Appendix 2 - Operations Reference Manual

With regard to trees belonging to the Council or privately owned but for which the Council has a responsibility via legislative or statutory controls, the following will apply;

No healthy tree will be felled unless arboriculturaly necessary or approved by the Green Space Team, whose decisions will be based upon this Policy. (See 1.2)

All Council owned trees shall be subject to the terms of this Policy and therefore all works undertaken upon such trees will be subject to the conditions outlined within this document. All trees, including groups, hedges and woodlands, which fall within the remit of the Councils‟ responsibility will be managed using the same standards and procedures as the trees within Council owned land where practicable.

All trees will be maintained to the highest standard economically achievable adhering to relevant international and national guidelines. All tree work carried out by South Tyneside Council or its‟ appointed contractor will be carried out to the relevant British Standards and following recognised good practice in arboriculture.

Tree inspections will be undertaken by qualified and experienced personnel following the procedures outlined within this document, in line with current industry guidance, for example; the HSE's SIM 01/2007/XX 'Management and checking of trees'; the Forestry Commission's 'Hazards from trees, A general guide'; and M.J.Ellison's 'Quantified tree risk assessment used in the management of amenity trees'.

Tree work will be undertaken by suitably qualified and experienced personnel to current British Standards in accordance with the procedures outlined within the relevant legislation and guidance, South Tyneside Tree Works Specification and this Policy.

South Tyneside MBC will encourage the protection of mature trees/hedgerows and areas of natural beauty through the Town and Country Planning Act (1990) and Hedgerow Regulations (1997), wherever they are within the Borough and as such this document will not deal with these specific issues but refer to the relevant acts of legislation. The Green Space Team is responsible for the management of the High Hedge Complaint system in accordance with Part 8 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act (2003).

All day-to-day decisions and emergency action regarding tree management will be determined by the Green Space Team as arboricultural managers, in accordance with this Policy.

This section of the policy is to cover all individual trees in the Borough with the exception of the designated woodland areas specifically defined in section 2.6 vii and section 4 of this policy.

A detailed Audit of Tree Preservation Orders will be made in association with the relevant Departments of the Council and regularly updated on an electronic register.

An audit of Hedgerows of importance (as defined by the Hedgerow Regulations 1997) will be made in association with relevant Departments of the Council and regularly updated on an electronic register.

Replanting: Every individual tree felled in the Borough will be replaced with a suitable species, preferably within a similar geographical location.

Tree planting in new locations will require the approval of the relevant land owning Department.

Routine inspection cycles. These will be dependent upon the individual risk assessment for the trees within a given location. (See 1.4 above) For example, Highway trees will require an inspection frequency of 1-3 years, whilst woodland trees may require an inspection frequency, en masse, in the order of 10-15 years or more. Certain areas such as schools will require targeted inspections in line with access availability such as school holidays.

Tree removal (Healthy trees): Healthy trees will only be felled when the following justifications apply and in accordance with the general principles enshrined within this Policy. Any proposal to fell a healthy tree and its justification shall be placed before the Green Space Team for approval prior to felling, with the singular exception of emergency felling. Where emergency felling of a healthy tree is required, a report justifying the action will be provided by the Green Space Team within 48 hours of the felling.

Justifications for removal of healthy trees are listed below;

1. Third party damage (including subsidence). Where third party damage is suspected, supporting evidence shall be provided by the claimant to validate their claim. This evidence would normally include;
   • Two trial pits, one close to the area of damage and one remote from the tree as a control,
   • Soil analysis showing clay content and proving desiccation,
   • Root analysis identifying the specific tree or trees concerned,
   • Crack monitoring records over at least 12 months showing greater than normal seasonal movement,
   • Details of the nature, extent and type of damage claimed and preferably,
   • Level monitoring records
2. Where alleged structural damage is caused to a Council owned property a structural engineer will be required to assess the correlation between the tree and the damage in association with the Green Space Team. Where the evidence available indicates that the tree is the causal agent and removing it will benefit the situation, the case will be brought to the owning department for determination in consultation with the Green Space Team.
3. Where a tree or trees are required to be felled for the installation of utilities the Green Space Team will discuss the issue with the owning Department and determine whether the plan receives their approval. Although the Council may not be able to prevent the work as the utilities have certain statutory rights, it will work with the utilities to ensure compliance with the relevant legislation.
4. Where evidence shows that a tree's position or damage caused by its root system, is detrimental to the safety of Pedestrian/Highway users.
5. Where a specified development is planned and approved by the Council, trees may be removed.
6. Where a tree is continuously being used in such a manner as to create a serious hazard or risk to health and in contravention of our General Duty of Care, such as use for rope swings, climbing or other possibly dangerous activity, it may be considered by the Green Space Team as a candidate for removal. A tree in this situation will only be felled if there is no viable alternative to reduce the safety risk to a manageable level.
7. Tree felling carried out as part of a routine tree or woodland management principle for example the creation of a coppice area or woodland thinning, (see woodland variation) or other nationally recognised management systems will be permitted following receipt of approval for the scheme by the owning Department.
8. A healthy tree may be felled in order to alleviate an Actionable Nuisance or comply with other Statutory Duties or requirements.
9. Circumstances which do not fit into any of the above justification clauses may be brought before the Green Space Manager for discussion with the owning Department, under exceptional circumstances. The final decision rests with the Green Space Team Corporate Director jointly with the owning Department Corporate Director.

Tree removal (Other than healthy trees)

1. Where a member of the Green Space Team determines that a tree is dead, or imminently dangerous, its removal is justified as the Green Space Team are the experts employed by the Council to determine such issues. The Green Space Team would normally photograph the dead/dangerous tree for evidential purposes.
2. Where a tree's health is in decline through disease or damage there may be a justification to fell it. After determining the risk factors, the Green Space Team will consider all options for its safe management up to and including the possibility of removal.
3. Occasionally, where the situation allows, dead standing timber may be used for conservation/habitat purposes, with its crown removed for safety purposes.

All tree pruning will be in accordance with this Policy, current British Standard BS3998 1989 (or any future update or equivalent) and arboricultural best practice.

There is no specific cycle of pruning. Each tree will be assessed individually and pruned only when legislatively or arboriculturaly justified.

No more than 15% by volume of a tree‟s crown will be removed by pruning in any individual pruning cycle and no more than 30% by volume in any 7 year period.

All tree pruning works will be organised by the Green Space Team in accordance with this Policy.

Exceptions to the above will be determined in accordance with Industry guidance by the Green Space Manager and if required, in consultation with the owning Department Corporate Director.

Individual trees within groups will be considered in the same way as individual trees described above, however, they can also be managed as a group entity.

Each group of trees will be considered individually in relation to its local environment and specific circumstances of species make-up, density, environmental value and position within the landscape.

Due to the close proximity of trees planted to form woodlands, from time to time, phased removals are required to ensure the development of a healthy, well spaced and properly functioning, safe woodland. Management plans need to be produced by the Green Space Team for each individual woodland, in order to ensure future continuity of management whether for the purposes of recreation, habitat, silviculture, biodiversity or a combination of these purposes.

The format for woodland management will be in accordance with the Governments' UK Forestry Standard (2004), and such guidance as; the Arboricultural Associations Publication No. 3 'Planting and Managing Amenity Woodlands'; and the various Forestry Commission publications such as 'Sustainable Forestry' (2004) incorporating 'Social and environmental benefits of forestry' and 'Woodland and our changing environment'.

Statutory undertakers carrying out utilities work in the Borough will be reminded of their Statutory Duties under the relevant legislation and encouraged to comply with the NJUG Guidelines Chapter 10 and any subsequent update.

Private tree works contractors will be encouraged to join an Approved Tree Works Contractor Scheme. This will require proof of their insurance, qualifications and standards of workmanship to be submitted to the Green Space Team to qualify for membership. A list of Approved contractors will be made available to the public upon request and posted on the South Tyneside Web page.

Where large-scale tree works are intended to be undertaken, the Green Space Team will consult with as wide a range of community representatives as practicable and where necessary undertake a public consultation/information exercise to ensure widespread understanding and awareness of the actions to be taken.

The Green Space Team aim to undertake the recycling of 95% of all tree works arisings by 2015 via their Tree Works Service Provider.

Anyone has a right to request works to trees with which they have a direct involvement. All applications shall be treated in the same manner, regardless of their origins (letter, telephone call, electronic mail, etc.) and will be recorded electronically on to the enquiries database.

Tree works requests from South Tyneside Homes Ltd. tenants should first be recorded and vetted by the relevant local Housing Office and passed to the Green Space Team using the application forms provided, in accordance with the STHL/STC Tree Works Service Level Agreement.

From the information provided by the applicant, requests for tree works will be immediately categorised into three general priority levels; emergency, high and routine. Emergency situations will be inspected by a member of the Green Space Team within 1 hour of the information being received. High priority will be inspected within 2 working days of receipt of the request, and routine will be inspected within 10 working days of the request.

Applications for tree works to private trees protected by legislation (TPO/Conservation Areas) and applications under the High Hedges Legislation and Hedgerow Regulations, will be dealt with under separate procedures determined in a procedural note currently being formulated by Planning and attached as an Appendix to this Policy.

1. Applications for tree works of a nature that the Green Space Team consider would be detrimental to the trees, or that conflict with the principles of this Policy will be refused, either at initial contact or following inspections. The applicant will be advised of the reasons for the decision not to proceed with the application and advised of their rights regarding appeal procedures.
2. Initial appeal will be to the Green Space Manager who will determine if the right decision has been made in accordance with this Policy
3. Should the applicant fail to be satisfied following initial appeal procedures, the decision can be referred to the Corporate Director of the owning Department for final appeal.
4. Complaints regarding the administration or management of the application will be referred to the Council Complaints Procedure.

When a tree inspection has been requested, one of the Green Space Team or one of the Tree Works Providers' qualified tree inspectors will inspect the tree.

Under normal circumstances tree inspections will be undertaken from the ground, however, where the inspectors considers it necessary, a climbing inspection may take place. These off-ground inspections will require a minimum of two fully qualified climbing arborists.

The Green Space Team will utilise the full range of diagnostic equipment and tools available as required by the individual situation.

When the tree has been inspected, a report will be made determining what, if any, tree works are required and such works categorized into a priority, (see 9 below). All such inspection results will be recorded on the original database record.

Given the large number of request for tree inspections, the inspector will be unable to inform the applicant of a precise time and date when the tree will be inspected, unless access is required from the applicant or a formal site meeting has been arranged. Due to the unpredictable nature of the influences upon the service, such as weather and seasonal demand, set times for inspection cannot always be determined.

Following an inspection, any tree works identified will be recorded and an order raised to undertake the required works utilising the priority system described in Section 9.

In the case of claims of damage to a building or structure a member of the Green Space Team will inspect the tree, make a report and refer the case to a structural engineer, (see section 2.6.i) above.

Not all tree inspections are initiated by external sources, pro-active inspections of trees will be regularly undertaken by the Green Space Team and staff of the tree works service provider as part of the on-going tree management process.

Tree inspections may be undertaken on privately owned land where our General Duty of Care applies, and in conformity with such legislation as the Highways Act 1990, the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 and the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and their provisions.

All tree work carried out by the South Tyneside Tree Works Contractor will be in accordance with this Policy and the Specification and Conditions of the Tree Works Contract 2010 and any subsequent up-date.

Private tree owners will be encouraged to demand that their trees are maintained to the same standard as those within the ownership of the Council by the use of Approved Contractors lists and educational resources.

Following inspection, a priority system will be utilised to ensure the correct use of resources and to target works where required most urgently. In some circumstances, the inspection will determine that no work is required and therefore the applicant will be advised of the decision and their options regarding appealing the decision.

Note: Emergency inspections/tree works are normally only classified as such outside of standard core working hours, e.g. 8.00am – 4.30pm. All emergency inspections will be undertaken by the on-call member of the Green Space Team or the on-call employee of the Tree Works Contractor. Any required tree works identified at this time will be undertaken immediately provided that the situation is stable and the risk assessment allows it.

Urgent. To be attended to within 2 hours of receipt of request or notification. Urgent work would include:

• Fallen trees
• Broken but still partly attached, branches
• Moving tree root-plates
• Dangerous rope swings
• Trees that are identified as dead, diseased or imminently dangerous
• Obstructive branches – sight lines, footpaths, etc.
• Conflict with the Councils' General Duty of Care

High Priority: High priority situations exist where there is a distinct potential to cause harm to the public although not imminently. This type of priority work would normally be undertaken within one week of inspection. This includes:

• Fallen trees (where they do not cause an immediate hazard)
• Broken branches, (which have fallen and are not dangerous)
• Statutory Nuisances
• Inappropriate rope swings
• Trees that are identified as dead, diseased or damaged, but not imminently dangerous
• Trees causing an obstruction, although not imminently dangerous
• Where pruning is required to assist in the alleviation of serious anti-social behaviour issues

Medium Priority. Where some remedial work is required and necessary but has a low risk factor. This would include trees requiring reduction or thinning for purely aesthetic reasons and routine non-urgent pruning. This type of priority work would normally be scheduled for the month following inspection. For example:

• Serious light issues
• Management plan implementation
• Certain low level anti-social behaviour issues
• Built development
• Routine pro-active pruning

Low Priority. Tree works solely for reasons other than listed above. Low priority works may not be completed within a specific financial year, depending upon the level of higher priority work being undertaken and finance available, but will be logged and reserved for the following financial year where its priority grading may be reviewed.

Low priority work may include:

• Complaints regarding minor irritations, e.g. leaf fall, shading, insect problems, poor TV/Satellite reception
• Requests for pruning and thinning work where it is not arboriculturaly necessary or desirable
• Removal of objects from trees, e.g. plastic bags, shoes, etc.