Trees and Development

What do I do if a site for proposed development has existing trees?

Plans to develop will almost certainly bring you into contact with the Planning department.  If these plans include construction or excavation of any kind the presence of existing trees on the site must be considered.

All planning application forms have a section that asks if there are trees on the site, and if the proposals involve the felling of any trees.  The answers to these sections must be honest and detailed.  You will be deluding yourself if you think you can “get away with it” by not declaring that there are trees on site, or pre-empting any possible conflicting issues by felling any potentially obstructive trees on site.  Such practices do NOT endear you to the planning personnel, and could seriously jeopardise your chances of obtaining planning permission.

If there are trees on site which might be affected you are strongly advised to contact Torbay Council to discuss your proposals in advance of the application.  This is the time to address tree related issues, and to resolve any areas of conflicting interest.  Once registered the application must be determined within 8 weeks.  However this does not permit sufficient time in which to resolve major problems.

The main ways in which existing trees can be affected by development are:

• Situating buildings and associated services too close
• Storage of materials and plant too close during the construction period
• Altering soil levels

Such practices can damage the canopy and more importantly, the roots of trees.  They can also be deprived of water, or even become waterlogged.  In most cases, this leads to the decline and eventual death of the tree.

How do I address the issue of trees in my planning application?

For any development site containing trees, Torbay Council will require an Arboricultural Implication Study (AIS) to be submitted with the planning application.

It is essential that all the arboricultural implications are assessed and detailed at the application stage.  This includes collection of all data on all trees on site, with reference to the British Standard BS5837 Trees in Relation to Construction, deciding which trees should be retained and which should be removed.  It is essential that all interfaces between the development and the trees, their root zones, crowns and branches are assessed and discussed.

The AIS should contain the following information:

• The protection of trees within the total exclusion zones
• The location and type of protective fencing
• The location of the main sewerage and water services in relation to trees
• The location of all other underground services, i.e. gas, electricity and telecommunications
• The locations of roads, pathways, parking and other hard surfaces in relation to root zones
• Provision of design and engineering solutions to the above, for example, thrust boring for service runs; the use of porous surfaces for roads etc and the remedial works to maintain tree health such as irrigation and fertilisation systems; the use of geotextile membranes to control root spread
• Suggested locations for the site compound, office, parking and site access
• The replacement plantings necessary to compensate for the necessary losses

The AIS should be supported by relevant drawings of the site and layout with tree positions.  It is suggested that plans be drawn at a minimum scale of 1:200 and be accurate to within 0.5 metres.

A professionally qualified arboricultural consultant should carry out the AIS.  Torbay Council has produced Supplementary Planning Guidance Notes, which relates to Trees on Construction sites. These can be viewed by clicking on the link below.

This is only a very brief summary of the legislation that affects trees; it is by no means definitive and should only be used as a guide to what to be aware of and where to seek further advice.

Related Documents

Supplementary Planning Guidance Notes

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