Purpose

Trafford’s Tree Policy
has been in place for a number of years
and required updating to ensure it meets with current tree
management and maintenance principles and best practice. The
Council has a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act to have
in place an effective system for managing trees that ensures trees
do not present a risk to the public mainly from falling in their
entirety or also from falling branches.
 
The updated Tree Management
Policy 2023 covers how the Council will manage the tree stock in
addition to ensuring that it is safe. The document also identifies
how the council will respond to tree planting, requests for tree
pruning, tree removal and other impacts that trees can have on the
public, land or highway and endorses best practice procedures that
have already been implemented as required during the life of the
previous agreed policy.
 
Consultation on an updated Tree
Management Principles document had been undertaken in June 2020.
Due to the timing of this previous consultation coinciding with the
onset of the pandemic there were no substantive responses received
at that time. This policy has been reviewed following a subsequent
audit of the service in 2021/22 and hence is also re-titled as a
Policy document with more up to date information.

Decision

That the publication for
consultation of the updated policy for the management and
maintenance of trees in Trafford be approved.