Root protection

[nod]

One of the final things that planners have requested is root protection plan 

There are four low value small trees about 6 metres from the side of the house 

We had submitted a full tree survey 

It does include sketches of how to protect these tree  roots Ie Herras fencing with stays etc

 

Ive contacted them tree survey company and they say that they will get a quote together on Monday 

Is this really necessary 

Or can I highlight what they have advised and agree to Corden the route area off 

 

I’ll include a copy of what they are asking in the hope that others have come across this 

We protected two large oak on our previous build with chapter 8 plastic barriers 

Edited December 18, 2021 by nod

[joe90]

Our planners wanted a professional company to design our root protection zone but I simply contacted the councils own department for trees etc and gave them a plan showing 1meter high sheep fencing on posts around the area and they agreed that would suffice, I then told the planners their own in house “experts” agreed with my plan which gave them no ammunition to make me spend more money ?

[nod]

16 minutes ago, joe90 said:

Our planners wanted a professional company to design our root protection zone but I simply contacted the councils own department for trees etc and gave them a plan showing 1meter high sheep fencing on posts around the area and they agreed that would suffice, I then told the planners their own in house “experts” agreed with my plan which gave them no ammunition to make me spend more money ?

That’s helpful Joe 

Thanks 

[Roundtuit]

Our architect marked the rpz on the plans, then I did as best I could with a few heras panels to make it look right.  No problem with the council, and more importantly, all the trees are good.

[nod]

Thanks 

we did that previously with two trees with TPOs

and nothing with the 50 plus trees that surrounded the plot 

It’s our Architects newly qualified son 

Seans to be over cautious 

 

[BadgerBadger]

If you don't need to do any work in the root protection zones, I think you could comfortably do this yourself without a specialist.  Work out the root protection zone diameter ( there's a standard based on multiplying trunk diameter) then mark it on the plans as an exclusion zone that will be fenced as you'd previously submitted.

 

If you need to do stuff in that exclusion zone then it does get more complicated.

[nod]

1 hour ago, BadgerBadger said:

If you don't need to do any work in the root protection zones, I think you could comfortably do this yourself without a specialist.  Work out the root protection zone diameter ( there's a standard based on multiplying trunk diameter) then mark it on the plans as an exclusion zone that will be fenced as you'd previously submitted.

 

If you need to do stuff in that exclusion zone then it does get more complicated.

The annoying thing is We have all the information from the tree survey and the Architect seems to think we need to pay again 

[joe90]

Sorry @nod can’t read that but as Badger says above it depends on whether you need to work/machine on the protection zone. They always will make you pay more/ass covering. Can you post the above so it’s readable?

[nod]

14 minutes ago, joe90 said:

Sorry @nod can’t read that but as Badger says above it depends on whether you need to work/machine on the protection zone. They always will make you pay more/ass covering. Can you post the above so it’s readable?

It’s so annoying Of all the plots we have looked at Ours is a 3 acre site with four small trees and hedgerows All listed as very low value 

Where the trees are will form part of the first drive but we  can easily go round and avoid that area We are on Boulder Clay so we will strip 150 mil of soil Then hardcore that area So it’s unlikely that we will come across any roots 

 

I look out of my door at our first build and this is our view to three sides 

We simply had to fence off two large oaks at the front of the house 

 

I will knock Something together today and keep you posted 

 

I really do think these surveys can get out of hand 

Edited December 19, 2021 by nod

[dnb]

The surveys can easily get out of hand. Good luck with it @nod

 

I did similar to @joe90 with rewriting sections of my survey as the tree protection plan. I ran it past the tree surgeon that did the survey (paid him a token amount in addition to a tree removal job I didn't have the skills and equipment to do myself) because the trees in question were of significant value to me - all oak and some significant in size. It is certainly possible to do it yourself to a good enough standard. As previously mentioned, proped Heras fencing covers most ills. But make sure in the document you mention the tree root protection zone signage for the fencing (and give an example as an appendix).

 

In short, we had all the required information in the survey and other planning documents, but it was not presented as a document in its own right - I think that is one of the issues with  certainly my planning department - they distribute the information thinly so the tree chap doesn't have to read about highways etc. But the problem is that then the tree document then may  have to contain the bits of the highways document in order to make sense. I got caught out by this when I kept getting asked questions that I had already answered by referencing other submitted documents.