Proposed Development on Land Off Norwich Road Lenwade Norfolk Arboricultural Report
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Arboricultural Report Proposed development on land off Norwich Road Lenwade Norfolk 12th March 2018 Norwich Road, Lenwade - Arboricultural Report v1.1.docx Client Owen Bond at Brown & Co The Atrium St George’s Street Norwich NR3 1AB c/o Ian Norris Planning authority Broadland District Council Thorpe Lodge 1 Yarmouth Road Thorpe St Andrew Norwich Norfolk NR7 0DU Document Arboricultural Report Version 1.1 Date Revised 12th March 2018 Author Ben Hogben BSc Hons, Dip Surv (Rural), MICFor Reviewer BH Trees and Woodlands Consultancy Limited 299 Wroxham Road Norwich Norfolk NR7 8RN 12th March 20178 2 Norwich Road, Lenwade - Arboricultural Report v1.1.docx Table of Contents Page Summary 4 1 Introduction 5 2 Methodology 5 3 Desktop review 6 4 Field study 7 5 Arboricultural Implications Assessment 10 6 Arboricultural Method Statement 11 7 Conclusions 12 8 Bibliography 12 Appendix A Tree survey detail Appendix B Photographic record of trees Appendix C Default Specification for Protective Barrier Appendix D BS 5837:2012 Table 1 Cascade chart for tree quality assessment Appendix E Outline layout 12th March 20178 3 Norwich Road, Lenwade - Arboricultural Report v1.1.docx Summary This report provides the results of a tree survey of land off Norwich Road, Lenwade and an arboricultural constraints assessment of the site, and may be used to inform the planning process. The local planning authority is Broadland District Council and communication with the Council planning department has confirmed that there are no Tree Preservation Orders nor is any part of the site within a Conservation Area. This is a derelict brownfield site which has been neglected, allowing it to be colonised by secondary birch woodland over a large part of the area. Recommended root protection areas are mapped in this report. No construction activities should take place within root protection areas, except as indicated in the detailed method statement. We consider that development can be accommodated with minimal impacts on the arboricultural interest of the site. 12th March 20178 4 Norwich Road, Lenwade - Arboricultural Report v1.1.docx 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. BH Trees and Woodland Consultancy Ltd has been commissioned to prepare an arboricultural report for land off Norwich Road, Lenwade, Norfolk. 1.2. The site access is located at grid reference TG 10884 18110. 1.3. The report includes a survey of those trees that may be affected and an assessment of the potential arboricultural impact of the proposed development on the trees. 2. METHODOLOGY 2.1. The tree survey and arboricultural aspects have been prepared in accordance with recommendations provided in BS 5837:2012, Trees in relation to design, demolition and construction – recommendations. 2.2. The site survey included trees, within the boundaries of the site and those considered to be potentially affected by development proposals, with a stem diameter over 75mm at 1.5m height. 2.3. The tree inspection took place from ground level using visual tree assessment methods, with the use of binoculars and Suunto clinometer. The presence and condition of bark and stem wounds, cavities, decay, fungal fruiting bodies and any structural defects that could increase the risk of structural failure were noted. 2.4. Details for each tree were recorded with management recommendations if deemed necessary, a category grading according to BS 5837:2012, and tree protection distance. Constraints 2.5. No internal decay devices or other invasive tools to assess tree condition were used. 2.6. No soil excavation or root inspection was carried out. 2.7. The survey has not considered the effect that trees or vegetation may have on the structural integrity of future building through subsidence or heave. 12th March 20178 5 Norwich Road, Lenwade - Arboricultural Report v1.1.docx 3. DESKTOP REVIEW 3.1 The proposed development site is located in the village of Lenwade, off Norwich Road, which is the main A1067 trunk road between Norwich and Fakenham. The village of Lenwade lies 6 miles North West of Norwich city center on the A1067 trunk road. 3.2 The development proposal is as yet in outline stages but the site extends to approximately 1.5 hectares and the proposal is for a number of steel framed industrial units with infrastructure for vehicle turning and parking with a new access off the main road. 3.3 The local planning authority is Broadland District Council and communication with the Council planning department has confirmed that none of the trees are covered by Tree Preservation Orders and that there is no Conservation Area affected. The Site Figure 1; Site location 12th March 20178 6 Norwich Road, Lenwade - Arboricultural Report v1.1.docx 4. FIELD STUDY 4.1 The trees on the site are plotted on a plan shown in Figure 2 below. A schedule of the detailed survey data is reproduced in a table at appendix A. 4.2 The development area is a neglected industrial site, presumably an extension of the large works which once occupied this site but long since deserted and brought back into use in a piecemeal manner over recent years. It is thus a brownfield site which has been colonised largely by silver birch, growing in the cracks in the concrete. 4.3 The site is in an area of freely draining, slightly acid, sandy soils. The National Landscape Character Area is Central North Norfolk which is ancient countryside with a long-settled agricultural character, where arable land is enclosed by winding lanes and hedgerows, interspersed with woodland and remnant heath and dissected by lush pastoral river valleys. This site lies in bottom of the Wensum Valley corridor, alongside an old railway line which has since been made into a long distance public footpath called the Marriott’s Way. The Wensum is an important ecological river and is a Special Area of Conservation and SSSI. 4.4 The historic maps of the area show that the whole site is a relatively recent development. As recently as the 1946 aerial photo, the whole field appears to be undeveloped, open arable land. There is a building in the north eastern corner of the site which has gone by the time of the 1988 aerial photo, by which time there is extensive industrial development. 4.5 All the trees have become established since 1946, by 1988 there are linear features of trees clearly distinguishable on the boundaries and on an internal boundary. 4.6 The area to the north of the hard standing is now recorded as broadleaved woodland in the National Forest Inventory. 4.7 The maintenance of the railway line and road widening probably saw the removal of the original boundary trees, some of which were subsequently replanted at a much later date. The internal row of trees may be the remaining row of willow trees which have been coppiced at intervals and still discernible as a linear feature at the bottom of the bank. 4.8 There are restricted views from the public footpath onto the site as there is a ditch between the Marriott’s Way and the site which acts as a buffer and various trees and shrubs grow on the banks, but otherwise the site is prominent from the main public road. 12th March 20178 7 Figure 2: Tree Survey Norwich Road, Lenwade - Arboricultural Report v1.1.docx Figure 3: Tree Constraints Plan 12th March 20178 9 5 ASSESSMENT OF ARBORICULTURAL IMPLICATIONS 5.1 The Tree Constraints Plan in figure 3 shows the trees intended for removal and those which are to be retained after development. 5.2 The row of poplar along the western boundary stands on neighbouring land and is outside the control of the developer. 5.3 There are no high quality category “A” trees, the cascade chart for tree quality assessment from BS5837:2012 is reproduced in appendix D. 5.4 The vast majority of trees are self-sown silver birch growing within the deteriorating hard- standing where root development is restricted, thus reducing their long term prospects for they will be prone to failure in high winds. Their premature removal is almost inevitable and these are given a category C classification 5.5 There is a well-developed row of roadside trees identified for retention. Whilst a number of these are heavily branched and have asymmetrical crowns, they provide an important landscape feature. 5.6 The creation of a site access off the main road is inevitable and whilst visibility splays are adequate after some lifting of low hanging branches from the roadside trees, it will be necessary to create a gap in the row. 5.7 Table 1 –Quality assessment of trees recorded in survey in accordance with BS5837:2012 TOTALS To be Trees Groups Hedges Woods removed Category U 0 0 0 0 0 0 Category A 0 0 0 0 0 0 Category B 16 0 0 0 16 0 Category C 189 9 0 1 199 156 TOTALS 205 9 0 1 215 156 Norwich Road, Lenwade - Arboricultural Report v1.1.docx 6 ARBORICULTURAL METHOD STATEMENT Tree Work 6.1 It is recommended that the row of retained trees on the roadside should be crown lifted to safeguard the visibility splays. There are many heavily branched trees with long, low branches extending towards the road. 6.2 Any tree work should be undertaken to the standards set out in BS 3998:2010 British Standard Recommendations for Tree Work. Tree and Root Protection – Constraints on Development 6.3 The Tree Constraints Plan in Figure 3 shows the distance that construction should normally be kept away from retained trees to provide the Root Protection Area (RPA) recommended in BS 5837: 2012. Full protection of the RPAs should normally be reinforced by the erection of protective fencing constructed to at least a minimum standard as prescribed in BS 5837: 2012 and described in the Appendix C.