Plans to fell trees in the next 12 months
Case reference FOI2023/00951
Published 19 June 2023
Request
1. How many trees does the council currently plan to fell (recommended for removal) over the next 12 months so far and why does it plan to fell them?
2. Has the council carried out any public consultation on the removal of these trees or does it have plans to do so. If so, could you please provide any detail on the number of objections/votes of support this decision has had? Please provide examples of objections and support in document form if this is possible.
3. Does the council plan to replace any of the trees, if so how many?
4. If the cost limit has not yet been reached for this request, please provide the number of trees felled over the previous two financial years (2022/3) and (2021/2). If this will breach the cost limit, please ignore this question.
Response
1. How many trees does the council currently plan to fell (recommended for removal) over the next 12 months so far and why does it plan to fell them?
There are currently 64 trees in the system to be felled at the time of writing. However, this number may increase as further surveys are conducted. The reason for felling is due to safety concerns such as diseases, damage, risk of falling, etc. Trees are only felled following a programmed and / or isolated survey by a qualified Arboriculturalist with the recommendation to fell.
2. Has the council carried out any public consultation on the removal of these trees or does it have plans to do so. If so, could you please provide any detail on the number of objections/votes of support this decision has had? Please provide examples of objections and support in document form if this is possible.
For any trees that are within a conservation area and / or protected by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) an application for the recommended works is applied for via the Herefordshire Tree Officer / team (Local Planning Authority) for approval. For any TPO trees, a 21 day representation notice is put online for viewing and any objections to be raised.
3. Does the council plan to replace any of the trees, if so how many?
Any felled trees within Conservation areas or TPO's will be programmed for replacement subject to sufficient funding. The planting of trees will generally be scheduled for November as this is the optimum planting period and coincides with National Tree Week. The exact number that will be replaced is not held at the time of writing.
4. If the cost limit has not yet been reached for this request, please provide the number of trees felled over the previous two financial years (2022/3) and (2021/2). If this will breach the cost limit, please ignore this question.
Please note that tree felling records are held by calendar rather than financial year. The information for the years 2021 - 2023 is publicly available on the council's FOI disclosure log and can be viewed via the following links:
https://herefordshire.disclosurelog.co.uk/case/d019eb4b-6a16-4b07-8b52-ca205c756fcc (2021)
https://herefordshire.disclosurelog.co.uk/case/5d307c92-5f96-4127-b3da-9ae90720c94e (2022 and 2023 to date)
As such we consider this information to be exempt under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 because it is available to you via other means. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act for this part of your request.
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.