Ashurst Road Open Space

Ashurst Road

Maidstone

Kent

ME14 5PZ

ITEM: 26

REF: 22/501310/TPOA

Officer Comments:

The trees subject to this application are located within an area of trees (A1) protected under TPO No.3 of 1971, which only protects trees that were present when the Tree Preservation Order (TPO) was served.  Some of the trees subject to this application (including those in G1, T7, T6 and T12) are unlikely to have been present in 1971 and so are not considered to be protected under the Order.

The application proposal also include a proposal to sever ivy and remove dead wood from 2 Sycamore trees (T10 and T15).  This work is considered to be exempt under current TPO legislation and consequently it does not need to be considered as part of the application.  Therefore an informative should be added to any permission accordingly.

Recommendation:

The recommendation remains unchanged with the addition of the following informative:

(1)    Removal of dead wood

Removal of dead wood from protected trees is an exception to current legislation and does not require a formal application. However, the regulations require five days’ notice in writing of intention to carry out such works. Its inclusion on this application is considered to satisfy that requirement.