Minutes:
Ewan Murray, Arboricultural Officer:
a. advised Planning Committee of the reasons for proposed works to trees in the City Council's ownership and sought consent to progress the works identified, as detailed at Appendix A of his report
b. highlighted that the list did not represent all the work undertaken to Council trees, it represented all the instances where a tree was either identified for removal, or where a tree enjoyed some element of protection under planning legislation, and thus formal consent was required
c. explained that ward councillors had been notified of the proposed works.
Members considered the contents of the report.
Councillor Hewson referred to the incident on the cycle track between Dixon Street and Altham Terrace where a cyclist was injured due to an impact with the trunk of a tree, now removed. Clarification was sought as to where the liability fell for this type of incident.
The Arboricultural Officer advised as follows:
· The responsibility for the tree in question lay with the Highways Authority in the ownership of Lincolnshire County Council.
· Lincolnshire County Council trees were inspected every six years by the City of Lincoln Council on behalf of the County Council.
· The work did not include the surveying of trees.
· The City Council had been aware of the instability of the tree before the accident occurred and it was awaiting scheduled works at the time.
Councillor Bean advised that he had received numerous e mails from members of the public in his ward regarding overgrown footpaths/cycleways and asked if it was possible to carry out an annual inspection of these areas in April/May to ‘nip works required in the bud’ for the rest of the summer months.
The Arboricultural Officer clarified the following main points:
· There was a shared responsibility for overhanging branches/shrubbery; some work required an Enforcement Order to be obtained to authorise work to be carried out by us if the tree was not in our ownership.
· Any problems in the local community could be reported to Lincolnshire County Council on their website via ‘Fix my Street’
· Funding was being sought to carry out tree surveying work every 1 or 3 years if resources became available.
· He thanked members for expressing their concerns.
Councillor Bean agreed to send an e mail to Lincolnshire County Council suggesting a discussion on inspection of trees on footpaths/cycleways, including an invite to the Chair of Planning Committee.
Councillor Strengiel expressed the view that the City and County Council worked well together in respect of works to trees. Fix my Street was an excellent app. He asked whether the tree in question had been roped off on inspection prior to being felled? He highlighted that liability could not be divulged in any case.
The Arboricultural Officer advised that the whole cycle path had not been blocked on inspection and this was considered the necessary deterrent to move around it.
Councillor M Storer sought clarification in respect of the self-set trees to be felled at 29 Rosewood Close as to whether they were causing actual or potential damage to the adjacent property fence line.
The Arboriculturist Officer confirmed that trees would not be removed unless there was visible evidence this was the case.
RESOLVED that the tree works set out in the schedules appended to the report be approved.