Trees are a material consideration within the planning system and local planning authorities (LPAs) often list arboricultural documents within their planning application validation requirements.
We can provide tailored packages to suit any size or type of development by using our staged and transparent approach.
The subsequent documents will provide you and the LPA with the information required to enable your application to be fully considered.
A typical package might include the below stages. For details of the individual report types, click here.
We’ll visit the site and collect the necessary data in accordance with British Standard BS5837:2012 before producing a package of documents tailored to size and scale of the development, including a tree survey schedule, tree constraints plan and an initial appraisal document. At this point, if a layout has been produced, we may be able to offer suggestions to increase the likelihood of a successful application
We’ll liaise with the wider design team and other professional disciplines as necessary to finalise the site layout.
We will produce the required documents in line with the relevant authority’s validation requirements. This usually comprises an Arboricultural Impact Assessment (AIA) and Tree Protection Plan (TPP) as a minimum, but may also include a more detailed Arboricultural Method Statement (AMS) in some instances.
This is the minimum requirement for LPAs to determine a planning application, and is usually accompanied by a Tree Protection Plan (TPP). It sets out the national and local planning policy context and identifies any statutory controls such as Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) or conservation areas affected by the proposal. The report then assesses the impact of the proposals, identifies trees to be retained and removed, any facilitation pruning requirements. It also includes an assessment of how the trees will be integrated into the layout and sets out the protective measures to be taken to ensure their long-term viability.
This is a detailed drawing produced using CAD software by overlaying the existing site layout with the collected tree data, and then overlaying the proposed site layout. It provides an illustrative reference of the recommendations set out in the AIA or AMS documents, and provides technical specifications for protection measures to be followed on site.
If not part of the validation requirements, LPAs often specify the production of an AMS as part of the conditions attached to a consent. The content builds on the recommendations set out in the AIA by providing clear and transparent working methodologies and specifications of specialised protection measures such as bespoke temporary fencing, trunk wrapping and ‘no-dig’ hard surface construction. If approved by the LPA, failure to comply with the recommendations set out within the document may lead to a temporary stop notice being placed on the site until remediation works have been completed.