Tree Surveys in Blackpool: Securing Planning Permission

Local Parks and Gardens

Recognised for the popular seaside attraction, Blackpool is a large town that forms the majority of the Blackpool urban area – a cluster of towns that includes Cleveleys, Little Singleton, Lytham St Annes, Poulton-le-Fylde, Staining and Thornton. Despite an emphasis on non-rural areas, however, Blackpool has many notable countryside locations including Stanley Park and the Blackpool Model Village and Gardens.

With urban areas replacing a large percentage of the countryside in Blackpool, competition for land developers is high. Currently, the town is preparing for a £300 million project that will revitalise the centre, and both private and public developments are taking place across Blackpool. But for anyone looking to achieve approval of their planning application in a wooded area, it is unlikely to be considered without a tree survey undertaken by a quality arboricultural consultancy.

Blackpool Council Tree Strategy

All local councils across England possess protected trees that are safeguarded by tree preservation orders (TPOs) and conservation areas. Each form of protection shares the similarity of requiring consent from the corresponding local authority before any works are done and solely impacting retained trees, but with a tree preservation order (TPO) covering a single tree and a conservation area covering any number of individual trees within a set location.

Alongside the conservation policies that are typical of most towns and cities in the UK, Blackpool Council also released a document that details an extensive plan for retaining and increasing biodiversity in the area. In the Tree Strategy 2020-2030, the primary aims are to acknowledge the value of trees, prioritise trees as much as infrastructure formed from other materials, understand the economic benefit of trees, protect large or old trees, and manage the population of trees effectively.

Tree Assessment Protocol

Although Blackpool Council’s thorough Tree Strategy 2020-2030 doesn’t necessarily bode well for property or land developers who are looking to carry out a project in a woodland area, potential problems can be brought to light and eliminated through a British standard visual tree assessment known as a BS5837 tree survey. The arboricultural impact from design, demolition and construction work on the proposed development site can then be acknowledged, analysed and addressed accordingly over the course of a routine site visit.

During a tree survey, a tree surveyor will determine the nature of all trees on the plot of land and assemble appropriate next steps based on structural condition and the likely direct damage or indirect damage that could be caused to them or as a result of them. All trees will be given a grading using these factors as metrics, and at this point, trees may be kept due to holding value, or if it makes more sense to remove them, the tree consultant will suggest ways of compensating for any natural assets that had to be destroyed or moved elsewhere, such as the planting of new trees of the same standard.

Information required from the development site will then be displayed in a tree survey report in the form of a tree constraints plan (TCP) to explain professional advice regarding the tree management of present trees. Tree reports detailing outcomes from the tree survey are vital, as they can be given to the local planning authority as part of the application for planning permission. If such a report indicates that further information is needed, arboricultural consultants will move on to stage two of the tree survey process, involving an arboricultural impact assessment (AIA), arboricultural method statement (AMS) and tree protection plan (TPP).

Seek Arboricultural Advice from Our Team

Not only will a tree survey and the accompanying tree report play an important role in securing planning applications, but the additional information will meet the arboricultural requirements of the local authorities, support tree stock, and minimise the potential risk to each tree present on the site. As such, booking Lancashire tree surveys for your Blackpool development couldn’t be any more crucial in the process of eliminating a comprehensive range of tree problems.

Our team of arboricultural consultants possess sufficient professional indemnity and public liability insurance cover and can provide tree surveys for a selection of individuals and professionals, ranging from tree condition and safety surveys for identifying structural defects for mortgage lenders to tree services for public sector projects. The tree report created by the tree surveyors including Tree Constraints Plans (TCPs) and Tree Protection Plans (TPPs), for example, will then give the local planning authority everything needed to satisfy the criteria for planning applications.

At Arbtech, we pride ourselves on holding a solid track record for conducting tree surveys to the required standard and gaining planning permission for our clients. We also have arboriculturists situated across the country, so if you are developing in Blackpool, we are on hand to inspect your site. For a free quote, get in touch with our team, fill out a contact form or call us, and we will arrange a suitable time to undertake a tree survey and assist you in gaining a successful planning application.