Another environmental consultation to consider this month was released by Defra on Sunday 30th December: Protecting and Enhancing England's Trees and Woodlands.
This consultation seeks views on the UK government’s proposals to introduce four new measures designed to increase transparency and accountability in the process of felling street trees and to strengthen the Forestry Commission’s power to tackle illegal tree felling.
Two of the measures introduce new duties on local authorities: a duty to consult on the felling of street trees; a duty to report on tree felling and replanting; while the third suggests the production of best practice guidance to support local authorities in drawing up, consulting on and publishing a Tree and Woodland Strategy.
There is huge value in trees to quality of life in urban areas, and so consultation is welcomed after the considerable concerns seen across the country, particularly Sheffield who have lost over 5,500 street trees in the last 5 years, of irresponsible tree felling from councils without due consideration of their impact on biodiversity, heath, pollution, wellbeing, the economy and more.
The consultation closes on 28 February 2019.
Complete the online survey questions on Protecting and Enhancing England’s Trees and Woodlands consultations via this link: Online Survey