the scheme goes ahead. What the grading requires, how protected U trees are consented and why clearing early raises the net gain obligation.
The tree constraints plan and the layout it forces
The constraints plan stage of BS 5837 turns a tree survey into spatial limits on design. Shade patterns and future pressure to fell shape a layout long before any impact assessment is written.
Specifying crown reduction so the tree officer agrees
Applications to work on protected trees fail on vague wording. Here is how to specify a crown reduction in measurements and cut points that a tree officer can assess and enforce.
Timing tree works around bats and nesting birds
Bird law protects the active nest rather than a season, and a bat roost is protected whether or not a bat is in it. Here is the order to work in: roost assessment, then season, then a pre-works nest check.
Replacement planting conditions after tree loss
A condition saying one replacement tree shall be planted achieves very little. Here is the specification, seasonal wording and establishment obligation that actually produce a surviving tree.
Tree and subsidence claims: the evidence a council needs
An insurer's letter is not evidence of causation. Councils deciding subsidence applications for protected trees want soil and foundation data, root identification and a full seasonal cycle of level monitoring.
The arboricultural site monitoring record
The supervision record decides whether a tree condition is discharged and who is liable if a retained tree dies. Fields, photographs, escalation and closing out.
Tree protection barrier specification under BS 5837
What a tree protection barrier has to be built from, where it goes, and the installation and sign-off sequence that discharges a pre-commencement condition.
Modifying a root protection area for an asymmetric crown
Crown shape reflects light and pruning, not rooting. What actually justifies an offset root protection area, when to commission the investigation, and what reviewers reject.
Reshaping a root protection area without reducing it
The root protection area is an area, not a shape. What BS 5837:2012 allows when the default circle is wrong, the evidence that supports a modification, and why reviewers reject most of them.
Reading a BS 5837 tree schedule column by column
The table at the back of an arboricultural report drives the planning decision. What each column means, and how to use stem diameter to test your own layout.
Landscape conditions and the five year replacement clause
The replacement clause in a landscaping condition binds whoever owns the land, for five years. Here is what triggers it, how to evidence compliance and how to vary a failed scheme.
Appealing a refusal of consent for protected tree works
Objections to a Tree Preservation Order and appeals against a refusal of consent are two different windows with different evidence. Here is how each one works and what succeeds.
Ground protection within a root protection area
Where construction traffic has to cross a root protection area, ground protection replaces fencing. Here are the build-ups, the loading and weather triggers, and what the method statement must say.
Tree protection bonds and guarantees on construction sites
A tree protection bond cannot be imposed by condition, so it comes through a section 106 obligation and must meet the regulation 122 tests. Here is how the sums are set and negotiated.
Appointing an arboricultural clerk of works
Tree protection conditions are discharged on paper and breached on site. A supervisor with defined hold points and contractual authority is how that gets fixed.
Wildlife checks before felling a tree
A valid felling consent does not protect you from a wildlife offence. Here are the checks, the seasonal windows and the supervision that keep tree works lawful.
Retaining a category A tree on a small infill plot
A category A tree on a tight infill plot usually decides the layout. Here is how to work the constraint first and build a case the tree officer can support.
Tree risk assessment methods and planning decisions
Councils refuse risk-based felling applications when defects are described but risk is never quantified. Here is how a defensible tree risk case is built and presented.
Tree canopy cover targets in local plan policy
A canopy cover target looks like a simple percentage until you try to meet one. What counts, when it counts and how it is measured all vary, and none of it matches the biodiversity metric.
Soil volume and rooting space for new street trees
Most new street trees die slowly from the roots up. The cause is almost always rooting volume, and it is decided on the drawing long before anyone orders a tree.
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