Trees and Development

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 could be influenced by the trees onsite. The answers to these sections must be honest and detailed.

The assigned Planning Officer will, when necessary, involve the Natural Environment department to consult on these proposals.

If there are trees on site which might be affected you are strongly advised to seek pre-application advice with the Planning Department. The Natural Environment department can be consulted by the Planning Department.

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.

Addressing the Issue of Trees in Planning Applications

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 (see Related Documents).

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.