Cork City Council Tree Strategy

CHAPTER 9 POLICY SUMMARY, ACTION PLAN, AND MONITORING [9.1] Summary of Internal Policies

Public Tree Care and Management

No.

Internal Policy

1 Any work to all Cork City Council owned trees will be carried out in accordance with details set out in Cork City Council Public Tree Care Policies and Management Standards.

2 Cork City Council tree work will be prioritised and carried out according to identified hazard or risk, as established in the Cork City Council Public Tree Care Management Standards.

3 Cork City Council’s management of trees will be balanced and proportionate to the actual risks from trees, and in balancing tree risks and benefits.

Public trees will only be removed as a last resort option after all alternative solutions have been explored and will only be considered in the following circumstances, based on the written recommendation of a suitably qualified and experienced arborist:

A. Safety Hazard: A tree is dead/dying and/or is considered hazardous due to its poor structural and/or physiological condition and leaving deadwood in place for biodiversity purposes is not a feasible option with regard to surrounding uses.

B. Significantly Diseased: A tree is significantly diseased and may infect other tree stock or create a safety hazard. (It is noted that many trees show some level of disease, and some trees may live a considerable time with some signs of disease without causing harm.) C. Poorly Established: tree is poorly established and is being removed to facilitate planting of a replacement tree that will have potential to have a long-term positive impact in terms of longevity and ecosystem service value. (Given the time frame it takes a tree to reach maturity, delaying the removal process can negatively impact on the city’s overall canopy cover.)

D. Causing Structural Damage: Instances where a tree that has been proven to be causing significant structural damage that cannot be resolved through reasonable alternative solutions.

E. Unavoidable Loss to Facilitate Significant Development: Removal of a tree where it has been demonstrated through the planning process that the tree cannot be integrated into the design of significant building/infrastructural works, cannot reasonably be relocated, and whose ecological, health, cultural, and monetary value is assessed as having a relatively lower overall value than the works themselves.

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