Harlesden Neighbourhood Plan and Trees

Following yesterday's post, I thought it would be worth adding the tree guidance that appears in the Harlesden Neighbourhood Plan passed at the end of May.  This says:

“8.27. It is realistic to provide new areas of public open space only on development or redevelopment of large sites. Given the lack of breaks in the urban environment, and of opportunities to provide new ones, greening of streets through tree planting is a way of improving the environment of the area. As well as improving the visual attractiveness of streets, trees help to mitigate the effects of climate change. Trees also reduce pollution and the impacts of pollution on health. Trees can act as both a visual and an acoustic barrier, softening the hard edges of the built form, screening residential properties from road traffic and absorbing traffic noise. It is also accepted that it is important to continue removing and replacing existing trees where these may be causing a nuisance or result in excessive maintenance.

8.28. London Plan policy for development is that existing trees of value should be retained and any loss as the result of development should be replaced following the principle of ‘right place, right tree’.”

The wording of the policy is:

Policy E8 – Tree provision

There should be appropriate mitigation for the loss of trees on development, including a contribution towards the planting of new street trees locally if new trees cannot be provided on site.

One of the priorities for any CIL funding in the Neighbourhood Plan area will be for the provision of new street trees.

These policies cover the current controversy over trees in Furness Road, which is a road that has also been subject to concern over the quality of its pavements and "walkability"