Since my opening blog I’ve been working on a number of different business development opportunities, for example:

1. inventory surveys, with my colleague Freddy Brookes the Senior Ecologist, for a major Housing Association – some 4,000 communal trees to be located using a proprietary tree management database package. We’ll check for tree health and condition, and for protected species habitat (particularly bats) and try to provide our customer with an idea of what they need to do to discharge their duty of care and how much it will cost them over a five year period

2. an expression of interest for a research project that will consider how to retain long lived and large growing trees in urban environments, part of the developing interest in green infrastructure

3. an expression of interest in a project that will seek to bring together those with a need for a tree-related product or service and those who may be able to fill those needs

Jonathan

Welcome

Welcome to my first blog - I'm not sure of the protocol, but that's never stopped me before.

I am the Head of Arboriculture for Parkwood Consultancy Services specialising in hazard tree evaluation and risk assessment, woodland management, tree and woodland ecology, and the interactions between trees and the built form.

I am also responsible for tendering for new business and then implementing and project managing a wide range of instructions, including their quality assurance, from:

1. individual tree inspections and large-scale tree inventory surveys

2. development site tree surveys to BS5837:2005

3. development site EPS surveys and EPS mitigation strategies

4. tree risk management strategies and plans

5. green infrastructure development plans

6. contract and project management

I have filled the role of contractor, custodian, client, consultant and charity manager, and have dealt with policy issues with both industry regulators and government departments. I was the Director of Arboriculture for Glendale Countryside until December 2007, a board level appointment with full operational responsibility for a tree care business with a turnover of around £3M. Prior to joining Glendale I had been

1. the first Technical Director appointed by the Arboricultural Association,

2. part of an innovative team in Milton Keynes that oversaw the rapid development of the green infrastructure surrounding the New City, and

3. in 1982 I started my professional career as Tree Officer to Northampton Borough Council.

I'm currently involved in a providing a surveying service for Oxford City Council through my trusted colleague Henry Keays and am involved in negotiations with a number of potential clients for tree advice, in a variety of formats.

More in due course!

Jonathan