Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources which provided an update on the work taking place under the Tree Management Strategy to manage the County Council’s trees and woodlands.  A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 9’, is filed with these minutes.

Members commended officers for their efforts in delivering the Tree Management Strategy, especially that the targets for tree planting would be achieved in eight years rather than 10 as set out in the Strategy.

Arising from discussions, the following points were noted:

      i.         The County Council had been successful in attracting funding and planting trees by working in partnership with other bodies, for example, other local authorities and developers. The Leicestershire Tree Charter had been developed in partnership with the National Forest. The Tree Management Strategy would be reviewed next year and would look forward by five years from 2025.

     ii.         A member expressed concern about the financial sustainability of the ambitious targets for tree planting and maintenance considering the increase in pressures on the Department and also questioned the lack of clarity in the Strategy on timelines for maintenance and management of the trees. The Director explained that the Tree Management Strategy was a guide to appropriate planting and that the Council had a duty to ensure each tree was maintained and inspected in order to manage the impact on neighbours, the highways and traffic.  A risk-based approach was adopted to schedule tree inspections and the timing and process was determined by whether planting was near a highway, a highly populated area or in middle of farmland or a copse. Officers had worked closely with the Highways Service to agree clear programmes of inspection for trees planted along the highway. The Director acknowledged the challenging financial position of the Council and explained that measures were in place to make the inspection and maintenance of trees more financially sustainable and highlighted a trial in the Hinckley area to seek developer funding for a 60-year period to cover the maintenance of trees planted as part of the development. This resilience was currently being built in for new trees coming into the system. It was explained that the high volume of calls received from the public related to trees were prioritised on a safety basis. It was suggested that training for members could be organised which could include details of the Tree Management Strategy, how trees would be managed, and how enquiries would be dealt with and triaged.

    iii.         A member expressed concern that contact details in the Tree Management Strategy were out of date due to a change in members or officers. The Director agreed to update the front page of the Strategy.

   iv.         Officers agreed to send a link to members with details for registering trees on i-tree and for how trees planted by Parish Councils could be registered. The next stage would be to integrate i-tree with each of the Council’s trees. 

     v.         The Director informed members that since the report had been published, the Council had been successful in securing funding from the DEFRA Coronation Living Heritage Fund to plant orchards. These would be planted on public land and would be accessible to the community.

   vi.         The next Tree Management Strategy from 2025 would take account of pests and diseases that affect other trees, not just ash, such as chestnut, sycamore and oak.

  vii.         The Lead Member for the Environment and Green Agenda explained that legislation on biodiversity net gain would be released in November and come into effect from January 2024. He added that the legislation related to the submission of a planning application and the need for the applicant to demonstrate that there would be a 10% increase in biodiversity. Officers were working with planning colleagues at the County Council and district councils to dovetail the approach to following the new legislation.

RESOLVED:

That the update provided on work taking place under the Tree Management Strategy to manage the County Council’s trees and woodlands be noted.