Category: street trees

The Eastgate woodland copse – Decision time

We have reported on this issue a number of times already – Trees under threat at the Eastgate Centre!, Trees under threat at the Eastgate Centre – Comments so far…, Eastgate woodland and Eastgate Woodland – Round Three, but the Eastgate Oak and the tree community it lives within is still threatened with destruction.

Eastgate Copse_5

The Development Control Committee will be meeting this Thursday – 21 June 2018 at 2 pm to decide whether outline planning permission should be given to remove the last vestige of an older woodland that once connected the Frome & Eastville Park with St Werburgh’s and the heart of Bristol beyond and redevelop this site. Small though the copse is, it still forms part of the green space in which we live and gives pleasure to many to many of those who pass by.

Here is the location plan:

Eastgate Oak Location Plan

This is what is being proposed – the living copse is gone and a few lingering specimens are left standing alone (for how long?) like exhibits in a museum, with new plantings (what species?) dragooned into neat lines like so many extras, but away from the main commercial activity which takes centre stage:

Eastgate Proposed Layout

The paragraph headed ‘TREES’ in Development Control Committee’s summary is instructive and says it all:

‘The application was submitted with insufficient survey detail to cover all the trees on the site including the understorey, and how they would be impacted by the proposed development. However, it is clear that one mature poplar tree would remain (adjacent to the existing retail unit on the western end of the site) and possibly one mature ash tree within the remaining area of landscaping following implementation of the scheme. It should be noted that the chances of this ash tree surviving are slim, as more than 40% of its root area would be removed. In the absence of an Arboricultural Implications Assessment or an Arboricultural Method Statement it is not possible to assess whether what is shown to be retained is in fact feasible. It is highly likely that much of the existing tree cover shown to be retained will be lost. The majority of the understorey would not survive the works proposed and any remaining understorey would be unprotected and more vulnerable to adverse weather. In short, given the proposed layout the conditions suggested will only be certain of protecting one mature tree. All the remaining trees will in all likelihood be lost. In terms of the ecological quality of the trees to be lost, the following additional comments can be added: The area of green infrastructure contains six ash trees that have been identified in particular as locally notable trees of age and are characterised as being ‘transition veterans’. This means that they provide important habitat due to their age and characteristics within a heavily built-up area where habitats are limited and they have the potential to become potentially important veteran trees for biodiversity in time. It should also be noted that this group of trees provides a significantly greater ecological benefit than a single tree as proposed. The group of trees also provides an element of future proofing the site, as if a single tree is lost due to the natural laws and forces of nature others remain that continue to provide ecological benefit.’ We agree!

If Bristol City Council is serious about its long-term goal of doubling tree canopy cover to 30% by 2050, it cannot allow this endless nibbling away of the little we already have, especially in places like the Eastgate Retail Park, already the victim of an older, unenlightened and merciless policy of development ‘desertification’.

Leaving just one or two specimen trees as a token concession to us ‘tree huggers’ really no longer suffices in the face of mounting evidence that the removal of trees, especially in urban environments, is more than just a question of utility and aesthetics, but impacts us and the world we live in immediate and direct ways by damaging our physical and emotional well-being and degrading the environment we depend on.

It is too late to submit questions, but petitions and statements may still be lodged as long as they are received by the Council at the latest by 12 Noon this Wednesday, 20 June.  They can be emailed to democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk.

Statements will not be accepted after 12.00 noon on the working day before the meeting unless they have been submitted in advance to Bristol City Council but were not received by the Democratic Services Section. Anyone submitting a statement for an application will also be allowed to speak in support of it at the meeting.

Planting and replacing Bristol’s street trees with Section 106 money

There are some 38 s.106 agreements worth more than £400,000 available just for planting trees in Bristol.

BCC Area 01

Section 106 (of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990) agreements are private agreements made between local authorities and developers. Some Section 106 agreements are specifically made to replace trees lost because of development. In Bristol, these agreements are made under the Bristol Tree Replacement Standard (see pages 20 & 21). They often also require that trees be planted within a one-mile radius of a development site. The current total value of these funds is more than £400,000.

There are also another 27 agreements that relate to ‘Parks & Open Spaces’ valued at more than £450,000, some of which might also be used to plant trees, but subject always to agreement with Bristol Parks Forum and other local ‘green space’ community groups.

Here is a summary of the current tree-specific agreements grouped by Ward and the new BCC Administration Areas:Ward S106 fundsBackground Notes

Of the 52,017* public trees and tree sites managed by the council, a third are street trees. Across the city there are 944 vacant tree sites, 542 of which are places where street trees once grew. Bristol Tree Forum is negotiating to have these sites made available for sponsorship. The remainder of these tree sites are in housing estates, parks, cemeteries, amenity areas and many other green spaces.

None of these sites is available to sponsor but there are currently another 707 sponsorship sites, of which 246 are in streets. These figures constantly change as trees felled are added and sites sponsored are removed. Figures for sponsorship sites where a sponsor has come forward, but the tree has not yet been planted are not published.

These sites could also be funded by Section 106 money. This makes 1,651 sites across the city where trees could, potentially, be replanted. Of these some 1,198 lie within one or more of the areas specified by these Section 106 agreements and 417 of them are on streets.

Replacing all Bristol’s lost trees using only Section 106 agreement monies would cost £765.21 per tree. Planting trees in new sites (sites where there was never any tree) may be more expensive: £3,318.88 per site if the pavement must be lifted, services are disturbed, and a specially designed tree pit installed. If all Section 106 agreement funds were used to replace just lost trees, then some 540 trees could be replaced – 45 per cent of the total number of sites available.

Figures available for tree planting on streets show that 608 street trees were planted between 2013 and 2018, an average of 122 per annum (We are happy to provide the reports and data upon which this table is based on request).Trees Planted tableWe have now been able to establish that the Council felled 1,304 trees over the last three years. We have not yet been able to find what sort of trees they were or where they we located, but it is likely that most were located on streets. 363 street trees were planted over the same period.

* This figure constantly changes. As trees are felled, they are removed from the main BCC asset register. The site disappears until a new tree replaces (if it ever does) the one lost. Trees are usually planted during the winter months when most trees are dormant.

Here is a pdf of this blog.

The Bristol Tree of the Year Competition, 2018

The Bristol Tree Forum is hosting its first Bristol Tree of the Year Competition.

The purpose of the competition is to increase public awareness of the arboreal heritage of Bristol and the many benefits that trees bring us. We intend to make this an annual event.

The competition will be in four phases:

1    Submitting your chosen tree

Local Bristol community groups and organisations are invited to submit their candidate tree before 1 September 2018. Just one tree per group or organisation may be submitted. The tree must be within the Bristol City Council boundary and in a public space accessible to everyone.

2    Voting for your favourite tree

Voting opens on 15 October 2018 and will close at midnight, 15 November 2018.

3    Announcing the winner

We will announce the winner and the runner-up during National Tree Week, which will be held between 24 November and 2 December 2018.

To enter the competition, please download and complete this application form and submit it to:

TreeoftheYear2018@bristoltreeforum.org

Alternatively (or as well), you might want to take up the Woodland Trust’s initiative and celebrate the street trees near you. If so, then click here to apply for a Street Trees Celebration Starter Kit.

Here are the entries so far:

Meet the Candidates

Public Meeting, 4 June 2018

You are invited to a meeting of the Bristol Tree Forum at Bristol City Hall on Monday 4 June 2018 between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

BRISTOL TREE FORUM

Supporting Bristol’s Trees & its Urban Forest to ensure a sound future for all our trees, especially our street trees

Our guest speaker will be Dr Kieron J. Doick, Head of the Urban Forest Research Group.

The meeting will also discuss and consider:

  • taking advantage of untapped funds to help plant and look after more trees 
  • wider engagement within the community over tree issues, including the role of tree champions.

Visit bristoltreeforum.org for updates and to contact us.

In the meantime, don’t forget to sign the Tree Charter…

Tree_charter__logo

Help shape Bristol’s Tree Strategy Action Plan – join the iTree Bristol tree survey

Come along and find out about the iTree Project training day between 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Ashton Court next Sunday 13th May.

iTree Bristol is a new project providing a great opportunity to be personally involved in a campaign to care for the Bristol’s existing trees and woodlands and to plant many more of them all over the city.

The plan is to survey around 200 randomly selected plots across the city. In this way we will have a better understanding of the structure of the city’s urban forest and the many benefits it brings us – reducing air pollution, capturing carbon, reducing rainfall runoff.

Internationally recognised, i-Tree Eco is being used by cities and towns across the UK to help inform their tree strategies. The results of our iTree Bristol survey will inform the forthcoming plans for our Tree Strategy Action Plan, setting out our goals and priorities for increasing our tree canopy cover and developing and funding our urban forest and its trees into the future.

iTree Bristol needs volunteers to help run the survey. You don’t need to be an expert. All you need is an interest in trees and have time to help with a small number of surveys over this summer when our trees are in full leaf and at their best. Forest of Avon Trust will provide training and support.

Come and join in

If you would like to join in, please complete the form below and email it to Forest of Avon Trust to register your interest. They will be in touch with more information about the event.

Complete the iTree Bristol Volunteer Contact form to volunteer!

iTree Bristol  is supported by the Forest of Avon Trust working with Bristol City Council, the Woodland Trust and Bristol Tree Forum. This core group will also be working with organisations and individuals across the city to produce Bristol’s Tree Strategy Action Plan.

As plans develop, more information will be provided through the our web sites and Twitter accounts –  and .

And don’t forget to sign the Tree Charter…

 

Tree_charter__logo

 

Towards a Bristol Tree Strategy

Representatives of the Woodland Trust, The Bristol Tree Forum, The Forest of Avon Trust and Bristol City Council met last Thursday 1 March to start the process of developing a Tree Strategy for Bristol.  This is the first tentative step in a process which will include consultation and involvement of all those groups and individuals who have an interest in Bristol’s trees.

The process of developing a strategy will need a lot of thought: Bristol has woodland trees, park trees, trees on private land, street trees and trees on corporate land (including university trees).  In each case, the costs and benefits and what we would like to achieve are different, as are those we would want to involve.  The idea is to start a “conversation” which would include an online platform, a number of exploratory meetings with key partners and then, in June, a public meeting which would be convened by the Woodland Trust, the Bristol Tree Forum and the Forest of Avon Trust in collaboration with Bristol City Council.

Without pre-judging what might be in a tree strategy, these are some of the considerations:

Bristol already has a lot of good practice in place, both at a policy level and through individual case studies.  The idea would be to collate all this together with a clear approach to improve the management of existing trees, the planting of new trees and to increase community engagement in tree management.  Inevitably we will need to bring funding to Bristol to meet these goals and a good tree strategy will help with this.

The initial discussion was very positive – it is something we have talked about for some time and I am really pleased that there is now the momentum to carry it forward.

Vassili Papastavrou,

Vice-chair Bristol Tree Forum

The Oakenhill Apple

In a quiet street in Brislington East there used to stand an apple tree, planted, the residents think, at about the same time that the street was developed, sometime in the 1930s.

It was an unusual, red-fleshed variety with very deep pink blossom and red inner flesh when a stem or its fruit was cut. It gave delight to all who passed by it, shelter to local wildlife and provided fruit to anyone who chose to take them, for they made quite good eaters and were delicious when cooked well. The birds also enjoyed them as autumn turned to winter.

BCC-64242 - .JPG

The passage of the years had exaggerated its natural lean and caused it to become dangerous so, sadly, it had to come down.

However, before it was felled, a resident took cuttings for budding and sent them to two nurseries and an amateur gardener. This winter these produced eight new trees on MM106 rootstocks, for which homes have been found across the country. Three have been returned to the street and planted in front and back gardens nearby and one has been planted in Horfield. There are now also specimens to be found in Hawksbury Upton, Wootton-under-Edge and in Wales.

The last one is going to a red-fleshed apple expert in Leicestershire in the hope that they will be able to identify the variety.

So, what to replace it with?

The location, on a north-facing pavement, is just five metres from nearby houses (so neighbours are particularly concerned not to lose too much light), requires a tree which is small, light canopied, preferably has both blossom and fruit and definitely has value for insects and birds.

The street supports a rare swift colony and there are breeding starlings and sparrows using the nearby house eaves to nest and raise their young. The residents are keen to support all these declining species, especially the swifts which have a very high demand for insect food.

The majority of trees in the neighbourhood are small to medium sized, blossoming and bearing either berries or fruits – typical of a 1930s housing estate. These trees bring a lot of pleasure to all and support bio-diversity.

What do you think would suite this location? Please let us know.

Get your tree replacement orders in now!

If you would like to get a tree planted on a street near you this winter, you will need to make sure that you have submitted your sponsorship request well before the end of this December.

To do this, go to the Council’s TreeBristol: Sponsor or adopt a tree page and follow the guidance. You can find more information on our own Sponsor or adopt a Bristol tree page.

If the tree site you want to sponsor is not shown on the Council’s map, then send an email to Simon Cuthill, Business Support Assistant at treebristol@bristol.gov.uk identifying the site you have in mind and ask for it to be included.

Good luck & let’s get planting!

 

Bristol Trees Trust meeting – 2 August 2017 minutes

Cost of planting replacement trees will remain at £295. Only trees planted in new sites will be charged at £765.

Bristol City Council is looking for new ways to fund street tree maintenance – both short and long-term.

Attendance Bristol City Council:

Cllr Charlie Bolton, Cllr Asher Craig (Chair), Gemma Dando, Richard Ennion, Peter Mann, Shaun Taylor.

Attendance External:

Avon Wildlife Trust:  Eric Heath

Bristol Tree Forum: Mark Ashdown, Stephanie French, Peter Harnett, Vassili Papastavrou (minutes) and John Tarlton

Forest of Avon Trust: Jon Clark

BCR Streetscene Group: Rob Umphray

University of Bristol: John Tarlton

University of Birmingham Chris Bouch

Woodland Trust: Catherine Brabner-Evans and Ross Kennerley

Apologies:  Councillors Anthony Negus, Clive Stevens and Gill Kirk; Richard Fletcher; Liz Kew.

Councillor Craig welcomed the participants and summarised the present financial situation within Bristol City Council, which is being forced to make substantial cuts to its services.  In response to a question as to whether there is an acceptance that the cut in the street tree maintenance budget will result in fellings in 3-5 years, Councillor Craig agreed that there would be knock on effects.   The purpose of the meeting was to work together to find a solution to the problem and mitigate the impact.  The cuts in budgets across the council would have consequences.

It was decided that the group would focus on street trees but also consider the context of Bristol’s other publicly owned trees (in parks and on estates).  Notes to be circulated to attendees and further meeting to be held in mid-September.

Alternative models of supporting trees in cities – trust models including sponsorship, civic ownership

It was acknowledged that existing examples are for planting trees rather than maintenance.  A number of participants expressed the view that it was extremely hard to obtain money for maintenance, despite the well-known value of the urban trees and the various benefits (e.g. health and well-being, water retention, cooling effect) that they provide.  One idea was to use sponsorship plaques which would indicate that the maintenance of a particular tree was sponsored.

Tree maintenance concerns, epicormic growth and local community involvement

The implications of the cut in tree maintenance from £240,000 to £53,000 (£187,000 cut) was discussed.  Pollarding cannot be done by members of the public.  Rob Umphray provided details of epicormic growth removal that has already been undertaken by the Community Payback Scheme along the Gloucester Road.  It turns out that the insurers would not accept the risk of getting members of the public to work on highways, in particular, stepping out into the road and working on busy pavements.  However, very quiet residential roads may be a different matter. This means that in general the removal of epicormics growth will also have to be done by professional contractors.

It was agreed that street tree maintenance is a core council service which cannot be done by volunteers.

Action: Shaun Taylor to consider a flexible approach to allow communities to undertake certain works to highway trees where risk was considered lower and training / guidance could be provided to mitigate risk further.

 Councillor Craig suggested two possible immediate and short term solutions for the shortfall in funding for street tree maintenance.  The first was to use some of the money that remains within the “One Tree Per Child” budget, whilst maintaining that project at a slower pace.  The second solution is to access some of the approximately £4 million CIL funding (sum equivalent to a 15% allocation of total CIL receipts).

Action: Councillor Craig offered to come back to the next meeting in September with the outcome of her discussions re “One Tree Per Child”, including taking into account the partnership approach to delivering this project and using CIL funding (both the 15% that is currently determined locally and the remaining 85% that is currently retained wholly by the Council).  (N.B These are just proposals to be explored and brought back to next meeting)

Tree planting initiatives and the future of woodland creation

There was a discussion regarding the present sponsorship scheme for street trees where trees to replace stumps or in existing tree pits cost £295 and street trees on new sites cost £765 (plus the cost of an engineered tree pit if needed).  The scheme was seen as extremely successful and Richard Ennion was congratulated for getting it underway.  It was felt that a dramatic increase in costs would result in sponsorship drying up and may result in existing sponsors (such as the University of Bristol) withdrawing. It was also acknowledged that delaying planting in existing sites may ultimately result in much greater expense as a vacant site only remains “current” for a period of about 5 years.  Richard Ennion also confirmed that £295 was a true and genuine reflection of the actual cost of planting a tree in an existing site.   It was decided to maintain these sponsorship costs at the existing level and not implement the proposal to increase all tree costs to £765. This will require further “internal” discussion at BCC.

 “One tree per child” was discussed and the educational value of the project was stressed with good feedback from the schools involved.

The representative from the Woodland Trust suggested that it might be a mistake to separate street trees from the wider context.

Action: In terms of a way forward it was agreed to look into new funding sources and the possibility of setting up a Trust for the future.  It was felt that it is possible to raise funding for tree planting and this would be pursued.

 It was also agreed to start the process of preparing a Tree Strategy for Bristol

Future for trees in parks

Discussions regarding Bristol’s parks are ongoing and the Newcastle initiative of creating a Mutual Parks Trust is being explored, as well as Newcastle’s success in obtaining £1 million public health funding.  A visit to Newcastle is planned.

Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Group would be mid-September when Councillor Craig should be able to provide further information regarding the short term/immediate funding of street tree maintenance.

Vassili Papastavrou

12 August 2017

Please contribute to the Sheffield Tree Action Group Legal fund

The Sheffield Tree Action Group or STAG is urgently fundraising to support the legal fees of eight of its members.

The fund has reached nearly £21,000 (as of 23 July 2017) but it is likely that the legal costs will be double that for the three day hearing that starts on 26th July.

They have been taken to the High Court by Sheffield City Council in order to intimidate them and other protesters.  Sheffield City Council is hoping  that the court will issue injunctions against the protesters, claim huge damages and prevent them and others from opposing the felling of trees in future. One Councillor is amongst the eight.

Graham Turnbull from STAG spoke at our 4 July Bristol Tree Forum meeting.  The situation in Sheffield is shocking, with whole avenues of street trees being removed as part of a PFI agreement with Amey to manage Sheffield’s streets for 25 years.  Quite simply, it is cheaper to remove most of the street trees and replace them with small saplings than to maintain the existing stock of trees.  There have been 5 am dawn raids and arrests under obscure anti-trade union laws – although the Crown Prosecution Service dropped all charges against protesters. Now the council has decided to invoke civil law where the standard of proof is lower.

The problems Sheffield residents are facing are not unique. The outcome of their protests will determine whether other councils decide to embark on wholesale felling as a way of cutting costs. From a wider perspective, their council is seeking to outlaw peaceful protest. We should all help for those very reasons.