Arboriculturists in London – London Tree Surveys

London Woodland

Between the City of London and the 32 boroughs of Greater London, the London region has more than 8.4 million trees. A predominantly urban area housing 99.8% of residents in non-rural spaces, it often comes as a surprise to learn that the number of trees almost matches the region’s population.

Statistics from the Forestry Commission claim that London has an estimated 65,000 woodland areas in the City of London alone, accounting for tree canopy cover over more than a fifth of the region. Not only that, but just short of 70% of wooded areas in London are classed as expansive.

The average tree canopy cover in England is 16%, with London’s currently standing at an even stronger 21%. Even with a canopy cover superior to the national average, local councils insist on increasing it to at least 31% over the next three decades as part of the London Environment Strategy. Although 280,000 new trees were planted in the London area since 2016, local authorities clearly intend on growing the level of biodiversity in the region over the coming years.

How Trees Impact Planning in London

Various factors can act as obstacles in any planning project, with trees featuring as a common example. England is home to an estimated 1.3 billion trees, and as a result, whole trees and other forms of vegetation frequently appear on the sites of proposed developments.

Throughout England, certain trees are under tree care from the local council within Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) and conservation areas. While a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) protects specific trees, a conservation area protects all trees within a specific area. Both forms of tree protection, however, hold the same limitations and similar penalties such as hefty fines and prison sentences.

Another end result from tree felling or the lopping, topping, uprooting, or wilfully damaging of trees under TPOs or located in conservation areas, is that the development project will be harmed. For instance, it could delay the planning process, ruin the credibility behind planning applications, or cause entire breakdown of the planning project.

Arboricultural Consultants in London

Over more than a decade of service, Arbtech has provided arboricultural and ecological surveys across the country, as well as offering tree services and other consultancy services to clients outside of the UK upon request. In order for our arboricultural services to work successfully, we have had to situate arboricultural consultants all over the UK, giving our clients a realistic opportunity to book tree surveys on their development sites.

All of our hard-working arboricultural consultants are appropriately qualified and educated, ensuring the relevant capabilities and accreditations alongside crucial skills involving communication and the ambition to provide the best possible service. We insist on the highest standards when it comes to the arboricultural surveyors we hire, so we can assure you of a quality service every time and hard work from all of our consultants that offer tree services, regardless of the assessment you need or the purpose of your project.

Each arboriculturist within our ranks has qualifications at bachelor’s or master’s degree level, affiliation to the arboricultural association, experience working on an expansive number of projects in a broad range of industries, and a proactive, capable, reliable approach that prompts the insights and expertise you need. In some cases, our arboriculturists have previous experience as professional tree surgeons with a history in the only comprehensive accreditation scheme for arboricultural services in the UK.

Past ventures operating as a tree surgeon gives them an ability to shed more light on other forms of tree work and considerations involving tree care that may only arise through experience with tree surgery. Additionally, it can contribute to a greater understanding of tree species, with the best tree surgeons accomplished with alder, hawthorn, hazel, holly, oak, rowan, willow and beech tree services.

Our London Tree Surveys and Assessments

Covering the entire country means that we have an arboriculturist in London that can visit your site to conduct a professional tree survey. In the interest of consistency and reliability, we guarantee arboricultural best practice over all assessments to provide the utmost customer care and give all of our clients and other customers an excellent job. Although we offer a number of effective arboricultural solutions and tree services, the most common assessment is the BS5837 tree survey – a British standard arboricultural assessment that benefits tree care and helps to determine suitable next steps for all trees on a site.

A BS5837 tree survey will involve the London arboriculturist physically visiting the development site to undertake a visual inspection of all trees present. At this point, the arb approved contractor will judge the quality and value of each tree before placing them into a predetermined category based on these factors.

The fate of every tree will be determined based on a process that promotes the most suitable outcome for each tree known as ‘the mitigation hierarchy‘. In the case of valuable trees that are currently in good quality, the priority outcome will be to retain them, and if the development conflicts with these trees, the arboricultural surveyor will do all they can to alter the development to cater to the trees.

If it isn’t possible to retain trees due to the unchangeable nature of the development project – or simply if the quality of the trees indicate that they aren’t worth retaining – they will recommend removing trees and situating them elsewhere, or destroying them. Any trees that are destroyed will be compensated for through the planting of new trees of the same quality in more suitable areas, and tree removal will result in the trees being relocated to areas that are appropriate on a long-term basis.

Arboricultural Reports London

After all of the surveys we conduct, the surveyor will produce a report that details the nature of the assessment, findings from the survey, and mitigation measures that will enable the planning project to move forwards despite the presence of trees.

Our arboriculturists in London and all other areas will develop the completed BS5837 tree survey report immediately after the assessment and aim to get it to you within a few days of visiting your development site.

As well as including crucial insights from the tree survey and confirmation that the necessary assessments have been carried out on the development site, a tree survey report can also be passed on to the local planning authority to support planning applications.

Reach Out to Our London Arboriculturists

If you are based in the London area and need an arboriculturist to undertake a tree survey or other tree work on your development site, rely on Arbtech to provide a quality service, book in a time and date that suits you, and assist you in the process of securing planning consent for your project. We possess a seemingly endless list of positive reviews featuring many thanks from past and present clients, proving our worth as the UK’s best consultancy for arboricultural and ecological surveys.

We offer a free quote to any clients that get in touch with us about our surveys and assessments. Simply call the number above, visit our contact page or fill out our helpful quote form, and we will send you a no-obligation quote immediately. Providing you are happy with the quote, return it to us to confirm that you want us to conduct a tree survey on your development site, and we will help you with your application for planning permission.