The Green Spaces Amenities Officer introduced the report as set out in the agenda papers.  He outlined the proposed changes to the Tree Maintenance Policy 2024 – 2028 as highlighted in Appendix I to the report.  The Green Spaces Amenities Officer explained that Appendix II to the Policy had been removed (this had been a blank tree inspection template).

The Chair invited Members to ask questions and make comments and these included:

·         Welcomed the increased tree stock but it was important to consider where the trees were planted, especially in residential areas;

·         needed to take into account any pruning that needed to be carried out when trees were protected by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO);

·         not happy with the cost implications for residents for any maintenance of trees which impacted their property and which the Council were not proposing to maintain, as set out in section 10 of the Policy;

·         more clarification sought on the value of trees as set out on page 13 of the report, and the onus on residents on the maintenance of Council-owned trees when the trees had an impact on the resident’s property, such as encroaching roots and overhanging branches;

·         welcomed the inclusion of hedgerows within the Policy, as too many had been destroyed;

·         clarification sought on the blocking of sunlight/daylight;

·         welcomed the section on what residents could do to help, but also considered that officers should engage with Ward Members in respect of any planned tree planting and tree-related actions within their ward;

·         suggested a live tree audit section be added to the Members’ Teams channel;

·         clarification sought on how the Policy worked with contractors and how work was prioritised, and how the Policy worked with CCTV when issues with trees impacted the effectiveness of CCTV;

·         suggested other useful links be added to the end of the document, such as other Swale Borough Council (SBC) policies/strategies; and

·         considered there should be more enforcement action against people who took down trees and hedgerows illegally, especially when a new development was being built.

In response, the Green Spaces Amenities Officer said that residents were permitted to prune trees that encroached onto their property, but they needed to be aware of any TPO/Conservation Area restrictions that were in place.  He referred to residents’ common law right to cut back vegetation encroaching onto their property.  He explained that the capital asset value for amenity trees assessment system was used to calculate the monetary value of the Borough’s tree stock.  The Green Space Amenities Officer spoke on the sunlight/daylight issue and explained that there was information on the Internet on how close a tree should be to a building.

The Greenspaces Manager agreed that more SBC-owned tree information could be made available to Members, and he explained that in the past if there had been an issue with CCTV effectiveness due to overgrown trees, the teams worked together to resolve the issues.  Work was prioritised as per the policy, and he added that further links to other useful information could be added to the end of the document.

Councillor Ashley Shiel moved the following amendment:  That going forward, officers involved Members in matters relating to trees throughout the borough, such as tree planting (tree location) and consultations, so that Members were engaged with the processes.  This was seconded by Councillor Sarah Stephen and on being put to the vote was agreed.

Resolved:

(1)      That the Tree Maintenance Policy 2024 – 2028 be approved, with delegation given to the Head of Environment and Leisure to make minor amendments to the policy as discussed and agreed at the meeting.

(2)      That going forward, officers involved Members in matters relating to trees throughout the borough, such as tree planting (tree location) and consultations, so that Members were engaged with the process.