Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Chair drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

Councillor Grant Johnson gave apologies and was substituted by Councillor Robin Moss.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

There were none.

There was none.

The Chair drew the Panel’s attention to the Question and Answer document that had been circulated.  A copy of the document is attached to these minutes.

The Panel confirmed the minutes of the previous meeting as a true record and they were duly signed by the Chairman.

There will be a presentation and an update on BANES Tree Planting Strategy. The presentation slides are attached.

Mark Cassidy, Tree and Woodland Officer, Neighbourhood and Environmental Services, and Keith Rowe, Team Manager – Parks and Green Spaces, introduced the item and gave a presentation to the Panel which covered the following points:

·  Background

·  Key objectives

·  Baseline Tree Data

·  Appraisal of Publicly Accessible Land Council owned and third party land audited

·  Private Tree Planting Issues and Opportunities – results of Ethos Consultation

·  We commissioned Woodland Opportunity Mapping

·  How do we get to 100,000 trees?

·  Delivery Plan Actions

·  Monitoring

Councillor Jess David (Cabinet Assistant) explained that the Tree and Woodland delivery plan was ambitious and was also a living document.

Panel members asked the following questions and raised the following points:

Councillor Moss asked about ‘1 tree per child’ and if this meant that children had their own tree. He asked if ownership could help prevent vandalism. He also asked how trees will be monitored in terms of whether they are thriving. The officer explained that children (and adults) who are involved in planting trees in their local area do seem to have more neighbourhood pride. He explained that ‘1 tree per child’ was mainly focused in schools or their vicinity. In terms of monitoring, the officer explained that the Council do monitor their own trees and invest in watering and mulching but do not monitor trees planted privately.

Councillor Moss asked if people could report progress online. The officer stated that people will be able to upload information on the virtual forest map.

Councillor Crossley asked if the virtual forest map goes down to garden level and are existing trees recorded in terms of diseases. He also asked if hedges count. The officer explained that yes, the system could be used regarding recording of diseased trees in an area. He also stated that the planting of a hedge does count towards the tree planting targets. In terms of existing trees being recorded, the officer explained that they will not be logged, only newly planted trees that contribute to the target set. He explained that ariel photography is how we tell how much canopy there is.

Councillor O Brien asked if there were any planting restrictions regarding local or national planning policy. She also stated that Curo plant trees around social housing and have an officer responsble for this – do other social housing providers do the same? The officer explained that in ‘Woodland Opportunity Mapping’ which shows how certain areas benefit from certain views – landscape character is protected in planning which stops excessive tree planting in areas that are not appropriate. Regarding social housing providers, the officer stated that he was not in contact with any other than Curo. He stated that he can follow this up. Councillor Walker stated that some social housing providers are very small so may not have an officer responsible for this.

Councillor Dr Kumar asked about the percentage of tree coverage in the area. He also asked what the average cost of planting a tree is and asked that the officer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

This report presents the latest workplan for the Panel. Any suggestions for further items or amendments to the current programme will be logged and scheduled in consultation with the Panel’s Chair and supporting senior officers.

The Panel raised the following points and noted the future workplan:

Councillor O Brien stated that she was disappointed that the Climate Emergency Update had not come earlier as the Panel will not have time to input before the February Council meeting. She stated that she was disappointed in the information brought to the Panel in the area of Climate Emergency and concerned that there would only be more generalisations in January.

Councillor Walker explained that she had raised this with the Director and took on board Councillor O’ Brien’s concerns.