North York Moors National Park/NYM/2022/0692

Location

Approximate location

Proposal

The 4 ash trees concerned (or five as mentioned in the attached report) are on the east side of the road on the west side of the centre of Carlton-in-Cleveland. Two (or three) are opposite Winander and two the Watson Scout Centre, on land belonging to the two properties. The trees are affected by ash die-back, have several dead or dying branches and all are covered with ivy (hence the question as to whether there are four or five). The tree furthest to the south sways quite alarmingly in breezy conditions and a large branch fell from it during strong winds in Feb initiating my concerns, esp as adjacent to public highway. I asked three tree surgeons for their opinion and all confirmed trees had ash die-back and needed to be reduced in size or cut down completely. Report 18.3.22 from NYMNPA's Arboriculturalist - John Clayton of JK Arboriculture. I would propose to reduce the trees down to about a half to a third of the present height, about five to 10 metres, especially branches that overhang the road, and depending on how diseased they are found to be - uncertain at present due to the ivy. The one to the south almost certainly needs to be taken down to hedge height, about two metres. I would retain the ivy growth on them as far as possible in the interests of wildlife conservation. Hopefully, re-growth from the trees will be healthy and they will not need replacing. If re-growth is not disease free, there are a few ash and oak saplings between the trees that might eventually take their place. Part of the adjacent hawthorn hedging could also be left to grow up. Since it takes 6 weeks for the Authority to make a decision and birds were starting to nest at the time, I decided to put off any work on the trees until the Autumn - hence the application now. I have discussed the trees, and the various opinions, with Mr Peter Barden, Chairman of the Scouts? Committee that run the Watson Scout Centre. He agrees fully about the state of the trees and the proposed work and that

Key dates

1. Received 21 Sept 2022
2. Started 21 Sept 2022
3. Decided 28 Oct 2022

Planning history / related applications

No related planning applications have been identified in the current public OGL dataset.