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Project Reference: 22 1630/TPP
Planning Approval Reference: 22/00640B
AND
Prepared for: Mr and Mrs J Kelly 28 Belgravia Road Onchan Isle of Man
DECEMBER 2022
Douglas Chalk ND Arb. Corrie Main Road Glen Vine Isle of Man IM4 4BA
Tel: 01624 851401 Mobile: 07624 435156 E-Mail: [email protected]
The following impact assessment, tree protection plan, tree pruning plan and arboricultural method statement aims to meet planning condition 3 in relation to Planning Approval 22/00640B 28 Belgravia Road Onchan. The purpose of this report is to ensure that all trees adjacent to the above property are adequately protected from damage (health and stability) throughout the construction period so as to maintain the appearance and character of the site and locality.
Planning Condition 3:
a) The location of the trees to be retained and their root protection areas and canopy spreads (as defined in BS 5837: 2012 Trees in relation to design, demolition and construction); b) The position and construction of protective fencing around the retained trees (to be in accordance with BS 5837: 2012 Trees in relation to design, demolition and construction). c) The extent and type of ground protection, and any additional measures required to safeguard vulnerable trees and their root protection areas. d) An arboricultural impact assessment which evaluates the direct and indirect impacts of the proposed development on the trees to be retained and proposed mitigation. e) An arboricultural method statement to demonstrate that operations can be carried out with minimal risk of adverse impact on trees to be retained. f) A method statement for any works proposed within the root protection areas of the trees shown to be retained. g) Details of any proposed arboricultural site supervision. h) Details of a pruning schedule (including consent from the tree owners where required) All documents should be prepared in accordance with British Standards BS3998:2010 Tree work - Recommendations and BS5837:2012 (Trees in relation to Design, Demolition and Construction -Recommendations) unless superseded.
The development must be carried out in accordance with the approved details. No alterations or variations to the approved tree protection scheme or working methods shall be made without prior written consent of the Department.
In the event that trees become damaged or otherwise defective during such period, the Department shall be notified as soon as reasonably practicable and remedial action agreed and implemented. In the event that a tree dies or is wilfully removed without prior consent it shall be replaced as is reasonably practicable and, in any case, by not later than the end of the first available planting season, with trees of such size, species and in such number and positions as may be agreed with the Department
Reason: required prior to commencement to ensure that all trees to be retained are adequately protected from damage to health and stability throughout the construction period to protect and enhance the appearance and character of the site and locality.
The following text and accompanying tree protection drawing follows the lines agreed with DEFA Forestry (Forestry Directorate) on August 3rd 2022. It aims to comply with British Standard 5837:2012 Trees in Relation to Design Demolition and Construction – Recommendations and British Standard 3998:2021 Tree Work – Recommendations. Specifically, the arboricultural method statement (AMS) addresses those operations proposed within the Root Protection Area (RPA) and crown spread of registered trees in order to avoid damage to stems, branches and rooting environment (BS5837 Section 6.1.1).
The following measures are therefore recommended:
The written text should be read in conjunction with the accompanying tree protection drawing.
Following concerns raised by DEFA (Forestry Directorate) in respect of potential for damage to six registered mature alder trees growing adjacent to the north of the property, it was agreed that a tree protection plan (TPP) and arboricultural method statement should be produced to meet these concerns and minimize risk to tree health. The tree protection operations described in the text should achieve this.
The trees in question stand on the north side of 28 Belgravia Road on a narrow strip of land adjacent to the tennis courts: see below.
The trees in question are situated on land owned by Onchan Commissioners. The trees are deemed to be registered under the Tree Preservation Act 1993. Registration indicates special amenity status and importance in the landscape.
All trees on site are deemed to be Category B: see BS 5837:2012 4.5 Table 1: Maturing trees deemed to be Registered with a material cultural value in the location. Trees of moderate quality, which might have been included in Category A but lack the special quality necessary to merit that designation. Some downgrading because, taken as a group, two are of impaired condition (e.g. leaning T2 T3) and one tree has been removed from the line, leaving a gap. The trees may not be suitable for retention beyond 40 years.
Given the close proximity of proposed construction works to the trees, there is the potential for the following adverse impacts:
The following tree protection plan, pruning schedule, site supervision schedule and arboricultural method statement seek to address these concerns.
Tree protection measures should be implemented in the following order:
All demolition and construction work should be monitored to ensure compliance with method statement recommendations (Section 8). Any unforeseen issues relating to tree protection measures which may arise shall be reported by the site manager to the project manager and, if necessary, the advice of an arboriculturist should be sought. For example, issues arising in respect of the construction exclusion zone, temporary ground protection, or facilitation pruning operations.
Refer to the TPP drawing for the location of protection barriers. 4.1 A construction exclusion zone shall be created in order to protect tree stems, branches and the rooting environment.
4.2 Heras type weld-mesh fencing should be used in line with the recommendations of BS5837:2012 Section 4.6 and Section 6 (see photographs below and appendix for British Standard default specification).
4.3 Barriers will be installed with a view to excluding ALL construction activity, with the exception of agreed works (i.e. installation of temporary ground protection and the erection of scaffolding within the RPA following the demolition phase).
4.4 Tree protection barriers shall be 2m high x 3m in length. As Heras type fencing can be easily moved, panels must be diagonally braced into the ground and clamped in order to provide semi-permanent protection using scaffold poles secured with 'U' bolts/ clamps (see photos below). This applies especially to the section along the north side of the house where demolition/construction will take place.
4.5 The exclusion zone shall apply to: all construction activity, the parking of vehicles, storage of materials, bricks and rubble, soil or any other debris. No toxic substances shall be deposited (e.g. bags of cement) nor should any run off (e.g. from cement mixers) be allowed to enter the area. There shall be no activity in this area that could lead to soil compaction and no raising or lowering of soil levels. The exclusion area shall NOT be used as a compound to protect equipment.
4.6 Barriers shall be properly installed PRIOR to work commencing and should remain in place and fully effective until work is complete. Protection barriers are not to be moved or disassembled to facilitate work without agreement with the project manager.
4.7 A NO ACCESS sign should be attached to the weldmesh panels only on the east and west sides (see below).
4.8 The tree protection plan indicates the location of the protection barriers. The tennis court fence will act as the fence along the northern edge.
5.1 Demolition of the one-storey structure (the existing garage) shall take place entirely within the footprint of the building in a “top down, pull back” fashion as recommended in BS5837:2012 Section 7.3.4.
5.2 Access to and from the demolition site shall be via the existing driveway which constitutes ground protection within the RPA of Tree 1 (BS 5837:2012 Section 6.2.3.1)
5.3 The existing driveway will function as the access route for all materials and equipment for the duration of the demolition/construction process.
5.4 When the demolition phase is complete, including the clearing away of all debris, the tree protection barriers along the north side of the house will be repositioned to a line approximately 5ft from the building line as indicated in the TPP drawing.
5.5 Once barriers have been repositioned and re-secured and temporary ground protection installed, a two-board scaffolding system will be erected as required.
6.1 Temporary ground protection to avoid soil compaction will be installed to protect the RPA beneath the two-board scaffolding structure.
6.2 Ground protection will take the form of 150mm of woodchip (the compression-resistant layer) above which ground protection boards (scaffold boards) will be placed (BS 5837:2012 Section 6.2.3 as agreed with DEFA (Forestry Directorate)).
6.3 Two-board scaffolding will then be erected.
Temporary Ground Protection
7.1 Facilitation pruning in respect of T1, T3, T4 and T5 will be carried out by a qualified arborist/tree surgeon employed specifically for the work. Tree 3 exhibits the greatest overhang into the second-storey construction space.
7.2 The tree surgeon will liaise with the project manager/arboriculturist over which branches are to be removed.
7.3 Branch removal will be carried out from the scaffolding in order to avoid the need for placing lift machinery within the construction exclusion zone. However if it proves impractical to work from scaffolding or if the final pruning cuts cannot be made from the scaffold for any reason then the trees will be climbed using rope and harness.
7.4 Recommended pruning positions as discussed with DEFA (Forestry Directorate) – see photos. The yellow dots indicate which branches should be removed. White arrows indicate the general area for final cuts. Final pruning cuts will be agreed on site. No primary/scaffold branches will be removed.
TREE 1
TREE 3
Trees 4 and 5
7.5 All pruning will be carried out in accordance with British Standard 3998:2010 Tree Work – Recommendations Section 7 (see Appendix 2). Wherever practicable, pruning will be restricted to healthy, small-diameter parts of the tree, as this will minimize the size of the resultant wounds and provide the greatest opportunity for these to occlude.
| Inspection | Site Attendees | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-start Desktop When: prior to any site works | N/A | Project manager and Site Manager to study TPP and AMS and agree all aspects. Raise any issues. |
| Pre-start Meeting When: Once tree protection barriers have been installed. Prior to any site works | Project manager, site manager. Tree officer invited * | Check construction exclusion zone (CEZ) is secure, fencing located correctly, check specification and sturdiness |
| Change of operations meeting When: On completion of the demolition phase | Site manager, project manager. Tree officer invited * | Check the repositioning of CEZ protection barrier on the north side of the house necessary to accommodate scaffolding Check temporary ground protection is properly installed and discuss how the scaffolding will be erected. Discuss which qualified arborist/tree surgeon will be engaged for the facilitation pruning phase |
| Tree surgery meeting When: once scaffolding has been installed | Site manager, project manager, arboriculturist, tree surgeon | Agree with the tree surgeon exactly where the overhanging branches are to be pruned – give tree surgeon a copy of the arb method statement photos (section 7) |
| Intermediate inspections ** | Site manager, project manager, arboriculturist, tree surgeon, tree officer, planning officer as required | Intermediate meetings need only take place in the event of problems arising which can not otherwise be resolved |
| Post-construction meeting When: after all works have been completed and all equipment and materials removed from site | Site manager, project manager, arboriculturist. Tree officer invited | Retained trees inspected. Ground conditions assessed. Dismantle scaffolding, removal of temporary ground protection, removal of protective barriers and ground |
| * Where agreed with the planning authority/forestry officer it may be acceptable to supply photographs of the fencing to avoid the necessity for a site visit ** Only if required. |
The following site monitoring schedule is recommended to ensure the recommended tree protection measures are properly implemented.
Appendix 1 - Barrier default specification (BS 5837:2012)
Figure 2 Default specification for protective barrier
1 Standard scaffold poles 2 Heavy gauge 2 m tall galvanized tube and welded mesh infill panels 3 Panels secured to uprights and cross-members with wire ties 4 Ground level 5 Uprights driven into the ground until secure (minimum depth ) 6 Standard scaffold clamps
Figure 3 Examples of above-ground stabilizing systems
a) Stabilizer strut with base plate secured with ground pins b) Stabilizer strut mounted on block tray
1 Branch bark ridges 2 Branch collar R(a) Cut where branch collar and branch bark ridge are apparent R(b) Cut where neither branch bark ridge nor branch collar are apparent R(c) Position for end-cut in crown reduction - maximum size of cut in relation to size of lateral branch
BS 5835:2012 Trees in Relation to Design Demolition and Construction – Recommendations BSI Standards Publication
BS3998:2010 Tree Work - Recommendations BSI Standards Publication
DEFA (Forestry Directorate) tree protection legislation https://www.gov.im/categories/home-and-neighbourhood/tree-protection/#:~:text=All%20trees%20which%20have%20a,for%20a%20licence%20from%20DEFA.
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