PAPER C

 

 

                                                                                                             Purpose : For Decision

 

Committee :   REGULATORY APPEALS COMMITTEE

 

Date :              11 APRIL 2003

 

Title :               OAKLANDS CLOSE, FISHBOURNE - TREE PRESERVATION ORDER NO 29, 2002

 

REPORT OF THE  STRATEGIC DIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENT SERVICES

 

 

SUMMARY

 

1.                  A TPO was made on 8th November 2002, as a revision of a 1974 Order, to protect 11 trees, 2 of which were replacements required as conditions of consent to remove trees protected by the original Order. An objection has been received to the species of one of the replacements. Another tree required as a replacement has not been planted. Two other representations have been received. If the Order is to be confirmed this must be done by 8th May 2003.

 

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

 

2.                  Confirm TPO/2002/29 with a modification to change T2 from birch, Betula pendula, to cabbage palm, Cordyline australis; and to serve a Tree Replanting Notice to ensure that T1 birch is planted.

 

 

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

3.                  As with any TPO, compensation could be claimed by an applicant if consent to remove trees or for works to the trees were refused, and the refusal resulted in loss or damage.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

 

4.                  Removal of the trees would be a loss for the local landscape and wildlife.

 

BACKGROUND

 

5.                  Making of Order

 

The Medina Borough Council (Fishbourne No. 1) Tree Preservation Order 1974 protected an individual oak tree T1 and a group of oak trees G1. However neither the plan nor the schedule gave the number of locations of the trees in G1, so the group was in effect an area.

 

Planning permission was granted to develop the site in 1974 and 1976.

 

The tree section received queries about the protected status of trees at 2 Oaklands Close in 2001. Because the site had been developed since the TPO was made, it was difficult to tell whether trees at the site were inside or outside G1. (The mapping of all TPOs on GIS, which started in 2002 and was completed in January 2003, makes it clear that these trees were actually protected. GIS mapping now also ensures quick as well as confident responses to such queries, so such problems should not arise in future.) The owners were therefore given conflicting advice about whether or not the trees were protected by a TPO. They told the Tree & Landscape Officer on 9th November 2001 that they had been advised by an engineer to remove 2 trees in 3 stages, so they had topped them, removing the top third. The Tree & Landscape Officer then told them that even if the TPO did not cover the trees, there was a tree retention condition attached to previous planning consents, and that no more work should be done without written consent.

 

An application to remove 2 oaks (of 3 on site) at 2 Oaklands Close was received on 17th October 2001, the reason given being that an extension was proposed. A letter dated 9th January 2002 granted consent to remove the 2 oaks, not on the basis of the proposed extension, for which planning approval had not yet been obtained, but on the grounds that the trees were only 6 m away from the existing building. No replacements were required as the trees were so close to the building.

 

Planning permission for the extension at 2 Oaklands Close was granted on 2nd April 2002, with condition 3 specifically requiring protective fencing to ensure the retention of the one remaining oak on site.

 

The owners rang the Tree & Landscape Officer on 2nd September 2002 to say that their engineer wanted 2 oaks removed at the adjoining property, 3 Oaklands Close, because of their effects on foundations. A site visit was booked for the following day, when an application was also received, on 3rd September.

 

At the site visit the Tree & Landscape Officer noticed that the oak tree in the NW corner of the site, whose retention had been specifically required by condition 3 of the planning consent, had been removed.

 

Consent was granted in a letter dated 23rd September 2002 to remove the oaks at 3 Oaklands Close, subject to the planting of a birch tree as a replacement; the letter also required a birch tree to be planted as a replacement for the oak which had been removed without consent; the replacements to be planted by 31st March 2003.

 

An Order was therefore made on 8th November 2002 to protect 11 trees: 9 of the original oaks, and 2 birches to act as replacements.

 

The grounds for making the Order were: 'This is a revision of The Medina Borough Council (Fishbourne No. 1) Tree Preservation Order 1974. The trees are of high present and future amenity value and are visible from Oaklands Close and Elenors Grove / Kite Hill / Quarr Hill. T1 and T2 birch are replacements for oaks protected by the 1974 Order and removed on condition that replacement birches be planted. They are also important as a wildlife habitat, especially for red squirrels and birds.'

 

6.                  Objection

 

A letter was received on 19th November 2002 from the owners of 3 Oaklands Close, objecting to the birch as a replacement, and asking for the Cordyline australis they had already planted to act as a replacement, because "this tree requires very little water", and "it had been in the ground for 4 weeks before I got your letter".

 

7.                  Comment on objection, and on replacement at 2 Oaklands Close

 

Although palms will not provide the wildlife value of a native tree like birch, they will still contribute to the local landscape. The site was visited again on 21st March 2003. The palm is already contributing to the local landscape, being quite a large and attractive specimen.

 

However, the replacement birch tree required at 2 Oaklands Close had still not been planted, and a pile of soil was on the corner where it should have been.

 

8.                  Representations

 

Two letters were received from local residents objecting to the requirement that only 1 birch each was required as replacements for the oaks at 2 and 3 Oaklands Close, because 2 birches will not be as good as 6 or 7 oaks for landscape, wildlife, or water uptake.

 

9.                  Comment on representations

 

The points raised would be entirely valid in environmental terms in sites with space, but unfortunately once development has been granted permission it is not reasonable to require people to retain or plant trees which would grow to overhang their properties. The TPO cannot be modified to increase constraints. The previous 1974 TPO defined the boundary of the oaks with accuracy, but unfortunately as it did not specify the precise number nor location of trees it was inadequate as a means of enforcing tree protection, as are so many of the Island=s TPOs.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

 

10.             Confirm TPO/2002/29 with a modification to change T2  birch, Betula pendula, to cabbage palm, Cordyline australis.

 

Serve a Tree Replanting Notice to ensure that T1 birch is planted as a replacement, as required in the consent letter 23rd September 2002, for the oak which was removed without consent.

 

BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS

 

1.                  Planning permissions granted 20th August 1974, reference TCP/1777/S, and 6th October 1976, reference TCP/1777/W, to develop Oaklands Close.

2.                  Plan and schedule from The Medina Borough Council (Fishbourne No. 1) Tree Preservation Order 1974, made on12th November 1974, reference TPO/1974/3.

3.                  Application to remove 2 oaks at 2 Oaklands Close dated 15th October 2001 received 17th October 2001.

4.                  Letter granting consent to remove 2 oaks at 2 Oaklands Close dated 9th January 2002.

5.                  Planning permission granted 2nd April 2002 for extension at 2 Oaklands Close.

6.                  Application to remove 2 oaks at 3 Oaklands Close received 3rd September 2002.

7.                  Letter dated 23rd September 2002 granting consent to remove 2 oaks at 3 Oaklands Close, subject to planting of replacement; and requiring replacement for oak removed without consent at 2 Oaklands Close.

8.                  Tree Preservation Order TPO/2002/29 made 8th November 2002.

9.                  Letter from owner at 3 Oaklands Close received 19th November 2002 objecting to Order.

10.             Letter from local resident dated 19th November 2002 received 22nd November 2002.

11.             Letter from local resident, and on behalf of residents at 4 other properties, dated 26th November 2002 received 29th November 2002.

 

 

Contact Point : Rowan Adams  F   823559

 

                                                           

M J A FISHER

Strategic Director of Environment Services