Recommendations sought: cellular tree root protection - how much!?! (CORE / Cellweb / Geocell)

[Great_scot_selfbuild]

So, we need 'a little' cellular confinement system for our build to use as tree root protection (TRP). This isn't a surprise given our densely wooded plot, but I have been genuinely surprised by how much the plastic webbing material costs!

 

How does plastic webbing measuring a just few metres cost this:

3.1m x 8.2m (100mm deep) = £155+ (rated to 8T)

2.7m x 7.3m (150mm deep) = £210+ (rated to 16T)

 

Any tips on finding the most cost-effective cellular TRP?

Have you experience on the loading rating being accurate or exaggerated to drive sales?

 

A bit more detail...

We have limited access, and will be building the driveway early on, but access past this point is limited to 2.9m wide (just!), and with very little manoeuvring available, so plant equipment will be limited in size.

 

Our tree protection plan requires the area to be covered in cellular confinement system filled with clean angular stone type 4/20 (see attached screenshot), and so whilst I'd like to keep the temporary area as thin as possible (for cost reasons), we will need some plant equipment and heavy materials carried in, so it's likely we'll need to use 100mm deep cellular system throughout, with 150mm for the area adjacent to the road where delivery vehicles will off-load.

 

Other info - 

The build is a timber frame and will have some steelwork (longest section ~7.5m)

 

Keen to hear from anyone who has done this / similar.

 

TIA

[nod]

We had this on both our builds and chose to ignore it as it was totally impractical No trees died 

Our recent build specified 100m2 of Cellular and Herras fencing around it making it impossible to get plant and deliveries past 

None of the trees had TPOs 

Except for three on our previous build 

 

Our neighbor is building at the other side planners have specified the same protection as us There planning consultant has pointed out that there are no TPOs and therefore not governed by planning 

[Great_scot_selfbuild]

1 hour ago, nod said:

We had this on both our builds and chose to ignore it as it was totally impractical No trees died 

Our recent build specified 100m2 of Cellular and Herras fencing around it making it impossible to get plant and deliveries past 

None of the trees had TPOs 

Except for three on our previous build 

 

Our neighbor is building at the other side planners have specified the same protection as us There planning consultant has pointed out that there are no TPOs and therefore not governed by planning 

@nod unfortunately not an option for us, so now we need to find a cost-viable solution.

 

As an aside, I do find it interesting how planning policy and building regs are happy working in complete isolation of each other. Some architects local to us seem to specialise in getting planning approved with designs not compliant with BR.

[nod]

One thing that you need to know Is that BC have no interest in planning let alone enforcing them 

[AppleDown]

Nobody has checked ours. Nobody seems to care. Bit of a waste on our build. 

[nod]

35 minutes ago, AppleDown said:

Nobody has checked ours. Nobody seems to care. Bit of a waste on our build. 

We where quite Naive first time round 

Our build was part of a Heritage site 

Lots of conditions We thought that planners would be all over us 

But in truth No one really cares or is about to enforce these things 

 

This time round we needed to strip 600 mil off the site prior to starting 

BC insisted we strip along a line of trees we where supposed to be protecting 

I think much of it is a box ticking exercise 

Still had to folk out a grand for a survey showing how we would protect the tree line 😁

[AppleDown]

On 29/12/2024 at 23:12, nod said:

We where quite Naive first time round 

Our build was part of a Heritage site 

Lots of conditions We thought that planners would be all over us 

But in truth No one really cares or is about to enforce these things 

 

This time round we needed to strip 600 mil off the site prior to starting 

BC insisted we strip along a line of trees we where supposed to be protecting 

I think much of it is a box ticking exercise 

Still had to folk out a grand for a survey showing how we would protect the tree line 😁

Luckily I just submitted a cited paper in PDF form as our tree protection approach. Took about 30 mins of Google, but saved a few £.

[Mattg4321]

Definitely a box ticking exercise 

 

The only way it will get checked is if someone complains and the planners send someone out to look. 
 

Our tree protection plan including ramming scaffold tubes into the ground around the tree, with a barrier attached to it. No machinery or materials needed to go near the tree, so would’ve been more damage caused by following the plan. It got ignored. 

[Great_scot_selfbuild]

29 minutes ago, Mattg4321 said:

Definitely a box ticking exercise 

 

The only way it will get checked is if someone complains and the planners send someone out to look. 
 

Our tree protection plan including ramming scaffold tubes into the ground around the tree, with a barrier attached to it. No machinery or materials needed to go near the tree, so would’ve been more damage caused by following the plan. It got ignored. 

@Mattg4321 I managed to do my research RE: fencing as I also had the same scaffolding suggestion proposed - and managed to get this reduced back to the far cheaper option which doesn’t involve driving large tubes into the ground. 
 

unfortunately one of our conditions specifies monthly inspection visits… check out this extract! 🤦🏻‍♂️

[flanagaj]

On 29/12/2024 at 19:32, nod said:

We had this on both our builds and chose to ignore it as it was totally impractical No trees died 

Our recent build specified 100m2 of Cellular and Herras fencing around it making it impossible to get plant and deliveries past 

None of the trees had TPOs 

Except for three on our previous build 

 

Our neighbor is building at the other side planners have specified the same protection as us There planning consultant has pointed out that there are no TPOs and therefore not governed by planning 

This is exactly what I'm doing.  We have these conditions for a Cherry tree, and I'm contemplating felling it, so as to avoid the hassle.  It will help with sighting our drainage field, and I'll plant two new trees to replace it.  I understand the protection for ancient oak trees or those with TPOs, otherwise, it's a lot of expense and inconvenience.