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Government, parliament and public body documents

Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra)
England Trees Action Plan (2021). Available here.

Environmental Audit Committee
Biodiversity in the UK – bloom or bust? (June 2021).
How to improve biodiversity in the UK.
Available here.

Recent consultation responses

TDAG actively responds to consultations on draft policy documents, guidance and standards which impact upon trees in the built environment. A copy of our past responses to such public consultations can be found below.​
 
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)
  • Future Buildings Standard (2021)
  • National Planning Policy Framework (2021). Available here
  • Planning for the Future (2020). Available here
  • Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission TDAG briefing note on trees as infrastructure (2019). Available here.
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Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra)
  • The England Tree Strategy Consultation (2020) Submitted Response. Available here
  • Defra Clean Air Strategy (2019).
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Recent Select Committee Evidence
  • Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee Inquiry into Permitted Development Rights (2021).​ ​

TDAG articles

Sue James, a founding member of TDAG, explains why successful urban tree planting should matter to engineers
Collaboration is key and engineers have a vital role to play working within any team. Read the full article and the blog for the Institution of Civil Engineers here.

TDAG is pleased to support the Town and Country Planning Association’s Healthy Homes Campaign
Our thought piece on the proposal here.

External resources

Building with Nature – updated standards (BwN 2.0)
The Standards retain the four themes of Core, Wellbeing, Water, and Wildlife, however there are now only 12 Standards in total, making it easy for residential and commercial developers to design and deliver high-quality green infrastructure. Two new Standards, focusing on the climate emergency and on ‘place-keeping’, are now included.
Available here. 

Streets for a Healthy Life (Issue 01), Homes England
This draft document has been released by Homes England as a companion to Building for a Healthy Life and Manual for Streets. It provides that vital missing element of what good, adopted residential streets should look like and how they should function. TDAG is pleased to be a member of the Sounding Board and supports this document as a valuable addition to the growing body of knowledge focused on ‘how to get it right’. Streets for a Healthy Life is referenced in TDAG’s own Trees, Planning and Development: A Guide for Delivery. Both documents are designed to be read on line and revised over time. Available here.

So You Want to Plant More Trees?
TDAG is very pleased to have written the text for the latest Green Cities document – So You Want to Plant More Trees? A guide to commissioning and managing tree-planting, for councillors and other local decision-makers. The document is free to download here.
 
Any client or commissioning decision-maker is a major player in the success or not of tree planting and ongoing management. All those concerned in planning this document felt that this is an area that would benefit from further guidance. It was produced as part of the Green Cities for a Sustainable Europe project managed in the UK by the Green Infrastructure Partnership, supported by the TCPA and on behalf of the Horticultural Trades Association. Full details available here: https://uk.thegreencity.eu.

Greater Lyon Tree Charter: a must-read!
The Greater Lyon Tree Charter is now available in English. The Charter was designed by the Greater Lyon Authority as a partnership-building tool to enhance the long-term management of trees across France's third largest city. It offers a set of common principles, together with a powerful rationale for action and a rich set of ideas for implementation for wide ranging audiences. So far, over 100 local and national stakeholders (including Greater Lyon's 59 boroughs, utility companies, the French equivalent of the UK's Landscape Institute, some tree nurseries, etc.) have signed the Charter, committing themselves to adhere to its Principles and to develop their own action plan for implementation. Both the approach and the recommendations featured in the Greater Lyon Tree Charter are highly relevant and directly applicable to the management of trees in towns and cities on this side of the Channel. Available here.
 
Street Design Standards – Briefing Sheet 2020
Institution of Civil Engineers, Urban Design Group, PRIAN and TDAG.

This briefing sheet sets out current and withdrawn practice for street design standards. This will inform and empower urban designers, tree officers, highway designers and planners to ensure that current standards are applied to all street design projects whether new developments or retrofitting. Available here.