Residential Extension Proposal - TPO

[Gary Prentice]

But until planners start to refuse to accept the ‘woeful and inadequate’ that don’t provide the  necessary information, they’ll keep getting them.

 

 

 If the report doesn’t provide the required information, how do planners then go forward to determine the application?

 

I’m not trying to pick on anyone, I’m interested because it seems a common complaint, yet nothing seems to be done to resolve it.

Edited January 23, 2018 by Gary Prentice

[benedmonds]

9 hours ago, daltontrees said:

S

I did one last week for 80 trees. Thorough, fully referenced, helpful, explanatory report with CAD plans. £500.

 

£800 for a few trees is possibly sponsoring inefficiency. Get a few more quotes I'd say. I'll do it for £300 if it's anywhere near me.

You can never have been to training with Jeremy Barrell or Dave Dowson... Don't undersell your skills and services..

 

  

[daltontrees]

2 hours ago, benedmonds said:

You can never have been to training with Jeremy Barrell or Dave Dowson... Don't undersell your skills and services..

 

  

No need for fancy courses. One tree, one development proposal, one english language, I'd get to the point and say it how it is, and £800 would make me feel guilty of extortion, plus I'd last about a year in my local market charging that much for a couple of hours' work.

 

£800 to say in writing that according to the British Standard the development won't compromise the tree if you put a fence far enough round it? With a plan showing a circle round the tree? That's taking the p**s. If I was comfortable making things sound more complicated than they are I'd have been a lawyer.

[Paul Jenks]

20 hours ago, daltontrees said:

SHOULD BE a lot of intelligence, insight and consideration that goes into them. I have seen a  few that are absolute rubbish, but the Council doesn't check on the arbs competence so the reports are fairly meaningless. I can see why there is a lot of resentment by clients and architects, because a lot of these reports are shelf-fillers that probably weren't needed. But it's not for the Council to say the tree will be OK in the first instance, it is for the applicant and his consultants.

 

I did one last week for 80 trees. Thorough, fully referenced, helpful, explanatory report with CAD plans. £500.

 

£800 for a few trees is possibly sponsoring inefficiency. Get a few more quotes I'd say. I'll do it for £300 if it's anywhere near me.

Great energy there. Thank you for reacting. I see that I may not have got the balance of responsibilities appropriately distributed in my post. My addition below is a small snapshot of my interpretation of the way BS5837 surveys work in the reality of the world we’re in. It’s not meant to be definitive, absolute or combative. 

 

Local authorities, and perhaps, more specifically tree officers(though not always), currently determine the parameters for what is considered or deemed to be a sufficient level of quality to satisfy planning requirements. 

 

There are are many variables between departments in the same local authority let alone between different authorities in different regions. 

 

Architects work in a different realm, as do surveyors and consultants. This arena, too, has it’s own variables and quality standards. As they work with, and often against, the LA a lot, they should be in a position to guide and give insight into what might be expected by the LA with regards to tree surveys. 

 

Clearly, even an enlightened person is unlikely to be able to predict how a planning officer or tree officer might be disposed to view a site survey on any particular day. 

 

A person with integrity will aim to serve their client by sharing insight into a situation gathered from their years of experience. They would endeavour to open out a discussion around the type of requirements and conditions the planning authority or other stakeholders, (infrastructure providers, ecologists etc), need to make a decision. 

 

Notwithstanding the the variables in quality of product or the quality of interpretation, my experience is that most architects avoid these subjects with their clients. Perhaps this is because of the variability of the product, the interpretation and thus the unpredictability of the outcome. 

 

Peace and respect

Paul

 

 

[benedmonds]

8 hours ago, daltontrees said:

£800 to say in writing that according to the British Standard the development won't compromise the tree if you put a fence far enough round it? With a plan showing a circle round the tree? That's taking the p**s. If I was comfortable making things sound more complicated than they are I'd have been a lawyer.

I agree, if it is a single tree out side of the RPA then £800 would be on the steep side. But in my experience there are nearly always other trees that might be affected and therefore need to be surveyed.  We have no idea in reality what the site looks like.  

 

I have never had a "simple" AIA's with only one tree that is out side the RPA and not affected. 

 

As to not needing fancy courses.. Barrell, Dowson and the like are doing there best to push arb consultancy into the realm of other professional consultancies, this includes remuneration. It is not about making things sound more complicated.  Unfortunately much of what we do is an afterthought that is completely ignored anyway.

[Gary Prentice]

19 hours ago, daltontrees said:

If I was comfortable making things sound more complicated than they are I'd have been a lawyer.

[Gary Prentice]

10 hours ago, benedmonds said:

Unfortunately much of what we do is an afterthought that is completely ignored anyway.

And when it isn't an afterthought, it's still ignored. How often do you identify the only Cat A tree on the site to later receive a tender  document showing that it's in the middle of someones new lounge and has to be removed?

[benedmonds]

5837 surveys are almost always unsatisfying work.. The client/builder doesn't want it, they normally have the design sorted before hand, and the council are not interested in your opinion, unless it is the same as theirs.. If they don't like the proposals or the developer they think the crappy leylandii is an A tree..  

[Gary Prentice]

4 minutes ago, benedmonds said:

5837 surveys are almost always unsatisfying work.. The client/builder doesn't want it, they normally have the design sorted before hand, and the council are not interested in your opinion, unless it is the same as theirs.. If they don't like the proposals or the developer they think the crappy leylandii is an A tree..  

BS5837s seem like the Leyland cypress reductions of the 'consulting world'. No one particularly likes doing them, but they pay the bills. The only consolation is that at least with the surveys, a lot of the work can be done in the office in the warm and dry, you don't have to worry about nesting birds and your gear doesn't get covered in sticky sap 

[daltontrees]

14 hours ago, Gary Prentice said:

BS5837s seem like the Leyland cypress reductions of the 'consulting world'. No one particularly likes doing them, but they pay the bills. The only consolation is that at least with the surveys, a lot of the work can be done in the office in the warm and dry, you don't have to worry about nesting birds and your gear doesn't get covered in sticky sap 

Nice analogy. Another advantage is that the report doesn't need to be redone every year.