Chris at eden

Hi Paul Just to clarify, I am not slating the ISA, its just that once I finished Tech Cert, I stopped doing the CEUs as I felt I had massively superseded it. The OP is asking about new ventures and so I assumed this would be surveying and leading into consultancy. The L4 would set him up for this, but the ISA will not in my opinion. I think the ISA is useful for someone working as a tree surgeon that has only the CS units but this chap has an L3 qualification already and so he is going to already know about target pruning, soils, anatomy and all the other stuff that is contained within the ISA, or at least you would hope. The L4 will move him onto issues such as fungal colonisation strategies, BS5837, mortgage reports, etc. These are not covered by the L3 he has or the ISA realistically and so I think that would be more benefit to his new ventures. I remember doing a CEU on the bulk flow mechanism, probably about 15 years ago now. It was interesting but I can't say that I have ever used that knowledge as either a tree surgeon, TO or consultant. I think there are better examples of CPD out there, including the many excellent courses that are run by the AA. As for job opportunities, the L4 would probably get him an interview for a surveyors job, or junior TO but the ISA almost certainly won't. The ISA will carry some weight with employers for tree surgeon jobs but they will be more focussed on CS units in my experience, and he already has this covered. One thing I would say about ISA is that if you want to work abroad employers do often ask for it as an additional. If people do want to do the ISA I would personally do it on top of something such as L4. I don't think you need to study particularly hard for the ISA. I read the book twice and then sat the exam and passed. This was 4 years after completing my NC so it may be more difficult if starting from scratch. Just my opinion based on my experience. Others may differ. Cheers

No problem. ABC don't do L3 for Arb. Its L2, L4, or L6. I'm not sure about L2 but I am pretty sure Tree Life do L4 as distance learning, they call it tree-mail, or at least they did a couple of years ago. Its probably worth giving them a call to discuss your options. They are an excellent training provider. Their number is - 0116 260 6939

If its not on the NQF, QCF, RQF, or whatever else they are calling it these days it isn't really recognised at all, either nationally, internationally, or locally. So, no I wouldn't bother. I looked at the HCC L6 dip years ago and it was out of date in terms of what they were delivering. I did the ABC L6 and it was excellent. Have a look on the ABC website at the syllabus for the L2 and L4 arb. You should be able to see if they overlap and what would be best. Arb is different to hort though (I have done both), yes there may be some overlap but there will also be stuff that is different.

Yeah that has confused me also. I was shown the same article by someone this morning who had a clipping from The Express. True to its extremist form the Express said it was £75k!!! That's the loony express for you, prone to exaggeration.

I would imagine the criminal record is more of a problem for them.

I have a biology A level, it doesn't really cross over much with the professional Arb qualifications, maybe a bit more with the academic side. In reality though, it would get you on to an Arb foundation degree. With the L4 and the L6 its more about work place skills such as analysing subsidence data, critically evaluating decay detection equipment, BS5837 reports. You do cover stuff such as fungal colonisation strategies and modes of decay, bit about anatomy, but its much less focussed on genetics and biochemistry that the A level is, or was when I did it. You wont have an issue with the level though in my opinion. You do need some underpinning knowledge to build on so it depends on where you are with your arb knowledge. As Ian said, speak with the training provider and more precisely, tree life. Dave Dowson wrote the syllabus so he knows better than anyone. Also, go onto the ABC website and download the rules of combination for the L4 and L2 arb qualifications. Have a look at the assessment criteria, it will give you an idea of what is covered. Cheers

The ISA will be similar to what you did for your L3, I did an ND in 1997 and the ISA in 2002, didn't learn anything new really, its pretty easy. It wont teach to do consultancy work if that is what you have in mind. The CEUs are a good idea I suppose but I'm not convinced about the content. I did the L4 back in 2005 when it was still called the Technicians Certificate. Its an excellent course and I cant recommend it highly enough. I got a job as a tree officer before I had even finished the course, its a whole different level to the ISA. I would go with this all day over the ISA if you want to do advisory work. One thing I would say about the L4 is its portfolio assessed (it was exam and management exercises when I did it) so the workload is pretty intense. I did the L6 between 2012 and 2014 (also portfolio assessed). I never found the level difficult but the amount of work is huge. You need to be on it all the time, if you fall behind you will be in big trouble. On the positive though, the learning is more complete as you have to hit 100% of the assessment criteria, with exam its only 50%. If you can though I would go day release with Tree Life, not distance learning. It is useful to discuss with others who are in the same situation.

Its called an Arboricultural impact assessment, they account for about 60% of the work that I do. They could say it but unless they can show that the garage wasn't built in accordance with the approved plans they cant enforce it. If they have given consent to build and it and then the tree damages the garage then that is down to both parties really. If they refuse an application to work on the tree to mitigate the risk then the LPA would be liable for future damage (if the damage is as a result of their refusal and that the damage was foreseeable based on the documents submitted with the application. Correct, it should, doesn't always happen. And if it didn't and planning didn't pick it up then it makes no difference that it was there first. They can still claim for damage to the garage. And if the tree is damage by the build (say by putting strip footings in the RPA), then they can't prosecute. Again, as long as it is built in accordance with the approved plans. If the approved documents were to use housedeck for the foundations and you went in with the strip and caused damage then that would be different.

Sounds like what you need is a mortgage / insurance report to assess the risk of future damage. What area are you in (postcode)? When was the house built? If you ping me an email via my website (below link) I can send you a quote. Let me guess, the structural survey states that the house is built on suspected shrinkable subsoil? It may well be, but some of them seem to have a standard paragraph that states this for everything. It impossible to say on a forum what the risk is, it needs a site visit and proper inspection. Cheers Chris

TPO contravention is a strict liability offence. Saying, oh it was an accident or I didn’t know it was protected won’t get you much sympathy. Unless the magistrate is a bit gullible, which does happen. It has nothing to do with the plod. The enforcing authority for TPOs is the LPA. No reason why they can’t do it. To to be fair though, the police did pursue a case of criminal damage for council trees at a council i do some work for. The chap had to replace them and fund a 3 year maintenance program to avoid a criminal record.

This I agree with. If outside of the RPA then obviously just advisory fencing positions.

What do you mean by large? If they are limbs rather laterals they will most likely decay no matter what you do so just leave them. As Gary said, the bleeding will flush out to an extent but birch as a species suppresses decay by keeping vessels full of water and therefore anaerobic. Once they dry out, they tend to decay more often than not.

If you don't agree with the condition just appeal it. If the PINs think its unreasonable, then they will change the spec. I would think in this case they probably will. I usually condition 8-10cm because they establish better. I picked up an appeal about 10 years ago as my predecessor had conditioned select standard (10-12) replacements and the tree owner wanted to plant light standard (6-8cm). The PINS dismissed the appeal and made her plant 10-12cm. It was a TRN she was appealing which had been dragging on for a while before is started. The appeal was via a hearing so was assessed by a planner. I personally think 10-12 is reasonable but I wouldn't go much bigger.

If its within a woodland then you probably don't have to replace it (if its windblown), if outside of a woodland then you do. Its in the online guidance (the blue book is no more). If you are removing under exemption because it is dead or imminently dangerous then section 206 would apply and you will need to replace. You may well think, well, its not dead its just uprooted but still connected and alive, and not an imminent danger. In this case the TO may say, OK, in that case you need to apply to remove, at which point he can condition the replacement. I suppose in theory, if its not dead and doesn't create an issue you could just leave it to become a phoenix veteran.

Why would you think that? Subsidence is way more common than heave. If the tree continues to grow then the subs risk will increase. If the frequency and length of droughts continue to increase then the risk of subs will increase. Then in again the house could have sufficient foundations. A lot of old houses have cellars. It’s difficult to say without the facts but the situation where heave is the bigger risk are pretty rare. My my advice to the OP is get it looked at properly.