Agenda item

To consider confirming the Tree Preservation Order.

To confirm the order without amendments.

 

A Group of Trees

 

a)    The Enforcement Team Leader elaborated on the background of the application, and noted that a Temporary Tree Preservation Order had been issued for two groups of trees, located to the north of Tyddyn Meilir, on 8 December 2020. It was explained that an assessment of both groups had been completed using the TEMPO system - any tree(s) scoring 16 points or higher would merit being safeguarded.  It was reported that Group 1 (including 25 Beech trees) had scored 18 points, and Group 2 (including 32 beech, 2 sycamores and 1 oak with the beech trees pollarded into a hedge) had scored 16 points. It was considered that the trees were of a high amenity value.

 

It was noted that objection to the temporary order had been received from the Local Member, the landowner along with a letter from the Farmers' Union of Wales (dated 3 March 2021) supporting the landowner's objection. Having received the objections to the order, further consultation had been held with the Biodiversity Service and attention was drawn to the comments received in 4.4 of the report. It was considered that a hedge had existed on the site in the past, but due to probable lack of hedge management, the site now consisted of a row of beech trees. It was accepted that the landowner wished to bring the trees under control, but it was emphasised that any work should be carried out by adopting good practice methods. It was highlighted that work had been undertaken to prune some of the trees before the temporary order had been issued.

 

The trees had been inspected on 9 February 2021 accompanied by the landowner, and it was noted that several trees had rot and holes in their trunks. However, it appeared that alternative maintenance methods to pruning were possible (with appropriate specialist advice) which would mean that the trees could be preserved, whilst at the same time providing unobstructed access to the landowner to farm the land, and maintain the pasture and field boundaries. Reference was made to the 4 options the Committee had and it was recommended that the Committee should select option (i), namely to confirm the order without changes.

b)    Taking advantage of the right to speak, the landowner noted the following points and provided a short video of the trees and their condition

·         He emphasised that his intention was to prune the trees, not to fell them - this would extend the trees' lifespan as many of them were rotting.

·         Many branches had come down in recent years and fallen into the road

·         He had begun pruning before the order was issued - pruning to a height of 10' - 12' - they had originally been pruned into a hedge.

·         A number of trees required trimming

·         It was highlighted in the video that a number of trees were rotting and there were fungus on a few of them.

·         If they were not pruned, the trees would become too heavy for their trunks

c)    Taking advantage of the right to speak, the Local Member made the following points:

·         The trees were in a poor condition, therefore he challenged the assessment score

·         That shadowing from the trees impeded the work of improving the pasture

·         That the landowner was unable to move his tractor to the side of the field

·         That the landowner had contacted him before carrying out the pruning work

·         That the livestock lorry was unable to travel down to the farm

·         If the trees were not going to be pruned, it was likely that they would fall during the next bout of stormy weather

·         The trees had not been pruned in 50 years

·         Attention was drawn to the fact that the Farmers' Union of Wales also objected to the order

·         Things were difficult for farmers without having to go to extra costs

 

ch) It was proposed and seconded not to confirm the temporary order and to allow the trees to be pruned with no intervention

 

The proposer elaborated on the motion by noting:  

·         There was no intention of posing a risk to the trees

·         If the landowner had not pruned the trees, they would have fallen in any case

·         To extend the trees' lifespan, pruning would be a good thing - the only way of managing and saving the trees

·         In terms of the visual element, it would be better to prune the trees than witness them rot away

·         It would be timely to prune the trees during the autumn - they would bud again by spring

·         There was no neglect on the landowner's behalf

·         The process of obtaining a trees report was laborious and involved needless additional costs

·         The landowner would operate sensitively and responsibly

·         Encouraged the Members to approve pruning the trees to extend their life

 

d)    In response to the observations, the Head of Legal Services noted that a system was needed to enable appropriate pruning work.

 

In response to a question regarding what else the applicant needed to deal with the situation, the Assistant Head noted, in accordance with relevant standards to preserve trees, that an appropriate arrangement would enable suitable pruning methods to protect the health of the trees. It was reiterated that a tree preservation order was not uncommon - a scheme would secure maintenance work with the relevant expertise.

 

The Biodiversity Officer reiterated that a temporary order assessment had been completed and that the outcome suggested that the trees required essential maintenance work. Excess pruning would place a strain on the trees and with a variety of different species a suitable pruning scheme would be required for every species. The intention would be to collaborate with the applicant, and submit a suitable action plan to ensure preservation.

 

dd)     During the ensuing discussion members made the following observations:

·         It was evident that the landowner cared for the trees

·         It was difficult to ascertain the size of the trees from the photos

·         Better evidence was needed - photos of the nearby environment

·         Crucial that the pruning was done appropriately

·         Beech trees were scarce in Llŷn

·         In terms of public safety, needed to ensure that trees did not fall into the road

·         Suggested that those which had rot should be felled and replanted

·         The priority was to assist the landowner

·         The trees were likely to fall naturally therefore there was a need to do something about the situation soon

 

In response to a question regarding the costs of an action plan and specialists to deal with the work, it was noted that there were costs associated with the work and they were not astronomical.

 

e)       The members voted on the proposal not to confirm the temporary order and to allow the applicant to prune the trees without intervention.

 

The proposal fell

 

f)         It was proposed and seconded to confirm the order as it was, with no changes and an emphasis on preserving the trees and obtaining specialist advice.

 

                RESOLVED to confirm the order without amendments.