Trees in the Townscape: A Guide for Decision Makers

Trees in the Townscape: A Guide for Decision Makers (the Guide) has just been published by the Trees & Design Action Group (TDAG) and is available online at http://tinyurl.com/6uxsnep.

Overall the Guide seems to me to be a splendid document that does exactly what it claims – to offer guidance (note guidance, not prescriptions) to those involved in making or influencing decisions that shape the spaces and places in which we live.   And, by “those involved” I mean far more than the Tree Officer – the target groups include local interest groups and local politicians, as well as the technical experts required.

The Guide is well structured into four complimentary groups of three principles under the broad headings of Plan, Design, Plant/Protect, and Manage/Monitor and as such is a development of the classic Deming cycle – Plan, Do, Check/Study, and Adjust.   The text is very clearly laid out so that the key players for each group of principles (who change throughout the document) are identified and their roles and actions, in seeking to improve the quality and quantity of trees in the townscape, are clearly stated.   The Guide is also extensively illustrated with case studies from the UK and overseas, some of which will be familiar to the student of this particular genre but others will have been brought into the light here perhaps for the first time.

The authors state that some overarching principles that appear to be common to all good decision making have been set down for everyone involved in making or influencing decisions that shape the spaces and places in which we live.   Target groups that are specifically mentioned here include

local elected members, policy makers and community groups together with large land estate owners, such as registered social landlords.   [The Guide] will also be useful to those professionals who bring their technical expertise to facilitate delivery, such as engineers, architects, landscape architects or urban designers.

I found this list of professionals, which specifically excludes the arboriculturist, to be refreshing, encouraging and most welcome!   My own view is that many of those professionals in arboriculture that I have come across have been too intimately involved in the minutiae surrounding individual trees and so “fail to see the wood for the trees”.  The Guide should encourage arboriculturists to lift their vision so that they too see the same vistas as the politicians and other professionals who are involved, the unwritten threat of course is that if the arboriculturist can not adapt and think more strategically and consider the broad sweep as well as the fine grain then he/she will be increasingly marginalised in the decisions that influence the tree cover in the spaces and places in which we live.

TDAG have developed the Guide after extensive consultation with what they describe as a star chamber, of

key knowledge holders in the built environment sector including civil engineers, insurers, developers, designers, planners, tree officers, sustainability specialists, arboriculturists, tree nursery managers, ecologists, academics, and not-for-profit organisations specialising in community engagement and trees.

The guidance

The twelve principles which have been laid down are divided amongst four broad groups, and are listed below.   It is to the authors credit that such direct and simple messages have been delivered in a supportive way throughout the narrative.

Plan

1. Know your tree resource

Create and maintain easy-to-use records of the existing canopy cover and the nature and condition of the tree population

2. Have a comprehensive tree strategy

Produce, adopt and implement a collaborative strategy for protecting, developing and managing a thriving, benefit-generating urban forest which is in tune with local needs and aspirations 

3. Embed trees into policy and other plans

Adopt clear standards for the protection, care and planting of trees in the local plan and key corporate policy and investment documents 

Design

4. Make tree-friendly places

Create places where tree species can thrive and deliver their full range of benefits without causing harmful nuisance 

5. Pick the right trees

Select and use trees appropriate to the context 

6. Seek multiple benefits

Harvest the full range of benefits trees can deliver as part of a local green infrastructure system, focusing on key local aspirations 

Plant/Protect

7. Procure a healthy tree

Plant healthy, vigorous trees that have been adequately conditioned to thrive in the environment in which they are destined to live 

8. Provide soil, air and water

Ensure trees have access to the nutrients, oxygen and water they need to fulfil their genetic potential for growth and longevity 

9. Create stakeholders

Work with local political, professional and community stakeholders to champion the value of trees in the townscape 

Manage/Monitor

10. Take an asset management approach

Inform all planning, management and investment decisions with a robust understanding of both the costs and the value trees deliver 

11. Be risk aware (rather than risk averse)

Take a balanced and proportionate approach to tree safety management 

12. Adjust management to needs

Conduct proactive and tailored tree maintenance to ensure optimum benefits in response to local needs

Much of this rings distant bells from my days as a forestry student at Bangor and resonates with what I have been trying to do more recently with strategic documents that I have drafted for a variety of clients building upon my training and experience.

Overall this Guide is an excellent piece of work that deserves a space on the desk of all those who are, or who want to be, involved in the decisions that shape the spaces and places in which we live.