Tree Surveys in Bristol: Satisfy Planning Requirements

Bristol Trees and Flora

Best known for its wealth of maritime history, Bristol is a city located directly next to a 70-acre floating harbour. As the home to the eleventh-highest populated urban area in the United Kingdom, it will come as no surprise to learn that just 13% of the population lives in rural areas. Trees, however, are often integrated into urban areas as part of new developments and small patches of woodland, with an estimated 600,000 trees currently scattered across Bristol.

A recording taken in 2010 stated that Bristol had 989 hectares of tree cover, meaning that it exceeds land area by around 8.7%. Just seven years later, Bristol had lost 242 millihectares of tree canopy cover. All remaining trees are under the protection of the local council, and old, valuable or rare trees are either within a tree preservation order (TPO) or situated in a conservation area.

Trees feature in all areas of the country, even predominantly urban locations like Bristol. Developers often find trees to be an obstacle during planning projects as they may be in key areas of the development or given special protections that restrict interference with them. Fortunately, however, you can avoid any issues with trees on your development site by putting your faith in the insights of a licensed arboriculturist in the form of a tree survey.

Tree Protection From Bristol City Council

Every policy enforced by Bristol City Council is outlined at length on their website. Among the many policies are some that involve tree works and preservation in relation to planning. The two primary protections over trees are tree preservation orders (TPOs) for individual trees and conservation areas for groups of multiple trees.

Currently, there are 33 conservation areas in Bristol, posing a potential hindrance to developers depending on the location of their development site. Other considerations Bristol City Council provide include applying for works on trees and notifying the council of dead or dangerous trees

The BS5837 Tree Assessment

In most circumstances, an arboricultural assessment will consist of a BS5837 tree survey. During a site visit, an arboriculturist will inspect all trees present, cross-examining them with the plans of the project to determine evidence of an overlap that could cause harm to the trees or the development. At this point, the arboricultural surveyor will apply a grading to all trees based on quality and value to determine the most suitable outcome between retaining, relocating or destroying them.

An arboricultural consultant will always favour the retention of trees, but if trees are likely to interfere with the development, or if they are in poor condition or likely to pose a danger to people in the vicinity, relocation or destruction will be the most suitable outcome. Details from the assessment process, findings from the survey and the arboriculturist’s recommended next steps will be outlined in an extensive tree survey report.

The tree report will be created immediately after the tree survey and passed on to the client within a few short days. As it will contain insightful information from the assessment and mitigation measures that will enable the project to progress into future stages, the tree survey report will benefit the application for planning permission and can be passed on to the local planning authority.

Arboricultural Consultants in Bristol

For a tree survey report to assist with your planning application successfully, it must be developed by an arboricultural surveyor who has sufficient experience and skill. It can be difficult to find an arboricultural consultancy with credibility and a strong track record for satisfying clients, conducting a quality service and producing a tree report that contains the necessary insights.

A key factor that makes Arbtech unique is that we hold a solid balance of experience and innovation in the arboriculturists in our ranks. Each arboricultural consultant covers a different part of the United Kingdom, giving us the ability to cater to all clients. Our arboriculturists also possess accreditations, licences and qualifications that make them capable and effective in carrying out tree surveys.

Call us, fill out our quote form or visit our contact page and our helpful team will put together a free quote based on the specifications of your site and project. After you have sent the quote form back to us with confirmation of instruction to move forward, we can decide on a desirable time to visit your site and conduct a tree survey.