There are many reasons why you might need to apply for planning permission – if you are looking to extend your home or wish to prune or fell a tree that has a Tree Protection Order (TPO) on it, or if it is located in a conservation area. Whatever the reason, it’s well worth understanding what could stand in the way of permission and that’s usually determined by the views of your local planning officer. It is, therefore, often important to support your application with a professional report which evidence, in full, the depth of knowledge held about the trees on your premises and how they may be impacted by the work you want to undertake, in order to give your local planning officer enough reason to say "yes".
Trees can cause local
planning officers a significant amount of anguish – they will be concerned about
trees that may be impacted by your work or those that may cause damage to new
constructions. A risk averse planning officer will always err on the side of
caution and, when in doubt, will simply refuse permission. However, it does not
have to be that way.
If you think there is any
possibility that the trees in and around your property will worry a local
planning officer, call in an arborist who can carry out one or more of the
following four surveys/investigations and provide reports that could help you
to gain the planning permission you’ll need.
- BS5837
Tree Survey and Report
This is a
superficial assessment of the location, size and condition of any and all trees
in the vicinity of the build along with any restrictions placed on those trees
(such as TPOs) which could limit your construction work. The report would
consist of:
- A plan
drawing showing where all trees are located, the extent of their crowns and
root protection areas (the minimum area required for the roots to grow outwards
as the tree matures).
- A table
consisting of all the information the arborist has gathered about each tree,
including its species, presumed age, condition and life expectancy, to name but
a few.
- The main
body of the report will add context to this data, explaining which are the most
important or significant trees in the survey and offering advice on ways to
maximise the site’s potential without negative impact on these trees. It may
also go into more detail about the maintenance, cutting back or trees to be felled
recommendations for the project to proceed.
If you
are considering building an extension to your home, then a trial pit
investigation is often a sensible first move. This involves the excavation of a
short 3.5m to 4.5m deep trench (either by hand or using a mechanical excavator)
to determine a number of things, all related to the structure and content of
the soil. If anyone is going to enter the trench, during excavation or as part
of the investigation, then beyond 1.2m in depth it will need to be secured to
prevent collapse, for obvious health and safety reasons. The purpose of this
investigation is to determine the stability of the soil you wish to build on,
but it will also reveal whether any tree roots exist within the building zone.
Tree roots themselves are unlikely to damage concrete foundations; however,
it’s the moisture they suck from the soil that can sometimes have a significant
impact on structures – in the form of subsidence, or, if you have recently
removed trees, heave (as moisture will build up in soil that would previously have
been kept balanced due to the amount of water the tree had taken up).
- Arboricultural
Impact Assessment
Whereas a
Trial Pit Investigation is an assessment to determine the impact of trees on a
building, an Impact Assessment is an analysis to determine a building project’s
impact on the environment around it – specifically the trees in its vicinity.
If you are looking to demolish a property, build a new one or, in some
circumstances, to significantly extend your property, then it may be sensible
to prepare an Impact Assessment report to accompany your planning permission
documentation. This could be required for residential or commercial structural
or construction work and looks into how the work you’re proposing might impact
on the natural world around it. If a local planning authority should consider
the impact of a proposed project to be too great then, in the absence of a report
to the contrary, a local authority may reject a request for planning
permission. A report showing this negative news may still be turned into a
positive because its early warning could give you time to amend your building
plans to lower their impact and increase your chances of being awarded the
planning permission you need to proceed.
When all
you wish to do is to prune, maintain or fell a tree in a conservation area or
one with a TPO, you’ll still need to apply for planning permission. This is
when a basic tree survey report would be of use. This report identifies the
species of tree, its condition, what work is recommended and why. It’s purely
and simply to provide an explanation from a tree specialist as to why work is
needed and, therefore, the reason why planning permission should be granted.
All four of these
surveys/investigations can be used to help you to maximise your planning
permission prospects.
To book a survey and consultation with one of our ARB Approved arborists for
advice on your trees or to book our tree surgeons to prune/maintain or fell
your tree(s), call us on 0208 292 8992.