Under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, it is the duty of local planning authorities to ensure sufficient provision is made for the preservation or planting of trees. An Arboricultural Impact Assessment is required by the LPA so they can adequately consider the impact of a planning application on trees. This report contains a schedule of tree works that are likely to be required for the development, including a summary of tree removals and pruning operations. A desk study will be undertaken to search for any legal protection afforded to trees on site, covering Conservation Area Restrictions and Tree Preservation Orders. It will also include proposals for specialist construction methods that allow for tree retainment where development is required in close proximity to trees. Our reports aim to provide a positive overview of development proposals, which highlight where tree retention has been designed for and tree removal has been limited. Our expert arboricultural advice provides design solutions that avoid tree loss and reduce the associated mitigation requirements, leading to robust and successful planning applications.

Impact assessments tend to be more positive when undertaken during the iterative design stage, when arboricultural advice can guide design decisions. All of our impact assessments provide draft tree protection specifications to satisfy planning requirements and come with an AutoCAD-drawn ‘Tree Retention and Removal Plan’ summarising the impacts of development.