COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

QUESTION NO. 4

QUESTION: Councillor G. O'Connell

"To ask the Chief Executive for a report on the Tree Strategy for this Area Committee, to include (a) the number of requests from residents for action on particular trees since September 2015, (b) the number of trees that are still on the “to do” and (c) what is the average time between a tree being reported and action being taken?"

REPLY:

In regard to requests for tree works, for the period September 1, 2015 to November 30, 2017, the Council has received 8,429 enquiries relating to trees via the Council's Customer Contact System.  These enquiries are categorised under the headings of ‘Tree Inspection’ (643 enquiries), 'Tree Planting' (406 enquiries), 'Tree Pruning' (4,383 enquiries) 'Tree Removal' (2,898 enquiries) and ‘Tree Stump Removal’ (99 enquiries).  The Council's Customer Contact System does not have the facility to analyse the data on enquiries received by Area Committee.

During the same period September 1, 2015 to November 30, 2017, the Council has carried out 10,250 Tree Inspections across the county. Tree maintenance works involving tree pruning or removal has been carried out on over 6,700 trees. Over 1,100 tree stumps have been removed and since renewal of the Council’s annual tree planting programme in 2016, over 1,200 new trees have been planted.

It is important to recognise that not all requests for tree maintenance received by the Council result in a requirement for action. Some requests require no action, others do not require immediate action and can be addressed within the planned programme of works for an area while other issues may implicate a tree in a matter that can be resolved by an alternative action that does not require remedial works to the tree.

Since 2016, the focus of the annual Tree Maintenance Programme is on entire roads or whole estates as opposed to acting on isolated requests for arboricultural works. This represents a move away from reactive pruning of individual trees on a one off basis to a planned programme of maintenance. The objective of this approach is to increase the efficiency and productivity of the tree maintenance crews and to advance a proactive programme of cyclical pruning that is targeted at priority locations where intervention is most needed to yield wider community benefit.

In order to further increase efficiency in planning and delivery of the Council’s tree maintenance service, a 3 Year Rolling Programme of Tree Maintenance has been put in place for 2017-2019. The programme is informed and prioritised based on increased knowledge of the health and condition of our trees across the county through ongoing tree inspections and on cluster analysis of customer care enquiries as they relate to trees.  A report on the delivery of the Tree Managment Programme in 2017 is being presented to at this December meeting of the Lucan Area Committee.

In addition to the planned whole estate and road programme, reactive and emergency works are carried out on individually located trees as necessary in order to manage risks to the public. This service is for dangerous trees such as trees with large hanging branches, where a tree is in danger of falling, or where a tree has actually fallen. If a tree is identified as posing an immediate and present danger, action will be taken to make the tree safe. Emergency works are also carried out where a tree is rendered hazardous as a result of severe weather conditions.  Emergency and reactive tree works will normally take priority over the planned programme of tree maintenance works in estates 

The timeframe between receipt of a request for tree maintenance and action taken, if required, varies depending on the level of priority assigned to the action.  Any tree-related emergencies are referred for immediate action in accordance with the Council’s emergency procedures. Non-emergency tree enquiries are listed for inspection.  Following inspection where it is identified that tree works are required, they are categorised and will be included for attention on the Council’s annual Tree Maintenance Programme in accordance with a priority based system.  This system of prioritisation and the timeframes involved are detailed in the Council's Tree Management Policy 'Living With Trees'.  Typically, the target for completion of works categorised as 'High Priority' is within 3 months ranging to 'Medium Priority Works' where the target for action is within 12 months to 'Low Priority Works' where the action period is 24 months+.