Trees give the landscape character and should be protected and preserved where possible. A BS 5837 tree survey should be prepared at an early stage and the resulting constraints will inform site layout design..
Tree information accompanying planning applications should substantially follow the format of the British Standard BS 5837, while tree work should conform to BS 3998.
A Tree Survey is a plan drawing showing the location of all trees on a site on which information is required to be recorded, and are typically scaled at a minimum of 1:500. A tree schedule accompanying the plan, identifying the trees by reference to a unique reference number as indicated on the plan drawing.
For each tree the following data is recorded;
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- Reference number of the tree Species by common and/or scientific name
- The Presence of Tree Preservation Order or Conservation Area protection
- Height in metres
- Stem diameter in centimetres, measured 1.5m above ground level.
- The crown spread
- Age class: young, semi-mature, mature, over-mature, veteran
- Physiological and structural condition of the tree (eg health and any physical defects)
- Preliminary management recommendations and any other observations
- An estimation of the tree’s remaining useful life in years.
- Tree Quality Assessment: categorise trees for removal and those suitable for retention
