Trees, Hedges and Development
We encourage the retention of existing trees and hedges on development sites, where those trees have been inspected and judged suitable for retention, in the interests of local landscape character.
A development site can however be a very hostile environment for trees and hedges and it is important therefore to give them adequate protection during the development period. Sustainable design should ensure they are not only retained until the completion of development, but are also sustained in a condition that gives them a useful life expectancy.
This aim can rarely be achieved unless development operations are approached in a structured manner. For more details of how this may be achieved and what level of information the Council will require, download the documents When is a tree survey necessary? (PDF, 64 KB)(opens new window) and What should a tree survey contain? (PDF, 30 KB)(opens new window)
Full guidance on the survey information, protection plan, method statements and other information that should be provided with applications is set out in the current BS5837 'Trees in relation to design, demolition and construction - recommendations'. Using the methodology set out in the British Standard should help to ensure that development is suitably integrated with trees and that potential conflicts are avoided.