Tree Preservation Orders
Rother District Council (RDC) (not Battle Town Council) are responsible for making Tree Preservation Orders (TPO). However, it is not a statutory function but it is considered important to the RDC to try and protect the environment and hence they will consider TPO requests where these are considered suitable and while budgetary constraints allow. Requests are also made by planning officers when processing planning applications. The making of TPO’s is however, not the end of the story as any proposal for works to a TPO (or tree in a conservation area) requires consent from the Council and hence has on-going resource implications for the council.
Since January 2017 to July 2015 RDC records show they have made 83 new TPO’s. This equates to approx. 10 TPOs each year across the whole of Rother. RDC do not have a Tree Officer, so this workload is high. These numbers do not include the number of requests where a TPO has not been made.
Recording Trees
With all of this in mind we want to try a new approach that engages the people of Battle. When you are out and about and come across a local tree you like we want you to record and plot it. This process has the potential to identify trees that have a high public amenity value, as well as those that are healthy and may be at risk. All these are important factors in considering whether a tree(s) is suitable for TPO (tree preservation order). We hope we will be able to filter those most suitable and put them forward to RDC.