Wirral Tree Wardens
Click on the image above for Wirral's Tree, Hedgerow and Woodland strategy. The executive summary can be found at this LINK and the report for public consultation can be found HERE
The Strategy for Wirral's Trees, Hedgerows and Woodlands is the result of work by Wirral Tree Warden Network with other members of Wirral Initiative on Trees and Wirral Council with the support, advice and help from Forest Research and especially from the Tree Council. This is a link to a document which was produced for the Council cabinet. The strategy was formally adopted by Wirral Council on 27th July 2020, coming into effect on 5th August 2020:
"RESOLVED: That
(1) the recommendations of the scrutiny panel’s review of the Wirral Tree Strategy be noted and endorsed:
(2) the Wirral Tree Strategy be noted and endorsed;
(3) the creation of an advisory board made up of Council representatives and partners to monitor progress against the Strategy’s objectives and action plan be approved;
(4) the Director of Neighbourhood Services be authorised to develop the action plan to fully implement the Strategy; and
(5) it be noted that the Tree Strategy can be a material consideration in planning applications and therefore a matter that will be taken into account in delegated officer decision making and decisions of the Planning Committee."
the Tree Strategy Advisory Board brings together Wirral initiative on Trees (including the local Tree Wardens) with other expert and interested groups to meet Council members and staff and review the working of the Strategy, which is a living and evolving way of improving, extending and making better use of Wirral's Treescape
Can you help us? The current laws that protect trees say that you should first consider "the amenity value of trees.*
It's hard to define "amenity." – ideas include that it looks good, it makes an important part of the landscape, it's one of the markers of boundaries, it frames a distant view - or it hides an ugly eyesore behind it- all these and many more might be why people want to keep certain trees - but we need to collect a few more instances – what do you think makes a tree a significant part of our environment and our landscape?
At the moment, neither national legislation nor local tree strategies give automatic protection to veteran or ancient trees, or ones with local heritage significance. There might be very old trees, twisted, gnarled with character. They might have stories that grew up around them. They might look old, but in most cases they will continue to grow and thrive for many, many years. One estimate is that there are 2 million unrecognised ancient, veteran and heritage trees – what can you see? Can you add them to the Ancient Tree Inventory? It’ll help identify what we need to protect.