LA charging for TPO advice?

[Eskimo]

Hi all,

I hope you are well and hopefully you can help with a question I have and which might end up with some interesting responses but......do you know of any LA's charging for TPO advice?

I am against charging for a multitude of reasons but the LA I work for has asked that I investigate further. Its pre-application TPO or CA tree specific advice that I'm interested in.

 

Does anyone know of any authorities out there who charge?

 

[woody paul]

Colchester city council change if they come out and inspect tree, 

[Eskimo]

Thank you for the prompt reply, interesting to see the rates on the website.

[Anno]

a number of Councils do but we have always chosen not too, however with less people and less money in LA budgets its probably something that will eventually be across the board, at which time thankfully I will be retired!

[NCSL]

I would guess this also is dependent on your relationship with the tree officers you work / deal with. Normally all my dealings are F.O.C  

[Anno]

1 hour ago, NCSL said:

I would guess this also is dependent on your relationship with the tree officers you work / deal with. Normally all my dealings are F.O.C  

* waits for 'brown envelope' type comments*

[daltontrees]

Personally I think it's immoral to charge. TPO is a huge imposition on a tree owner, and quite rightly TPO applications are free. Pre-application advice from a Council can save it lots of admin dealing with half-baked applications.

The LPA I work for doesn't charge. I usually end up spending a fair bit of time getting the applicant to modify the application to make it competent, and then acceptable. Does applicant benefit from this? Not really, and it's fundamentally wrong to expect them to pay for advice that mainly suits the public.

Cheapskate Britain generally fixes the resources available and then provides only as much of a service as it can afford, knowing that in most cases it won't be able to do things properly. Wouldn't it be nice to live in a society where our laws, policies and values are used as a basis for setting adequate resources?

[daltontrees]

3 hours ago, Eskimo said:

Hi all,

I hope you are well and hopefully you can help with a question I have and which might end up with some interesting responses but......do you know of any LA's charging for TPO advice?

I am against charging for a multitude of reasons but the LA I work for has asked that I investigate further. Its pre-application TPO or CA tree specific advice that I'm interested in.

 

Does anyone know of any authorities out there who charge?

 

I haven't really thought it through, but doesn't it create a conflict of interest for a LPA to create a client/consultnat relationship (by charging for advice), then determine applications based on statutory obligations and then potentially have applicants appeal against refusals? It all seems a bit murky and compromised. And mean.

To be a bit clearer, applicant would pay TO to write an acceptable application that the TO would recommend for approval. Doesn't that sound fundamentally wrong? Is it just me?

[petercb]

11 minutes ago, daltontrees said:

I haven't really thought it through, but doesn't it create a conflict of interest for a LPA to create a client/consultnat relationship (by charging for advice), then determine applications based on statutory obligations and then potentially have applicants appeal against refusals? It all seems a bit murky and compromised. And mean.

To be a bit clearer, applicant would pay TO to write an acceptable application that the TO would recommend for approval. Doesn't that sound fundamentally wrong? Is it just me?

This is surely what happens with pre-planning advice currently? Don't think anyone TO or planners would actually be writing the application.

[daltontrees]

1 hour ago, petercb said:

This is surely what happens with pre-planning advice currently? Don't think anyone TO or planners would actually be writing the application.

Damn I just typed  a long reply then lost it.

Pre app advice is money well spent, it helps developers make money off developments by smoothing the way. It's mostly a list of relevant national and local policies and how they affect the site. Specific observations only arise from draft layouts. 'Minded to recommend approval' is sometimes the flip side of 'would lose on appeal if I didn't approve it'. Contrast with Mrs Miggins just wanting to know how much she is allowed to take off her own oak tree. TPO applications are rarely so profit driven that there can be a realistic expectation of an applicant paying for advice. It is implicit in there being a TPO that the tree was at least once considered important for the amenity of the area. The application decision is in the nebulous realms of whether the TPO is still relevant, whether the owner must be forced to live in the misery of the tree's shade, whether an oak will withstand a 20% reduction etc.

So, it's the same but totally different. A developer can buy a site and choose to pursue development. A tree owner just wakes up one day to find her tree has been commandeered by the public, without payment of compensation. Making her pay to understand that is (to my mind) immoral.