Tree Felling: Subsidence

(asked on 6th June 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to work with the (a) the buildings insurance industry and (b) local authorities to find alternatives to tree felling where insurance companies claim trees as liabilities due to subsidence risk.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 9th June 2022

We will be introducing the new Duty to Consult on street tree felling, as mandated in the Environment Act 2021, which will increase the awareness and transparency in decision making on street trees and create a space for the public to contribute to these decisions. We are currently developing appropriate guidance for the new Duty to Consult and will be seeking to commence the measure in 2023.

We are also working to produce best practice guidance for local authorities to produce their own local tree and woodland strategies, supporting local authorities to expand, manage and protect local treescapes. The guidance will be in the form of a toolkit for Local Tree and Woodland Strategies and will be published by the Tree Council.

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