Clear BS 5837 arboricultural advice for planning and development
BS 5837 tree surveys, arboricultural impact assessments, tree protection plans and arboricultural method statements, supported by clear, accurate, scaled CAD drawings produced in-house.
Arboricultural services for architects, planning consultants and developers across the Midlands, Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Greater Manchester.
Arboricultural information that people can actually use
A good arboricultural report should clarify a development proposal, not bury the important information in technical prose.
My planning work is built around clear, scaled CAD drawings showing tree constraints, development impacts and protection measures.
The report explains what matters. The drawings show how the proposal works.
This makes the information easier for architects to design with, planning consultants to coordinate, and planning and tree officers to assess.
Drawings are part of the advice
Tree positions, crown spreads, root protection areas, construction impacts, protective fencing and specialist construction measures can often be understood far more quickly from a well-prepared drawing than from several pages of explanation.
BS 5837 & Development
I prepare arboricultural information for planning applications where existing trees influence the design or construction of development.
A typical commission may include:
Tree Survey and Tree Schedule
Scaled CAD Tree Survey and Constraints plans
Arboricultural Impact Assessment
Tree Protection Plan
Arboricultural Method Statement
Site-specific construction and protection details
Projects range from extensions and individual dwellings to larger or more complicated development sites.
Early involvement is often valuable. Identifying the genuine tree constraints before the design becomes fixed can avoid unnecessary redesign later.
Experience on both sides of the planning process
I have extensive experience as an independent arboricultural consultant while also working within local authority development management.
This gives me a valuable perspective on both the information designers need to prepare a workable scheme and the information planning and tree officers need to assess it.
PhD in Forestry
Professional Member of the Arboricultural Association
Professional Tree Inspector certification
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)
Over 20 years’ independent arboricultural consultancy experience
Nine years’ local-authority trees and landscape experience within development management
The qualifications matter, but experience and professional judgement matter more. Every site is treated individually rather than pushed through a standard report template.
Protected Trees & Specialist Advice
Not every tree problem fits neatly into a standard survey.
I advise where protected trees, buildings, hard surfaces, development or proposed tree works create a more complicated problem.
This includes TPO applications, Conservation Area matters, root-related damage, conflicts between trees and built environment and evidence supporting justified pruning or removal.
My approach is to examine the site, understand the problem and identify a technically defensible solution.
A small specialist practice
Clients deal directly with the me. I survey the trees, consider the planning implications, prepare the drawings and write the report.
No production line and no handover between departments. Just direct professional responsibility for the finished work.
Articles
Trees, planning and development generate plenty of technical guidance, legal complexity and occasionally some fairly strange situations.
My articles and infographics explain some of those subjects without pretending they need to be dull.
Have a project involving trees?
If you’re preparing a planning application, developing a site or dealing with a protected-tree issue, send me some basic details.
Plans, photographs, planning references are useful where available.
I can then establish what arboricultural work is likely to be required.