Tree Surveys in Lincoln: Get Your Planning Over The Line

Populations of Trees All Over Lincoln

Located within the county of Lincolnshire in the East Midlands, Lincoln is a city that originated as an Iron Age settlement and dates back as far as the 1st Century BC. Of the many local attractions, the town is known for its castle, which houses a Victorian prison and a medieval cathedral. It has a maritime climate, with cool summers and mild winters favouring farming, making Lincoln a market centre for major arable agriculture. Lincoln also features multiple nature reserves, including Greetwell Hollow Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Whisby Nature Park, Boultham Mere, Swanholme Lakes Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Hartsholme Country Park.

Swanholme Lakes is around a 25-minute drive from Lincoln City Centre, and the varying sizes of the lake were formed naturally when quarrying finished on the site in the 1960s. Dotted around the lakes are areas of woodland and heathland that are full of different habitats at differing levels of development. The lakes are also home to countless tree species, including oak trees and pine trees, as well as pioneer species such as willow trees and birch trees. Likewise, Hartsholme Country Park has a combination of grasslands, woodlands and a large reservoir, facilitating the continued growth of a diverse selection of native and non-domestic species of flora and fauna.

Local authorities overseeing Lincoln including the overarching Lincolnshire County Council have set a precedent for maintaining the existing standard of the environment while building on it to support improved biodiversity for future generations. North Lincolnshire Council alone has planted over 60,000 trees as part of the Northern Forest scheme, with a view to eventually planting 172,000 new trees in the coming years. Developers may be intimidated by the emphasis on trees in Lincoln, but through a tree survey and report from our team, any issues involving trees can be dealt with correctly.

Protected Trees Across Lincoln and the Surrounding Area

Between the City of Lincoln Council, Boston Borough Council, East Lindsey District Council, West Lindsey District Council, North Kesteven District Council, South Kesteven District Council, South Holland District Council and the broader Lincolnshire County Council, trees are recognised as an important environmental asset to Lincolnshire and therefore require special permissions before the standard of biodiversity in the area is threatened as the result of potentially harmful new development projects.

Even though development is encouraged by Lincolnshire County Council, tree preservation orders (TPOs) and conservation areas are active to prevent any planning projects that could cause unnecessary damage to valuable trees. A tree preservation order and conservation area are similar, as both protect trees but in different ways. It isn’t always easy to tell whether either protection is in place, but by putting your faith in the hands of licensed and qualified tree consultants, you can ensure that any activities that would endanger trees and contradict the local authority are addressed.

Tree Services to Support Development

In any development on a plot of land that houses any number of trees, a BS5837 tree survey is a compulsory form of detailed inspection designed to support each protected tree present, initiate tree works where necessary, and benefit the development process. The British standard assessment will involve a tree consultant visiting the site to assign categories to all trees, and the categories will then decide the outcome of each tree, enabling the project to move forward as planned.

Completing the tree survey process with as many retained trees as possible will always rank as the priority outcome, closely followed by tree removal and relocation of trees that cannot be catered for by the development plans. As an absolute last resort, if any trees have no worth or amenity value, pose health and safety concerns or are dead or dying, the arboricultural consultant will be forced to begin dismantling trees and destroying them, with the ability to stage tree planting exercises as a form of compensation.

If the tree survey uncovers a need for any further inspections, such as a visual tree assessment or quantified tree risk assessment, the arboriculturist will flag this in the tree report. Every detail from an assessment will appear in the accompanying tree reports, including arboricultural advice, information about root protection areas and tree canopy cover, and any mitigation and compensation required to give the local planning authority everything they need to grant planning applications.

Speak to Our Arboricultural Team

We operate up and down the country, and a perk from choosing Arbtech is that our tree consultants are employed full-time and you will not be matched with a subcontractor without your prior consent. All of the arboriculturists in our team have either worked in the role for the entirety of their working life or have previously conducted tree surgery work as tree surgeons. Either way, the professional sent to your site in Lincoln will possess an extensive understanding and knowledge of the tree survey services, the expectations of the local council, and what is required to obtain planning permission.

Working for developers, homeowners, tree owners and all of the above, our tree work has benefitted a wide range of individuals. If you want your own free quotation, you can request one by simply calling us directly, emailing us, filling out a quick quote form, or checking out our contact page. You will then be sent an arboricultural surveyor in the East Midlands area to your development site to look over every protected tree and give you the tree reports you need to receive a successful application for planning consent from your local planning authority.