Agenda item

Context:

To present to the Select Committee a draft of a new Monmouthshire County Council Tree Policy

Key Issues:

Over the past few years, a range of factors has led to the County Council response to managing its tree stock to become out of date and not fit for purpose. Factors include;

 Cuts to funding - changes in staff and structures has led to a fragmentation in responsibilities for trees decision-making process.

 Cuts to funding - Proactive inspections and maintenance has all but gone leading to an increase in risk and potential future workloads and costs.

 Lack of written process/policies - changes in structures and job roles and natural turnover in staff has meant that historic knowledge of council operations and behaviours has been partially lost and without clarity or process and policies, decisions are not consistent.

 The introduction of the My Council Services CRM system has made it easier for residents to contact us regarding all issues including those related to trees. This has led to an increased workload.

 Changes in our understanding of the value of trees in our rural and urban environments and the benefits they bring to our society and economy prompts us to think differently about how we care for our trees.

 New legislation relating to the natural environment and the wellbeing of future generations requires us to re-appraise our management of our natural assets.

Given the above, it is clearly time for a policy refresh to ensure that we provide up to date, fair and consistent service to our residents. To ensure that our service response to residents is efficient and that our decisions and actions are transparent and can be held to account, it is also necessary to update our outward facing documentation that explains how and why we are managing our trees and what the level of service they can expect when issues/concerns are raised.

With respect to how we approach this review, in an ideal world we would start with a wider review of our open spaces and natural assets as, in the same way our understanding of trees has improved, so has our wider understanding and approach to managing open spaces and natural assets of which trees are a part. A new tree policy would then, therefore, nest under, and align to, a broader Green Infrastructure Strategy. However, given the lack of clarity and consistency in our current service provision relating to tree safety, it is expedient to deal with the tree policy with regard to our reactive tree management in the first instance and give due regard to potential forthcoming views on the wider environment. Therefore, it is proposed that the tree policy be approached in three stages:

1. Production of a Tree Policy outlining our level of service with regard to the reactive management of trees.

2. Production of a proactive strategy for managing trees to ensure that potential tree related risks and future costs are mitigated 3. Incorporation of wider tree related issues in a new Green Infrastructure Strategy The Tree Policy outlines our actions in response to residents’ concerns about trees and therefore requires the support and agreement from members.

The tree Policy has been produced in consultation between Waste and Street Services (responsible for the parks, gardens and verges) Highways, (responsible for Highways related tree enquiries) Leisure (responsible for trees in country parks and rights of way), Estates (responsible for trees in cemeteries and other areas of the county land holding). Comments have also been taken from Health and Safety, Legal Services and Insurance Section. The policy has been benchmarked against other Welsh

Member Scrutiny:

A Member raised concerns about the section of the report regarding ‘works not undertaken by Monmouthshire County Council’ and spoke of the impact trees can have on mental wellbeing which can be adversely affected by light removal due to tree growth. The Member felt that there should be some flexibility in this area if residents are willing to pay privately for pollarding.

The wish to preserve our trees for future generations was welcomed by the Committee and praised Officers for their excellent and prompt service in their ward.

The increase in demand was commented upon with Members of the Committee questioning if this was sustainable without additional resources.

A Member questioned how often landowners were served with demands to maintain their hedges and verges and were told that a written response would be provided. (ACTION RH)

It was asked if Monmouthshire County Council would provide a service for residents willing to pay for our services privately and were told that we would not be willing to do so.

In regard to the right to light, a Member quoted the Right to Light Act 1959 which states if a property has received uninterrupted light for twenty years, the resident does have recourse if the right to light is lost.

A Member asked for a training booklet to help them to direct residents to the correct department.

A Member commented on the report stating there are no resource implications and asked if this is a true statement given the volume of work which needs to be carried out.