To consider questions (if any) by members of the public of which the appropriate notice has been given to the Assistant Director (Corporate and Contracted Services)
Decision:
The following question was asked by a member of the public:
"Concerning the housing development at the old Martindale School site, why, after giving less than 24 hours’ notice to local residents, did DBC order the removal of two ancient oak trees, the second of which contained an active bird's nest and was cut down on 1st March, thus contravening the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which does not permit interference with trees or bushes containing nesting birds during the nesting season.”
The following response was given by Councillor Griffiths, Portfolio Holder for Housing:
“The former Martindale primary school site was purchased from Hertfordshire County Council in December 2014. A comprehensive set of supporting documentation and due diligence surveys were provided as part of the sale, one of which included an Arboricultural survey dated March 2013. At the time, letters of reliance were provided to offer assurances and reliability of the findings. DBC used this information as part of the planning application in 2017. The original Arboricultural survey categorised the condition of the trees in question that were eventually removed as Category B (moderate quality) and C (low quality). Although there were no Tree Preservation Orders on any trees on the site, the Council initially wanted to retain as many trees as possible.
Bugler Developments were appointed as the council’s building contractors at Cabinet in May 2018. Once on site, the Trees and Woodlands Officer visited site and produced an updated Arboricultural survey in December 2018, which highlighted that the trees in question were now in an extremely poor condition and had to be removed. This natural and significant deterioration had occurred in the 4 years since site acquisition. The findings discovered a large split in the stem and an old fungal bracket at the base of the largest tree. This Oak was re-categorised as a U (cannot be retained) with removal the only option recommended by the Trees and Woodlands Officer. The other trees had also regressed in quality since 2013 with poor form, extensive dead wood and growth defects. Following the advice of the Trees and Woodlands Officer it was accepted that they must be removed to reduce the risk of injury or damage.
The completed development will include smaller, more suitable trees in their location and at no point have DBC tried to increase the scale of development by removing trees. It will deliver the number of homes as in the planning permission.
An application was submitted to the Planning Department through a Non-Material Amendment to remove these trees, the process of which does not involve public consultation. This was approved in February 2019. Our contractor issued a letter to residents towards the end of February 2019, approximately 48 hours before removal works commenced on the 27th February. At the time of felling the trees, the tree surgeon did not spot any visible signs of nesting and the trees were extremely sparse with no leaves. We had no evidence of active birds nest within the trees and therefore do not believe we have contravened the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Moving forward, it is worthwhile to note that alongside the extensive replanting measures which will be implemented, there remain a number of existing Oak trees on site - including a Category A tree (high quality) given its condition and future potential - which are being protected and retained throughout the course of the development and will remain for years to come.”
Minutes:
The following question was asked by a member of the public:
"Concerning the housing development at the old Martindale School site, why, after giving less than 24 hours’ notice to local residents, did DBC order the removal of two ancient oak trees, the second of which contained an active bird's nest and was cut down on 1st March, thus contravening the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which does not permit interference with trees or bushes containing nesting birds during the nesting season.”
The following response was given by Councillor Griffiths, Portfolio Holder for Housing:
“The former Martindale primary school site was purchased from Hertfordshire County Council in December 2014. A comprehensive set of supporting documentation and due diligence surveys were provided as part of the sale, one of which included an Arboricultural survey dated March 2013. At the time, letters of reliance were provided to offer assurances and reliability of the findings. DBC used this information as part of the planning application in 2017. The original Arboricultural survey categorised the condition of the trees in question that were eventually removed as Category B (moderate quality) and C (low quality). Although there were no Tree Preservation Orders on any trees on the site, the Council initially wanted to retain as many trees as possible.
Bugler Developments were appointed as the council’s building contractors at Cabinet in May 2018. Once on site, the Trees and Woodlands Officer visited site and produced an updated Arboricultural survey in December 2018, which highlighted that the trees in question were now in an extremely poor condition and had to be removed. This natural and significant deterioration had occurred in the 4 years since site acquisition. The findings discovered a large split in the stem and an old fungal bracket at the base of the largest tree. This Oak was re-categorised as a U (cannot be retained) with removal the only option recommended by the Trees and Woodlands Officer. The other trees had also regressed in quality since 2013 with poor form, extensive dead wood and growth defects. Following the advice of the Trees and Woodlands Officer it was accepted that they must be removed to reduce the risk of injury or damage.
The completed development will include smaller, more suitable trees in their location and at no point have DBC tried to increase the scale of development by removing trees. It will deliver the number of homes as in the planning permission.
An application was submitted to the Planning Department through a Non-Material Amendment to remove these trees, the process of which does not involve public consultation. This was approved in February 2019. Our contractor issued a letter to residents towards the end of February 2019, approximately 48 hours before removal works commenced on the 27th February. At the time of felling the trees, the tree surgeon did not spot any visible signs of nesting and the trees were extremely sparse with no leaves. We had no evidence of active birds nest within the trees and therefore do not believe we have contravened the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Moving forward, it is worthwhile to note that alongside the extensive replanting measures which will be implemented, there remain a number of existing Oak trees on site - including a Category A tree (high quality) given its condition and future potential - which are being protected and retained throughout the course of the development and will remain for years to come.”