Councillors’ Questions answered
AN arboricultural officer has urged residents and councillors to comment on or object to tree works notices submitted to Wiltshire Council, to protect local trees.
Guest speaker at Westbury Town Council’s highways, planning and development meeting, David Wyatt from Wiltshire Council, told members that he deals with around 30 notices in any given year. These are the notices that have received public comments or objections.
He said, “I’m quite happy for anyone to object or make a comment. That way, I get to see where these trees are. A lot of trees are getting lost unnecessarily – I can’t be everywhere, but I’d like to be! I’m very passionate about my trees, I’ve been doing this all my life.”
He also spoke about ash dieback, resulting in thousands of trees being felled due to the risk that within 6 to 12 months of catching the “brutal” fungal infection, a big mature tree could simply fall over where it stands – for example, by a roadside or children’s play area.
“Wiltshire Council have a huge financial burden ahead of them dealing with that,” David Wyatt told the meeting, “and it’s trying to work with landowners to alleviate the problem and share the costs. Unfortunately, Westbury has quite a lot of ash trees growing in and around the town and housing estates, that were put in 30 years ago, and it’s only a matter of time before they become infected.”
David Wyatt told members of the meeting, “I try and oversee tree protection orders (TPOs), Conservation Area consents and planning and development and all tree-related matters therein, and any general public enquiries.
“I thought it would be a good idea if any councillors had any concerns about how we operate, what we can and can’t protect, and some of the reasons behind the decisions we make, that may be helpful to the council in general, as well as the public. So if you want to ask questions about policy, I’m happy to answer whatever you have to ask me.”
Committee chair, cllr Ian Cunningham asked, “Has there been a recent case where a tree in a conservation area was not cut down because of that (ie, it was in a conservation area)? Is objections on these grounds without a specific TPO a waste of time and is it an indication we should be applying for a TPO?”
David Wyatt replied, “Ever since Wiltshire Council became a unitary authority it was handed over to tech support to handle TCAs (trees in conservation areas applications, also known as section 211 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990) for registration and only handed to an officer if there were objections.
David Wyatt said TCAs were a notification to Wiltshire Council that an applicant wishes to carry out works to a tree within six weeks.
“It’s not a planning application and I think there’s been some concerns regarding lack of information on these notifications,” he said. “But we have the same problem with TPOs where we try and ask for as much information as possible, as every TPO application goes out to consultees such as yourselves, so people have a fair idea about what’s going on.
“If nobody objects to an application, then it’s usually processed. I want people to make comments and I get to know about these trees and go out there and see if the trees are worthy of protection.”
A TCA cannot be refused by Wiltshire Council unless the unitary authority is prepared to put a TPO on the tree/s in question.
“You have to take into account the position of the tree, its expected life span, how much it’s going to grow, how close it is to properties and structures and is there likely to be any future damage to these properties,” explained David Wyatt. “Then you would see whether we could protect it or not and if we don’t, we can’t refuse the TCA and it gets consent. There’s lots of criteria – we don’t just dismiss it – and we welcome everyone’s comments.”
He urged members, “If you feel strongly about anything, please put it in writing – otherwise I don’t know about it.”
David Wyatt explained that if an objection is made to a TCA within the consultation period, there would be 2 to 3 weeks to do a site visit, look at and assess the tree in question and if it was found not to qualify for protection, the TCA works would be given consent.
“The only way I would protect a tree would be if I refused a notice,” he said. “We are then obliged to protect it by issuing a TPO that would be served on the same day so there’s no crossover. Adjacent neighbours are notified as well.
Cllr Ward Jones asked about “trees that are not under TPOs or we’re wanting to put them under – a problem I’ve become acutely aware of over the last month or so is about trees on private land which borders the highway, and where the trees overhang the highway.
“Two problems on a lane near to where I live – firstly that the trees overhang and what can be done about pressing for those trees to be trimmed back so there’s not a danger? It’s a narrow lane and somewhat concerning where the owner of the land has cut back the trees but left substantial branches lying on their land and it looks absolutely dreadful.”
David Wyatt responded, “Any tree on private land is the tree owner’s responsibility. If it’s bordering the highway then it’s a matter of reporting that to the landowner and asking him to cut it back from the road.”
The minimum distance a tree can overhang the road is 5.2m above carriageway and for footpaths, 2.5m, David Wyatt informed members.
“If the tree is not protected by a TPO they don’t need consent, but it’s a matter of negotiation between the complainant and the landowner and if highways get involved, it’s worth contacting them and maybe the fire brigade because they need access and will flag it up if they can’t get access.
“As long as branches aren’t impeding a right of way or access to the highway, then unfortunately it’s a matter of politely contacting the landowner regarding the mess.”
Town mayor, cllr Mike Sutton asked, “Bearing in mind Wiltshire Council have declared a climate emergency, are you keeping tabs on the number of trees felled and the number that need planting, so that we don’t decrease numbers, but actually increase numbers in the town and county or is that just left to chance?” Cllr Sutton added, “trees of course being the best absorbers of C02.”
He further asked, “Do you have any figures where people have cut down trees in defiance of a TPO and the council has taken legal action against them?”
Saying these were good questions, David Wyatt replied, “I don’t personally have any figures but if it’s a 5 day notice, TCA notice or a TPO, they automatically go onto a 5 day register which will bring up, for example, Wiltshire Council over a year cuts down 3,000 trees, because they’re all registered.
“As for the replanting of trees – we can’t attach conditions of replanting to a TCA as it’s only a notification. We can only ask the owners to consider it. We can only condition a TPO and every tree that’s felled we automatically put a replant condition on there and we have up to 4 years to make sure that’s been undertaken.”
“It’s quite unfortunate but we’re trying to get developers to plant more trees for the biodiversity net gain that we’re all quite keen for,” David Wyatt told the meeting. “And they’re very reluctant because we want more street tree planting to soften the built form.
“It’s all down to strategic planning by finding the right style of development that would allow enough space between the tarmac, footpath and dwelling to plant a decent tree that will grow for at least 20 – 30 years.”
David Wyatt added that there were a lot of development schemes coming in where the council could secure 200 to 300 trees, but these were in the early stages.
Cllr Sheila Kimmins said, “It’s about healthy trees that people put in an application to cut down, We say no and are overruled by Wiltshire Council. How many healthy trees are cut down?”
David Wyatt answered that quite a few are cut down but it was down to the specific circumstances of that tree and where it is growing.
“To an untrained eye all trees look healthy but unfortunately 99 per cent have underlying health problems, the same as we do,” he said. “A tree might not have enough space to fully develop in the location.
“It’s difficult managing trees in an urban environment At some point in a tree’s life they’re going to need some form of management or removal because it’s not realistic to keep them for another 20 to 40 years in that environment, for a whole range of reasons. We try to look at every tree as an individual – there’s not a collective policy.”
Thousands of ash trees were being removed by the Ministry of Defence at Bratton on safety grounds, David Wyatt said. “They’re ensuring that all the trees on the edge of the plain by the road are safe and not a liability.”
He said he regularly refused applications about trees blocking sunlight from houses, or leaves, nuts or pigeon droppings being dropped in gardens.
To cllr Brenda Pyne’s question about whether an individual can raise a TPO on a tree David Wyatt said only Wiltshire Council could do that and added, “Since the lockdowns there’s been an exponential increase in neighbours trying to TPO their neighbours’ trees.
Cllr Pyne added, “Lots of trees are being taken down because of ash dieback, even though they may not have the disease. Do they have to be replaced with another species so there isn’t a net loss? I think the MoD tend to be a law unto themselves,” she said.
David Wyatt replied, “This is where the huge problem is. The MoD are probably the biggest landowner in the UK, so are exempt from the rules and regulations of the environment. We can’t protect trees on MoD or Crown land, which is quite remarkable.
“Ash trees are being cut down on health and safety grounds and there’s no requirement for them to be replaced, but there must be some guidance about restocking. It’s difficult to get information out of the MoD sometimes.”
David Wyatt informed members that in a secret location there is a collection of trees being grown to see if they are resistant to the disease. “Saplings tend to get infected first because the spores are in the undergrowth where it’s a different climate, and when the temperature is right and favourable, that’s when it infects the tree”, he said.
“Unfortunately now it’s spreading to all age groups of ash trees, even the big mature trees are getting infected because they’re already infected by other hosts and get weakened and succumb to the dieback.
“It’s a brutal fungal infection and within 6 months it could fall over as and when it feels like it. It’s a bit like Covid, where there’s a new variant. It’s changing and is affecting the roots. A perfectly healthy tree could fall over anywhere – a play area, a roadside etc.
He concluded, “From a trees point of view, the visual landscape as we see it is going to change forever really until we get other trees in there, but it’s up to Wiltshire Council if they want to restock, or the town council if they’ve taken on the management of the spaces.”
