Issue - meetings

Report of Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control, Councillor Mike Collins

RESOLVED THAT:

1.            the Cheltenham Tree Strategy is approved and the Director of Planning and Building Control is delegated in consultation with Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control to make any minor amendments prior to publication;

2.            the Director of Planning and Building Control in consultation with Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control is delegated to make any amendments arising from future reviews of the Tree Strategy to ensure it remains relevant and up to date as a management tool.

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control said it is his great pleasure to present CBC’s first-ever Tree Strategy.  It includes tree management policies for trees under council ownership, as well as a ‘Trees in Planning Action Plan’ which outlines how we can engage with the planning process and improve stakeholder engagement to protect existing trees and promote new planting through development.  He said CBC manages and is responsible for a huge stock of trees in the town, and the need for such a strategy has become increasingly relevant in the face of climate change, resource constraints, community pressures and concerns, and the need to balance development with environmental stewardship.  The strategy will strengthen the impact that our beautiful trees have on us all.

Members welcomed the report and strategy, and made the following comments:

-       we should be very grateful to previous generations who had the insight to plant trees in the Promenade and Royal Well, but it is a misconception to say we have a lot of trees in Cheltenham when there are clearly huge parts of town with very few.  The strategy will address the imbalance in green canopy cover from east to west, promoting the huge benefit of trees for health and wellbeing and shade;

-       the audit of tree coverage across the town is most insightful and it is great that areas where trees are sparse will have special focus;

-       thanks to all officers, especially the two excellent trees officers who know and care so well for all the town’s trees.

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control agreed, and confirmed that CBC and Cheltenham residents really value our trees, but with the canopy cover at just 9%, we can surely do better. 

RESOLVED THAT:

1.            the Cheltenham Tree Strategy is approved and the Director of Planning and Building Control is delegated in consultation with Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control to make any minor amendments prior to publication;

2.            the Director of Planning and Building Control in consultation with Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control is delegated to make any amendments arising from future reviews of the Tree Strategy to ensure it remains relevant and up to date as a management tool.