2019 - Briefing Note on the DEFRA Consultation Protecting and enhancing England's trees and woodlands
I welcome and support this Consultation as a recognition that a serious threat to our national best interest exists in the form of rogue local politicians mismanaging urban trees against the wishes of their local communities. Although this Consultation has a focus on detail, I believe that there is some value in stepping back to look at the strategic overview first, and fill in the detail later. I support the creation of a national tree and woodland strategy, as advocated and developed by Trees and Design Action Group (TDAG), with its core principles that tree value must be factored into built‐environment decision making, and that it is compulsory for all local planning authorities (LPAs) to develop, publish, adopt, and follow an urban tree management strategy.