Bournemouth Borough Council Bournemouth Tree Strategy 2014-24 A strategy for the sustainable management and development of Bournemouth’s trees Bournemouth Parks Bournemouth Borough Council East Cemetery Lodge Gloucester Road Bournemouth BH7 6JB T: 01202 451629 e: [email protected] www.bournemouth.gov.uk/parks Urban trees and forest patches contribute to air filtering, micro- climate regulation, noise reduction, rainwater runoff reductions, and improved recreation/cultural values (Bolund and Hunhammar 1999 in Brown et al., 2012) 2 Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Definition & Requirement 3 3. History & Landscape Character 3 4. Natural & Physical Environment 6 5. Pests Diseases & Other Challenges 10 6. Economic Value 12 7. Health & Social Value 13 8. Planning Control and Planning Policy in Relation to Trees 14 9. Trees on Council Land 17 10. Understanding Our Tree Population 23 13. Tree Work Operations 25 14. Tree Risk Management 26 Appendix 1: Treescape Character Map 28 Appendix 2: Tree Pruning & Felling Policy 29 Appendix 3: Tree Risk Management Policy 32 Appendix 4: List of native/naturalised tree species 40 Appendix 5: Glossary of Terms 41 References 43 3 1. Introduction: 1.1. This strategy recognises the importance of trees, the benefits they afford us and the increasingly important role they can play in mitigating the effects of climate change, flood amelioration and pollution control. It provides a first point of reference for the management and maintenance of the Boroughs tree population – both public and private. 1.2. The strategy aims to guide future planning for the Borough’s public tree population and ensure a consistent approach is taken to tree management across the Council’s different business units. 1.3. It is designed to provide guidance to those whose activities bring them into contact with trees to ensure that best practice is followed; this includes council officers, councillors, policy makers, arboriculturists, landscape professionals and property developers. 1.4. The strategy recognises that all the trees both public and private in the area form part of a wider ‘urban forest.’ 1.5. This strategy supports the Dorset Local Nature Partnership’s (LNP) Vision and strategy for enhancing ‘natural value’ in Dorset’. Many of the reasons for developing this tree strategy are reflected in the LNP document, emphasizing their importance to the long term sustainability of Bournemouth. 2. Definition & Requirement: 2.1. The Department for Communities and Local Government recommend as good practice for Local Authorities that they develop and implement a comprehensive tree strategy.1 2.2. In 2011 Bournemouth Borough Council’s Planning Board requested the production of a Tree Strategy for the Borough to provide a coherent framework for the development of policies for the management, preservation and enhancement of tree cover on both public and private land. 2.3. The strategy sets out to develop clear objectives to be achieved either within set timetables or as part of a planned programme. 3. History & Present Landscape Character: 3.1. Historical records dating to the late 16th Century indicate that much of the current borough was covered by the mainly deciduous ‘Holdenhurst Wood’ th and worked by ‘Woodwards’. By the turn of the 19 Century most of the 1 Trees in Towns II, DCLG (February 2008) 4 ancient woodland had been cleared by mans activities and much of the borough formed part of Hardy’s ‘Egdon Heath’ though isolated groups of trees and woodlands still remained. 3.2. The Chines still retained their wooded character and a ‘large fir wood’ stretched east from the area that is now the lower gardens towards present day Boscombe. In 1831 the remains of an ancient pine forest were uncovered during construction of the pier. 3.3. By the end of the 19th Century Bournemouth had picked up the nickname of the ‘Forest City’ because of the vast number of pine and fir trees within the town, millions of trees had been planted during the early 1800’s across the borough’s heaths following the passing of Inclosure Acts. 3.4. Alongside the sea air and bathing, the pine trees of Bournemouth were a key attraction for the town’s early developers and visitors, together providing a semi-natural resort for city dwellers to escape from England’s polluted industrial cities in their thousands. The pine scent was considered to have health giving properties; the presence of so many trees combined with sea breezes produced ‘healthy clean air’ which enabled the town to gain a reputation as a health spa and to grow rapidly. A pine tree can be found within the town’s coat of arms. 3.5. Many of today’s trees are remnants of those planted by our Victorian and Edwardian predecessors along roads, within private gardens and public parks. However a significant number pre-date their present urban setting. 3.6. Bournemouth’s greenbelt is the remnant of a farming community that spread out along the southern side of the Stour Valley, from Bear Pine Walk (c. 1900) in the Lower Gardens, formerly called ‘Invalids Cross to Wick. Walk’ alluding to the town’s reputation as a place of health giving Many of the and restorative qualities. 5 notable trees in this area would have formed parts of the hedgerows for the farms, but there are also some small stands of old woods and coppices, such as Duke’s Coppice in Kinson. 3.7. In places it is possible to identify tree positions in hedgerows that are documented 200 years ago, and may well date back to the medieval period, such as those around Throop Road and Riverside Avenue. Elsewhere many of these old fields have been built over, but some of the ancient trees and former hedgerows still exist, such as those Charminster Road c.1900 along East Howe Lane. 3.8. Over the last century Bournemouth has changed enormously, with large scale residential and commercial development dominating. However, remnants of woodland, heath, plantations and former farmland can still be found alongside more formal parkland and are all maintained as either public open space or agricultural small holdings. The varied mosaic of landscapes within Bournemouth is both aesthetically attractive and environmentally important (see Treescape Character Map at Appendix 1). Talbot Woods – c.1900 and 2013 6 4. Natural & Physical Environment: Cooling the Urban ‘Heat Island’ 4.1. Urban areas are often warmer than surrounding countryside because of extensive heat absorbing surfaces, such as concrete and tarmac, concentrated heat production and impeded air flow (Arnfield, 2003 in Wilebore and Wentworth, 2013). This localised urban warming is known as an ‘urban heat island’. 4.2. During the 2003 heat wave, a temperature difference between urban and rural areas of up to 10°C was recorded for London (Greater London Authority, 2006) and estimates suggest that 40% of the 600 excess deaths in London were due to the urban heat island effect (Mavrogianni et al., 2011). 4.3. The benefit of trees in lowering urban air temperatures through shading and the evaporation of water is recognised in the Heatwave Plan for England 2013. 4.4. In Manchester, the SCORCHIO project predicted that an increase in the area of green space of 10% would reduce the maximum surface temperature by 2.2°C compared to no change in green space. This cooling increases to between 2.4°C and 2.5°C under low and high UKCIP02 climate scenarios. Similar results have been found by modelling projects conducted in Birmingham (BUCCANEER project) and London (LUCID project). Climate change 4.5. Extreme weather impacts as a result of climate change have been, and will continue to be, increasingly severe and frequent (IPCC, 2007). Bournemouth has experienced flooding, drought, snow storms and extreme heat, the consequences of which have an impacted people, businesses and the natural and built environment. 4.6. Trees provide essential services in relation to mitigating and adapting to climate change – that is, reducing the degree of change to the climate; and helping to adapt to the climate change that does occur. 4.7. The Climate Change Act 2008 sets out a duty for domestic action to be taken on climate change. This has resulted in the target of ensuring that the net UK carbon account for the year 2050 is at least 80% lower than the 1990 baseline. To achieve this various penalties and incentives will become increasingly implemented. It is therefore prudent that the ability of our natural environment to absorb and store carbon is maintained and maximised. 4.8. The borough’s tree population helps mitigate localised effects of climate change by: • Cooling the urban heat island • Reducing the risk of flooding by intercepting rainfall and soaking up excess ground water 7 • Lowering CO2 levels through photosynthesis and carbon storage Using average tree canopy cover percentages for the southwest 4.9. Furthermore trees can also help us to adapt to climate change by: (Trees in Town 2) Bournemouth’s urban forest • Providing protection from heavy stores nearly 13,000 tons of rainfall (e.g. reducing soil run off) carbon annually, that’s the • Providing cool shade from intense sun equivalent of taking about 2,400 and heat cars off the road every year (Dorsey, 2013) • Providing biomass for local heat and energy production 4.10. It is important to note that future planning is essential in building our resilience to climate change. There is a lag of 20-100 years between planting trees and benefitting fully from their services, so we must be careful to preserve existing trees and plant new trees strategically to provide maximum resilience to climate change in the future. Particulate Pollution 4.11. Trees also filter atmospheric particulate pollution (fine dusts and particles).