If you are planning a new residential or commercial property development in London, Kent or surrounding counties and there are trees either on or adjacent to your site or proposed development area, you will almost certainly need to submit an Arboricultural Implications Assessment (AIA) when making your planning application to the local authority. In short, an AIA reviews the proposal and the existing trees in detail, with the aim of determining the level of impact to (or from) the proposed development. This assessment should be prepared by an experienced arboricultural professional or it will not be acceptable to the planning committee. Our arboricultural consultancy has over 10 years of experience, and we are able to prepare detailed arboricultural implications assessments for all types of developments and would be delighted to provide you with the advice and reports you need.
Do You Really Need an Arboricultural Impact Assessment?
Trees are classed as a ‘Material Consideration’ in the planning process, and councils have a statutory duty to consider the protection and planting of trees when granting planning permission for proposed development, which effectively means the applicant has that duty to trees too. If there are any trees within 15 metres of your proposed development, even on someone else’s property, the council are likely to request an Arboricultural Implications Assessment at the pre-appraisal or planning determination stage, so they can ensure the development has no undue impact on trees.
Not only that, but trees provide unparalleled natural beauty, ecosystem services and a strong feeling of connection to nature that we simply can’t replicate any other way than letting trees grow unaffected. If trees aren’t properly considered during building works, you may be seriously damaging your tree without even knowing it! Tree roots spread a lot further and are much more sensitive to digging and compaction than many people may think. By obtaining professional advice at the early stages of your development design, you can be sure that the trees on or near your property can provide their visual amenity, screening and ecosystem benefits for decades to come, ultimately complementing your development.
If you would like our professional opinion on a specific site, please feel free to contact our consultancy team by phone or email.
What an Arboricultural Implications Assessment Includes
As part of our Arboricultural Implications Assessment service, we will compare the tree data collected during our site visit with your proposed scheme, highlight direct and indirect impacts both to trees and the proposal, evaluate those impacts and where necessary recommend mitigation measures to improve the long term relationship between trees and development.
In some cases where a proposed scheme is supplied which has not been informed by arboricultural guidance from early design stages, the survey may reveal potentially significant impacts or incompatibilities with existing trees, which may include protected trees! If in our opinion the council are unlikely to approve the application in its current form, our Arboricultural Implications Assessment report may make recommendations for design changes with the sole aim of reducing impacts to or from trees and improving the likelihood of the proposal being found acceptable by the Planning Authority.
New developments can impact trees in a range of ways, most commonly:
Excavation for foundations, or changing soil levels
New surfaces, roads, patios, paths and other hard landscaping
Drainage and other underground services
Construction Work
What’s more, trees can also have adverse impacts on developments, including:
Excessive shading of living areas
Dropping leaves and seeds onto new surfaces
Root damage lifting new paths and driveways
We consider all available details supplied to us to ensure all of these issues are ironed out as best as possible, so you can maximise on the quality of your development. We will use our years of experience to ensure that you receive only accurate, impartial and measured arboricultural advice.
With our detailed assessment of the impact that all of the above are likely to have on trees on or near your site, you can be confident that your planning applications stands an excellent chance of being approved on arboricultural grounds.
For more information about our arboricultural impact assessment service, don’t hesitate to call or message us.
Areas we cover
We cover most of the South East including Kent, Surrey, Sussex, London and Essex.
The team were great - arrived promptly, took down a large tree, dealt with the stump and left everything tidy.
Down To Earth did a good job on the day, tidied up well after them and were pleasant & courteous to deal with. We got off to a rocky start as the initial booking had to be re-scheduled due to issues at their end for which they apologised and is the reason why I gave 4 stars instead of 5, but in the end I was happy with their work
Polite, friendly, carefully followed all instructions, no hesitation to recommend. Good knowledge of various trees, when and how to prune.
Down To Earth have now looked after my Yew tree on three occasions and I have to say it looks better each time now that previous damage has healed.Iwould have no hesitation in recommending them to anybody that wants a good job done.I also consider them to be very fairly priced and their workforce where excellent everything left very tidily.See you next time.Thanks.
Another year of excellent hedge cutting service from Down To Earth. The detailing of the hedges and resulting clear up was superb and the team, led by Chris, were very polite, courteous and professional. I highly recommend Down To Earth for your hedge cutting needs.
We’ve used Down to Earth for several years after a recommendation from a neighbour. They’ve done a variety of jobs from taking down two inherited overgrown confers to general pruning and tidying up of trees and bushes. They always do the work exactly as agreed after an on-site visit, giving good advice, they’re very efficient, clear up thoroughly, and are always friendly. We’d strongly recommend them.
A very professional done by very pleasant friendly people. (and they left the garden all clean and tidy - and many do not do that!) We would highly recommend them
Great communication, knowledge and patience with members of the public asking lots of questions. Great machine to relieve deep compaction after events
Likable, professional team of 3 turned up on the day, did a fantastic job (they have a really good sense of aesthetics). Very pleased, will definitely be using them again.
Excellent service, very slick. Took down large diseased ash, cut up and removed debris, and cleared up afterwards. Great work by the team. Would recommend.
An excellent and very thorough haircut for a large cedar tree carried out by a very professional and pleasant team. All done on schedule and everything left clean and tidy. Highly recommended.
Great service and very impressed by the skill and speed of the team. All priced very competitively. Would highly recommend.
Second time I have used them. Thoroughly professional - they give good advice, easy to deal with. First time a year ago was a really big job, so pleased I used them. Thoroughly recommend.
An unpleasant job, taming the leylandii trees which we had inherited and had been allowed to do their own thing for too long! We are grateful to our friends who recommended "Down to Earth" and we are very happy to say to anyone else who reads this, that from Andy who came to give us a very reasonable estimate, and Frankie's team who did skilful and beautiful job, we couldn't be happier. Very nice people too!
Excellent service, professional team, very large job bringing down dead sequoia; handled the job very well, cleared everything up, went above and beyond what we expected
Down To Earth were great. They did an excellent job from start to finish. Good customer service. Excellent team on site who did a fantastic job that went beyond my hopes and cleared up after themselves in an extremely thorough way.
An excellent job from start to finish, arrived on time and did a great job at clearing up afterwards. Worked the whole time they were here and couldn’t be happier with the results!
Exceptional service from start to finish. The job was carried out (non-stop working by the crew!) at the exact time agreed with all the remnants cleared up and taken away. They even ended up clearing my patio!
Another excellent job from Down to Earth trees. They have carried out all pruning and planting a new hedge in my garden for many years and I would never use anyone else. They are reliable, everything is cleared at the end of the job and all the staff from start to finish are polite and professional. I was happy with the quotation given. The 2 guys who carried out the latest work were very pleasant and listened to what I said before beginning the work. I would definitely recommend them.
I have been most impressed with DTE's professionalism and integrity. The scope of work I proposed I discussed was reduced as it wasnt all needed, and the work itself was carried out to a high standard
I had my trees done recently and the four gentlemen did a great job. Very professional and cleared all fallen debris at the end. Will definitely use the company again.