1.
a) Can you tell me how many trees the council has ordered to be removed in the last 10 years?
The Council employs a dedicated Tree Management team who inspect and issue work on Council owned trees along the Adopted Highway and within Council owned Public Open Spaces. However, across the Council there are also other service areas who are responsible for the management and maintenance of Council owned trees including: Estate Teams, Housing, Countryside Services and Public Rights of Way teams. Currently, the Council does not hold data on the number of trees that have required felling across all of these areas however, the Councils Tree Management team have recently implemented a new Tree Asset Management System which will help to record this data going forward.

In all cases, following a tree inspection, where there are indicators that demonstrate the structural integrity of the tree has been compromised and where it is foreseeable that they will fail, action will be required to reduce any safety risk. Felling a tree is always considered a final resort and where possible other appropriate measures will be carried out to mitigate risk and to avoid tree felling. However, sometimes the only appropriate action is to fell the tree.
Having an asset management system will allow the Council to consolidate tree records going forward however currently this is not a question we can answer with data.
b) And how many have been replanted in that period?
This is not something that has been recorded and therefore we do not have the data to provide a definitive response. It is important to note that replacement planting in the same location where trees have been felled is not always possible due to site restrictions such as soil space, impact on infrastructure, visibility splays etc that may make that location unsuitable to sustain new tree planting. Where this is the case, the Council seeks out opportunities for replacement planting in other suitable locations as close to the felling location as possible. The Council currently has a major tree planting project in place as part of the Climate Emergency Action Plan and since the project commenced in September 2021, over 43632 trees have been planted across the Borough on Public Open Spaces, Country Parks, School Sites, Town and Parish Owned Sites and Private land. It is important to remember that this figure does not relate to any trees planted as part of planning applications. The trees planted as part of this project are being monitored and supported during their establishment through funding that the Council has in place from the Woodland Trust.
Replacement planting is only possible where sufficient budgets and resource allows and currently, the team is focussing on delivering large scale tree planting schemes where there is existing grant funding in place.

2.
a) Can you specify how many trees were cut down because they faced insurance claims?
We do not hold the data for this. Insurance claims are thoroughly investigated by the Council’s dedicated Trees and Insurance teams and felling of trees will only be agreed upon where claimants demonstrate that a Council tree asset has been the direct cause of damage, the council has been negligent, in breach of a statutory duty and where no other appropriate mitigation measures can be carried out. Claimants are required to provide detailed reports that are fully reviewed prior to any agreements being made to felling of Council assets.
b) Can you specify how many trees were cut down to allow the construction of housing developments?
The Council’s Tree and Landscape team are consulted on approx. 90-100 planning applications a month, providing their expertise to ensure that the boroughs trees and landscapes are protected and enhanced.
The Council does not hold data on the number of trees that have been felled due to housing developments.