Jonathan Hazell

2011-03-11T03:33:00.000-08:00

What’s going on?
My team of three arboricultural assessors is now fully deployed in Nuneaton – we have to carry out an inventory survey to provide 7000 records by the end of March. We’re using ArcGIS10 on HP iPAQs, seems to be quite efficient so far – the weather is great so far, set to change at the weekend though which is a bit of a nuisance.

After Nuneaton we go back into Tamworth and complete the survey for the Borough Council there, then the team may well split up – one to go back to Nuneaton for a new style of target lead survey, the others to go back to Oxford to pick up where we left off.

New opportunities
I’ve made a number of proposals to architects and developers recently, is that an indication that the market is coming back to life, or that my profile has risen? I know that there are no end of alternative propositions available whenever I make my proposal and so the client is often required to make a leap of faith when selecting an appropriate consultant.

TWITTER!
Don’t forget, you can continue to follow my bite-sized ramblings on Twitter –

/PCSArb

NOS Reveiw

2011-01-12T04:44:00.000-08:00

Lantra SSC's review of the Trees and Timber National Occupational Standards (NOS) is now building up a head of steam, and I am fortunate (is that really true?!) to be able to represent arboriculture on the Steering Group.

I am going to need help in the next few weeks and months and so I may be asking all my contacts for their contribution to the debate - remember, if we in the industry, the end users of the qualififations that will derive from the NOS, want to make changes then we need to be engaged and involved!

I'll also be using Twitter to send brief messages about the current state of play, find me @HazellTowers

Season’s Greetings

2010-12-24T04:19:00.000-08:00

As the dog sled of time makes its way across the wintry landscape, pausing under leaden skies only long enough to cock a leg at Old Father Time, all that remains is for me, and the late, great, Humph, to wish you all the very best for Christmas and the new year!

For that last minute Christmas present, why not a single-user licence for ARBORtrack? It’s a great programme, but we only scratch the surface of it’s complex functionality and so I’m looking to forward it to a new home –

www.arbortrack.com

TWITTER!
Don’t forget, you can continue to follow my bite-sized ramblings on Twitter –

@HazellTowers

A wintery tale

2010-12-20T07:54:00.000-08:00

Since I last posted we’ve had a significant dump of snow and our surveying in Oxford has ground to a halt – my team simply cannot see enough detail to make a realistic comment upon tree condition.

www.oxford.gov.uk

I’ve also been to a meeting at Nuneaton and Bedworth Council to discuss the service that we currently deliver, and how we can improve our service for the client team so maintaining everyone’s duty of care.

www.nuneatonandbedworth.gov.uk

I had an instruction from Shire Consulting to provide a number of tree assessments on primary school sites in Birmingham – demographic changes (as well as some political changes I suspect) have lead to plans to re-develop some school sites and so my client wanted detail of tree species and of ultimate height as an aid to foundation design. But, I am a bit down the food chain, I wonder if Shire know that I exist?

www.shire-uk.com

TWITTER!
Since my last blog I’ve gone and joined Twitter – I don’t know if it will do any good but you can follow my bite-sized ramblings @HazellTowers

www.twitter.com/search/HazellTowers

should get you there, he said optimistically!

I hope that you all have a great Christmas, and I look forward to welcoming you back in the new year!

A winter’s tale

2010-12-10T09:51:00.000-08:00

We have now got our new ICT, ArcGIS10 from ESRI UK, I’ve no idea how to use it just yet but my team of field-based assessors have migrated from the previous software package to the new, without apparently too much trouble . . .

http://www.esriuk.com

My children are delighted that I’ve now moved into the 1990s with my very own PDA, a least I can now access some of the sites that I need for work whilst on the move. The PDA supports Excel and so I should be able to carry out simple surveys myself without constantly referring to an IT self-help book!

The weather has played havoc with fieldwork, but we are not alone in having to deal with that particular complication.

Practically speaking
The data sets for Oxford Homes have been submitted, I think that our team on the ground have done realy well, there are issues behind the scenes with how data is being presented but that’s no reflection on Henry and Nick.

http://oxford.gov.uk

We’re now busy working through the public open spaces, a rather bigger project than any of us expected – we’ll need to add more capacity in the New Year, so if you are interested make contact!

Jonathan.Hazell@parkwood-holdings.co.uk

The job for Tamworth has begun well, and we have found a very good young surveyor to lead that project for us – he knows his stuff and can share his enthusiasm and knowledge with others.

http://www.tamworth.gov.uk/

I’ve carried out a number of tree surveys on primary school sites in Birmingham to help foundation designers working on proposals to redevelop the sites to increase their capacity.

We are about to move onto the next stage of the inventory survey for Glendale in Nuneaton, the winter survey. I’m using an established local consultant to help on that, part of the learning from the now infamous job for the still un-named housing organisation!

http://www.glendale-services.co.uk/

http://www.nuneatonandbedworth.gov.uk/

Oh dear reader, that project, for the (still) un-named housing organisation has highlighted certain of my failings, such as the inability to exert sufficient quality control measures! The work has been submitted, and rejected as a sample of the output reviewed by the client was deemed to be of an inferior quality. It remains an unhappy experience for me, but I have held on to the learning!

Small instructions continue to pop up; some provide the opportunity to work with other disciplines on site, such as urban designers, others are the preserve of the solitary arboriculturist.

Expressly interesting
Since I last blogged (is that really a word?) I am more convinced that the market for sizable opportunities has stagnated, small jobs still cross my desk but nothing substantial. Is that the influence of the economic downturn, the coalition’s spending plans or my reputation – who can tell!

An autumnal update

2010-10-07T01:19:00.000-07:00

I’ve now got two substantial pieces of long-term work, with Oxford and with Glendale in Nuneaton, as well as a big one-off project with Tamworth, and so I have decided to ask my line manager and his colleagues for their approval to spend some money to upgrade our ICT.

We currently use a variety of software applications (both niche and generic) on a number of different data loggers – there are compatibility problems within and between each application and so I’ve made the decision to migrate everything that we do onto the ArcGIS platform from ESRI and to generally use PDAs for data capture. There will be occasions when “near enough is not good enough” and so we will roll out the TruPulse to help get a better fix (wasn’t he one of Asterix’s mates?) on specific assets.

http://www.esriuk.com

http://www.asterix.com/

All being well next time I venture into the blogosphere I’ll let you know how we are getting on!

I now have a new colleague, Jenny Esdon, an experienced landscape manager and member of the Landscape Institute, and I’m sure that Jenny and I will be able to work together on future projects.

http://www.landscapeinstitute.org/

The changing season
Autumn has arrived and with it a certain unpredictability creeps in –
1. will the weather hold throughout the day?
2. what fungus IS that?
3. which species or variety of broadleaf is that, now all the leaves are turning off?

I hope to be able to help out on the weather front (but only by providing a decent coat, my powers don’t extend very far you know!) and with fungal idents (by adding a variety of images and prompts and so on to the PDA), but the tree ident has to remain the responsibility of the field staff!

Practically speaking
We have now completed the fieldwork for a complete tree inventory and hazard assessment survey for Oxford Homes, we’ve been to every property that they manage and have assessed trees in front gardens, communal areas AND in rear gardens. Unusually, but I believe quite wisely, Oxford Homes have taken the decision to be aware of and responsible for all trees that might be within influencing distance of their properties and residents.

http://oxford.gov.uk

The job for Tamworth has begun well and we have established a good working relationship with our client and have begun to share a common understanding of the assessment and prioritisation of tree hazards and associated risks.

http://www.tamworth.gov.uk/

We have completed an “in-leaf” inventory survey for Glendale in Nuneaton, the winter survey will begin in October, to give us a chance to spot any fungal fruiting bodies that may be evident and to assess the hazard that they pose.

http://www.glendale-services.co.uk/

http://www.nuneatonandbedworth.gov.uk/

Regular readers (I flatter myself!) will be keen to know about the project for the as yet un-named housing organisation! – well, I’ve now submitted all the work that I can and I hope to have closed out the project. It has not been a happy experience for me but I have learnt much during the execution (and I use the word wisely) of the job.

I have now received clarification and clarity over the time allowed in the Consent to work on trees covered by TPO in a private road near Solihull. I have invited a local contractor to give me his best price for the first instalment, the removal of horse chestnut badly affected by leaf miner and by bleeding canker.

Small instructions pop up every so often; some provide the opportunity to work with other disciplines on site, such as the ecologists, others are more solitary affairs!

Expressly interesting
Since I last blogged (is that really a word?) I get the impression that the market has stagnated, opportunities across the board have dried up – I must do more to raise my profile and so come to the attention of those who want or need arboricultural advice!

Torpor? No, frenetic activity!

2010-09-08T07:36:00.000-07:00

I suspect that I’ve broken the rules, written or unwritten, of blogging by being inactive for such a long time but it’s not torpor that’s been holding me back, far from it!

Practically speaking
The job for Tamworth Borough Council is about to get going,

http://www.tamworth.gov.uk/

I’ve got my team on site now testing our ICT solution and submitting sample data sets to the Tree Officer, Marc Budge.

I can begin to see a pinprick of light expanding into a pool, that I can only presume means the end of the tunnel that has been the Registered Social Landlord’s project – but it is still in need of completion! The engagement of experienced project managers (experience in both arboriculture and delivering large scale projects) made a significant difference to progress and quality assurance, as did the hiring of more boots on the ground.

A survey for a sister company has gone well; I look forward to a repeat visit to the Midlands later in the year.

A tree management project that has been submitted to planners for their consideration has been given the go-ahead – the population is in a private road near Solihull. I hope to have clarification on the timelines for the project shortly, my proposal was that the work be spread over five years, the consent as granted refers to only two years.

We have now completed the survey of the trees in the housing areas for Oxford City Council – it is my understanding from my team on the ground that the project has gone well, the IT has been a bit of a bore on occasion but we have now submitted a seamless data set of in excess of 20,000 records to the client. The next phase will see us move into the parks and open spaces, my ambition is to provide a team of up to four surveyors to get on to the ground whilst the weather remains favourable and the species can be identified and any fungi noted!

Unfortunately Buckinghamshire County Council have withdrawn the PQQ for the management of thier green spaces, I am not sure why – I was looking forward to the project and I hope that there will be other similar opportunities.

Expressly interesting
My impression is that whilst some opportunities are drying up – there seem to have been fewer enquiries for development site tree surveys in recent weeks – other areas, or perhaps groups of clients, remain buoyant.

A triumph (no, not England in South Africa!)

2010-06-28T11:20:00.000-07:00

Practically speaking
Fantastic news! I’ve recently been instructed to carry out an inventory survey for Tamworth Borough Council

http://www.tamworth.gov.uk/

and spent a very happy morning last week with the Tree Officer, Marc Budge, looking at the variety of trees that he is responsible for, and their settings – highway verges (very familiar from my days in Milton Keynes) to parks and gardens.

I can add nothing to my most recent comment about the Registered Social Landlord’s project - it is still nearing completion! I have sought support from an experienced project manager and his ability to oversee the daily progress of the project is making a big difference to me.

For more about the particular tree management software that we are using then access the ARBORtrack web site at:

http://www.arbortrack.com/main.asp

Another tree management project concerns a population under TPO in a private road near Solihull, a mix of limes and horse chestnut, some in good condition, some in terminal decline. I have submitted an application for consent to work on those trees over a five-year period; I look forward to learning the local planning authority’s view of my proposals.

I visited West Ealing last week to start the long-term management of the tree population at the Hanger Hill Garden Estate, an Arts and Crafts development in West London. I have carried out the walkover survey, that which remains (in this phase!) is the post-processing of the data (tabulating all my field notes!) and its analysis before developing tender documents for the priority tree works.

Our project for Oxford City Council is going well, we are approaching the end of the data capture for the housing managers and will shortly move into the open spaces.

I have submitted a PQQ for Buckinghamshire County Council for the management of thier green spaces:

http://tinyurl.com/36cqmpa

I look forward to hearing good news and to being invited to contribute to the next phase!

Expressly interesting
Along with a number of development site tree surveys to the requirements of BS5837 I’ve expressed interest in a project advertised in Horticulture Week

http://www.hortweek.com/

for the Environment Agency in Yorkshire, Northumbria and North Derbyshire, but have not yet heard from them

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/

Another initiative makes reference to the UK Woodland Assurance Standard

http://tinyurl.com/3yfoun4

and so I shall be conducting some research into how I can get the group registered under the scheme.

Looking ahead!

2010-06-10T03:52:00.000-07:00

Practically speaking
The Registered Social Landlord’s project is (still!) nearing completion; the process of transcribing the field notes into ARBORtrack is drawing to a close, and there’s a meeting scheduled for early next week. Much has been learned from this project that will be borne in mind when making future offers!

A second project that relies upon using ARBORtrack can be re-booted once the project above has been signed off.

If you are interested in learning more about the tree management software, and new developments that are planned, then access the ARBORtrack web site at:

http://www.arbortrack.com/main.asp

Since my last post, of 9 April, I have had eight more enquiries for tree surveys on development sites to BS5837, of those I have already been instructed to complete three, and a fourth is on going.

My presentation to the RFS/RASE Tree Diseases Conference was duly delivered, and was as predicted nerve-wracking stuff. My thesis on the day was that the title I was given, “Tree diseases and the arboriculture industry – an overview” could not be addressed, as there was not one, single, homogenous community that was being affected by tree diseases. The question that I could not answer was how can those with knowledge to impart reach out to all those practitioners to improve the overall quality of amenity tree care?

All of the speakers’ presentations are now available from the RASE website

http://tinyurl.com/39qpuv8

Another ongoing project concerns the management of the tree population in a private road near Solihull, a mix of limes and horse chestnut, some in good condition, some in terminal decline.

After a troubled gestation I hope to become involved in the long-term management of another tree population, at an Arts and Crafts estate in West London – colleagues in Glendale may become involved in the grounds maintenance.

For detail about the range of green services that Glendale can provide see

http://www.glendale-services.co.uk

Our project for Oxford City Council is going well, we are approaching the end of the data capture for the housing managers and will shortly move into the open spaces.

Expressly interesting
Along with a number of development site tree surveys to the requirements of BS5837 I’ve expressed interest in a project advertised in Horticulture Week

http://www.hortweek.com/

for the Environment Agency - they require tree work throughout England, but predominantly in Yorkshire, Northumbria and North Derbyshire

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/

Another expression of interest is for a Country Parks and Green Spaces Project for Buckinghamshire County Council,

http://tinyurl.com/36cqmpa

I have “form” in this area – I drew on many happy years working in Milton Keynes

http://www.theparkstrust.com/parks-trust/

when I submitted my bid for the management of Northamptonshire’s country parks:

http://tinyurl.com/2ukqj7s

I elected to withdraw toward the end of that process because of concerns over my ability to correctly interpret the financial data that had been supplied. Let's hope that I can go further with Bucks CC!

Another initiative makes reference to the UK Woodland Assurance Standard

http://tinyurl.com/3yfoun4

and so I shall be conducting some research into how I can get the group registered under the scheme.

March is nearly over!

2010-04-09T03:34:00.000-07:00

Practically speaking
The project for the Registered Social Landlord is nearing completion!

· I have recovered all of the OS MasterMap data that I can, but there are some addresses that we can not locate, and some we could not find on the ground
· I have had a lot of support from field assessors, for which I thank you all
· the plan of attack seems to have worked well in practice
· we have a huge library of annotated sketches and lists of the scheme attributes
· we now need to press on with the post-processing into ARBORtrack

http://www.arbortrack.com/main.asp

So far all the planning seems to have been worthwhile and we have been generating invoices for our client.

An on-going tree inventory survey has taken a back seat whilst we await the repair of our tablet pc. In the meantime we have carried out a walkover survey of the client estate and satisfied ourselves from that exercise that there is noting crashingly urgent to be done. When the tablet is returned we’ll do the survey proper.

I have undertaken five small instructions for BS5837 surveys so far this year, an increase of four on last year (or 400%, whichever sounds better!) – but what exactly is that an indication of? The much heralded (and oh so important) economic recovery, a concern about a likely increase in VAT, better visibility of the service that I can offer, an improved product from me as I gain more experience?

I’ve been working on a presentation to the RFS/RASE Tree Diseases Conference – nerve-wracking stuff talking to 250 people who know their subject. Thank goodness I only have 15 minutes to pontificate upon “Tree diseases and the arboriculture industry – an overview” – so I’ve got the opportunity to be the advocate for the arboricultural community and to share experiences of diagnosing tree diseases, and the consequences of those diagnoses. Sadly, the response from the community has been typically poor, but those who have helped have done so unreservedly and with great generosity.

http://www.rfs.org.uk/ and http://www.rase.org.uk/

A project that I need to work up is a management plan for the tree population in a private road near Solihull, a mix of limes and horse chestnut, some in good condition, some in terminal decline.
Operation Moshtarak has become less of an issue for our Oxford project recently – Prince Charles followed the Princess Royal’s trip to Afghanistan, but my surveyors’ ability to work was not that badly compromised during his 36-hour trip.

Expressly interesting
I was not successful at LB Waltham Forest, congratulations to Jon Mills, the Senior Arboriculturalist in Countryside & Heritage Management Services for Capita Symonds

www.capitasymonds.co.uk/arboriculture

I’ve expressed interest in a project advertised in Horticulture Week

http://www.hortweek.com/

for the Environment Agency - they require tree work throughout England, but predominantly in Yorkshire, Northumbria and North Derbyshire

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/

Steady progress toward 31 March!

2010-03-08T05:35:00.000-08:00

Expressly interesting
Well, you would believe it – the project for the Registered Social Landlord continues to take shape:
· I have recovered a lot of the OS MasterMap data, but there’s more to go,
· I have a number of would-be assessors, but I still need more if you’d like to contact me,
· the plan of attack is now established, assessors go into the field with as much research information as possible, annotate a sketch and compile their list of the scheme’s attributes.

So far all the planning seems to have been worthwhile - I hope that my client will end up smiling!
I’ve fitted in a quick tree survey for a primary school in Nottingham – I was surprised at the highly visible security measures that were in place, including the very secure fence, the locked gates, the video controlled entrances. Having said that, the playing field, especially at a distance from the school, was to my eye a disgrace – there was debris all around the margins which must have come flying over the rear garden boundaries – not the sort of environment that I would want my children to be playing in. I couldn’t quite connect the two ideas – the security and yet the casual acceptance of a litter strewn (and so dangerous) playing field.

As I expected the thunderous silence following my offer to a London borough to oversee the preparation of two sets of contract documents has meant that negotiations have been concluded with another party. Oh well, I’ve still got an opportunity to tender for the “custodial” contract, and Glendale Countryside will be able to bid for the service delivery contract.

I’m aware that the deadline for the preparation of my piece about infections for the Tree Diseases Conference organised by the RFS/RASE in April is looming. Please do keep sending your observations in to me so that my presentation can be as helpful as possible to those in the audience who are listening.

Practically speaking
The motherboard for one of (well, so far our only!) our hand-held tablet pc has failed; its replacement will add time to the project in the Midlands, where I’ve been asked to capture 7000 records.

The small service delivery contract that I was overseeing has now been completed and the Certificate of Practical Completion has been issued.

I have not heard anything for a while about the revised scheme for planning consent in Nuneaton; I remain hopeful that the development will get the green light.

Operation Moshtarak has become a delay event – let me explain!

As far as I can tell the satellites and bandwidth used to provide the international global information and positioning systems are all military, the availability of bandwidth to civilian users is discretionary (albeit prioritised).

My two surveyors in Oxford are used to seeing 12 satellites on their handheld data loggers, but when Moshtarak kicked off, and then when the Princess Royal went to Afghanistan a fortnight later, they could only locate three satellites, and their ability to work was severely compromised as a result. No, I don’t want to go back to pen and paper but . . .

February already

2010-02-02T05:12:00.000-08:00

Expressly interesting
Well, you would believe it – the project for the Registered Social Landlord is still taking shape:
· I have not yet got the resources that I will need, and
· I still need more would-be assessors or surveyors to contact me, and
· the plan of attack remains sketchy – two projects need to be delivered at the same time using one piece of computer hardware and software!

The resource planning is taking time but I hope that if I follow the maxim of the 6Ps (let alone the 7th!) I’ll end up smiling! “Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.”

I’ve organised two part-time assessors for the second job in the Midlands; one is tasked with capturing new records, the other with verifying the existing data. So far, a halting start but there’s plenty of time to go yet!

My offer to the London borough has been met by a thunderous silence – clearly I was too cautious and I suspect negotiations have been entered into with another party.

Thank you if you are one of those arboricultural professionals who has responded to my call for information about infections for the Tree Diseases Conference organised by the RFS/RASE in April. Please do keep sending your observations in to me so that my presentation can be as helpful as possible to those in the audience who are listening.

The project for the BBC in Birmingham (about salt damage to highway trees) is still exciting interest, my contacts continue to suggest locations and contributions, so my thanks to all of you.

Practically speaking
Because of the weather, and other service commitments, there is still one tree to be felled on my small service delivery contract – it’ll happen soon I’ve no doubt!

The architect has now submitted a revised scheme for planning consent in Nuneaton; I hope that the proposed development will get the green light.

After the thaw

2010-01-25T02:49:00.000-08:00

Well, all the snow has now gone, along with the ice, and so our surveyors can get back on to the ground and make their assessments with confidence.

Henry and Nick managed to break out of a snowbound Oxford to help me with a couple of jobs, one in Walsall was a BS5837:2005 survey of an industrial site, and the second in Essex was to prepare a woodland management plan for a development proposal that my colleagues are considering.

Expressly interesting
The project for the Registered Social Landlord is still taking shape:
· would-be assessors and surveyors have been approached and one or two tentative responses have been received, I still need more!
· I am waiting for eMapSite to get back to me with a quotation for the supply of the OS MasterMap extracts that the project requires, and finally
· the plan of attack is still being finalised – the job will require us to be very efficient in our data capture, there will be no opportunity to go back to re-visit sites and so we must get it right first time.

As before, if you are a competent tree assessor and you want to know more then please don’t hesitate to contact me direct!

I am meeting a potential assessor for the second job in the Midlands tomorrow, 7000 records to be captured using ARBORtrack, the client team has given me his contact details and so he comes very well recommended.

My offer to the London borough has been despatched, and as always once an offer has gone into the post I begin to worry – was I too cautious, will the price be acceptable, what about the quality assurance suggestions that I have made and so on – hopefully I’ll be put out of my misery soon!

I have contacted a wide range of arboricultural professionals in connection with a presentation I am due to make in April at a Tree Diseases Conference organised by the RFS/RASE. I’ve had a number of very interesting responses so far, but would encourage you all to keep them coming please.

I have also been contacted by the BBC in Birmingham in connection with a piece that they wish to do, to camera, about salt damage to highway trees. Once again, my contacts in industry are coming up trumps and suggesting locations and making contributions to the debate, so my thanks to all of you who have responded on this one.

In practice
The small service delivery contract has been completed, according to the contractor – by my reckoning there is still one tree to be felled!

I spent some time with the architect for the scheme in Nuneaton last week going through the response from the Tree Officer; I hope that between us we have done enough to secure the consent for the proposed development.

Welcome to January!

2010-01-15T09:34:00.000-08:00

Whatever happened to the first weeks of January?
As in previous years snow has struck (but it was in February last year as I recall) meaning that our tree assessors have been held up: it has not been possible for Henry and Nick to make as comprehensive assessment of site conditions as they would like, and so our production levels on the Oxford contract are down. We now have two hand-held data loggers on the go; both are Magellan’s MobileMapper loaded with DigiTerra software, with which Henry and Nick are becoming most proficient!

Expressly interesting
Unfortunately I decided that I could not proceed to tender for the research project for which I had been shortlisted – I felt that the brief was too open and that there was simply too much risk involved for me. I do hope that someone with an arboricultural interest, and a stronger nerve, was able to make an offer so that the industry might stand a chance of seeing an end-user’s voice as the foundation for an important guidance document.

The Registered Social Landlord’s project is taking shape, but again has been delayed by snow on the ground – there’s no chance to identify the grounds maintenance features that the client wants if all we can see is snow! I have emailed a load of would-be assessors and surveyors with information about this job, and another in the Midlands – if you want to know more then please don’t hesitate to contact me direct!

I have been working on an offer to a London borough that wants to outsource almost all of their arboricultural expertise and service delivery, this is the sort of instruction that really floats my boat and so I’m looking forward to being able to hone and burnish my offer so that it dazzles!

In practice
I’m overseeing a small service delivery contract; again the weather has played its part here. Because the site is relatively well protected, the trees are small and some of the work can be done from the ground the contractor has brought me forward in his programme. Completion is scheduled for Monday, weather permitting.

I have tried to keep our field team busy away from a snow-bound Oxford, with a couple of other projects for colleagues in the office, one in Walsall and another in Harlow. It has been very interesting for me to discuss with Nick how he can bring his experience, as a former Tree Officer, to the reports that he has drafted for those instructions.

I hope that a small project in Nuneaton can soon be put to bed; it has been most helpful to me to have the opportunity to bring a range of valuable comments from the arboricultural professionals that I deal with into my report on behalf of my client. Hopefully, the outcome will be consent for the proposed development.

Goodbye to 2009, welcome to 2010!

2009-12-31T02:58:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!
Over the past few days a number of initiatives have begun to crystallise, as ever when the key movers and shakers are on leave!

First, I have been very fortunate to secure the services of a Survey Assistant for our Oxford City Council project; Nick Burke will start with us on 4 January and give Henry Keays valuable support. Nick’s recent experience is as a Tree Officer and so not only have I been able to increase our capacity, but also capability. With that in mind I shall be able to call on Henry and Nick to undertake small instructions in the vicinity of Oxford.

The urgent tree survey for planning purposes was completed, I hope that it will prove to have been satisfactory for the client and the planners, but I must admit to feeling slightly uncomfortable: in my opinion there were no tree issues at the site that could be reasonably expected to hold up the proposed development and I fear that the report was required simply to complete the bundle of supporting documents.

Secondly, I’ve been invited to proceed to the next stage of a research project that aims “to provide authoritative and comprehensive guidance on the urban landscape design, planting, management and maintenance of large canopy trees” – I will approach this as an end-user and as a representative of the arboricultural community, as well as a commercial opportunity for Parkwood Consultancy Services – I hope I can marry those two strands together seamlessly!

The third project, for a Registered Social Landlords in the Midlands, is beginning to firm up in my mind and settle into a genuine opportunity, provided I can marry that particular project with another in the same region to spread the cost of the resource requirement.

2009-12-15T07:13:00.000-08:00

A flurry!
As the weather outside turns wintry, with eddies and flurries of sleet, I’ve had a busy morning with a couple of very promising enquiries – one for planning permission for a residential property, via an urgent BS5837:2005 tree survey, and the second for a larger scale social development where both a tree survey and a phase I habitat survey are required in order to satisfy the local planning authority.

The first I can complete before Christmas, the second will require the architect’s and developer’s plans to crystallise and firm up a little more before I go into the field.

I’ve also renewed contact with an old friend, and it looks as though a very interesting scheme, to design a target-lead survey and tree risk management plan, will see the light of day in the first quarter of 2010.

Research projects
An opportunity to further the development of a local authority’s tree strategy has been put back, but only for a couple of weeks. I’m confident that we’re on the right path and that the work we’re doing together will help all the authority’s officers to demonstrate consistent and robust tree management to both the public and to members.

I have been invited to contribute to a learned conference in the spring, with a host of other “end users” to discuss the commercial impact of tree diseases upon the arboricultural industry, from nurseryman to woodchip dealer. I must start asking searching questions!

New business? Let's hope so

2009-12-09T08:30:00.000-08:00

More interest!
One of my clients has encouraged me to investigate how I can increase my surveying capacity on his project for a short period, in order to try to align my spend with his budget for the year.

Another strong prospect seems to be emerging as a real opportunity, and so I might be in the market for another MobileMapper CX loaded with DigiTerra Explorer software early in the new year. A second prospect, for a large-scale inventory survey, that I have been nurturing for some time may begin to see the light of day before Christmas . . . Both will depend upon our ability to produce client ready data in the field and so reduce our post-processing costs to a minimum.

Research projects
As I have written before, I am interested in research projects where I might be able to address the question in my own right, or act as the “glue” to hold together and manage a team of experienced, niche, specialists in order to draw out the required response to the client’s brief.

There are a number of projects in the offing at the moment; I have considered one of those projects more fully since my last blog and have decided not to proceed. I did not feel that I had enough time to locate the experienced professionals that I needed, for example experts in researching historic landscapes, archivists, archaeologists and so on, and to get them on-side in time to meet the client’s deadline.

In passing I suspect that the pool of recognised (and so acceptable and credible) experts is quite shallow and so in order to form a wining project team one has to be quick off the mark!

A wet Thursday

2009-12-03T01:46:00.000-08:00

Oxford City Council
Today I’ll be catching up with Henry in Oxford, dodging the rain in a café in Marston or Headington.

We’ve been instructed to record data about all the trees on housing land, communal trees (which is quite a common request) and those trees in tenants’ gardens. Oxford Homes have taken the view that they want to know what is where so that they can, if necessary, take preventative action to stop the risk of a tree damaging property. Damage might be caused by branches hitting the housing stock or by expanding roots lifting paths or patios or damaging drains.

We have yet to move on to the greater part of the project, which is to be to capture data about all the trees in the parks and open spaces of the city.

To help us we are using a MobileMapper CX – a hand-held data logger that is GPS enabled, so it knows where it is – and DigiTerra Explorer software – a simple package that allows us to record all sorts of attributes, pick lists that have been designed to suit our client’s needs.

By capturing the records electronically we can upload client ready data straight to the client’s server and into their database so that their records are as contemporary as possible.

Expressions of Interest
I have submitted an Expression of Interest for a number of interesting sounding research projects, a new area of activity for me, and I wait anxiously to see if I will be invited to the next stage of the process. Quite reasonably clients are looking for suitable experience, but without the first instruction I will not be able to gain that experience, and so it really is chicken and egg situation for me.

One particular project, which will result in best practice for the retention of green infrastructure in towns, is of particularly special interest to me because of the decade that I spent in Milton Keynes, from 1985 to 1996, helping to manage the landscape of the newly emerging city. The team was lead by Rai Darke, a far-sighted and driven man (who hates the limelight!), and who has helped to shape my thinking. We all assumed that the work we did everyday was common place, it’s only years later that I now realise how far-sighted Rai was.

Another project seems to refer to a literature review of the documented history of a particular landscape, which will inform the implementation of a new landscape plan for the area. Again, historic landscapes is not “my bag” but I know people who would be interested – if I can secure a place on the tender list when others can’t then perhaps the client will be able to get the body of work they need through the procurement exercise.

The third project will require me to act as a focal point, bringing together the demand and supply sides in a local woodland economy. The measures that will be used to determine the success of the project are hard-nosed commercial – how many start-up businesses have been created and so on, so it’s a really good pragmatic approach to what is essentially an economic project.

So, all these seem to presume an ability to communicate, not necessarily an ability as an arboriculturist” – sounds OK to me!

2009-12-01T05:10:00.000-08:00

Well, another day and another opportunity – none have yet been converted into actual work though since we won the contract to survey the trees Oxford City Council’s parks, open spaces and housing areas. Henry is out there with his MobileMapper and DigiTerra software recording the various attributes and then uploading the information to the Council’s server.

To date this year I’ve expressed interest in 61 enquiries, some were “never wozzers” to quote John Le Carre, and some have been converted in to genuinely interesting projects where I have learned as I have advised my client.

The comparison with this time last year is interesting – seemingly I’d had 68 enquiries by then but one of those, a local PCT, generated a number of separate pieces of consultancy work – tree risk management plans as well as BS5837 surveys on development sites.

The enquiries this year, and particularly at the end of this year, have had more of a “research” flavour –
· CIRIA have published an opportunity to produce “A guide for long lived large trees and other green infrastructure in urban environments”
· The National Forest are seeking support to increase the demand for woodland products and services, and
· The Westonbirt Arboretum are looking for help to restore pleasure gardens, parkland, built landscape features and the collection if historic trees and shrubs within a Grade 1 listed landscape

I’m not saying that I personally can do all three but I know people who can, and they might need someone like Parkwood Consultancy Services to back them if they are to make an offer, so the role is sometimes akin to that of marriage broker.

I’m also trying to find the time to support the Arboricultural Association as they seek to provide good, practical guidance on how to plant a tree in time for the BBC’s Breathing Places Tree O’clock campaign – you may be surprised that something that would appear to be so simple, like planting a tree, can be got so badly wrong on TV! However, I may be spoilt because I was in great company a few weeks ago planting trees at Kew Gardens with their own Mr Tree, Tony Kirkham. The Association had been given three lovely trees by Henry Girling that were to be presented to Kew to mark their 250th anniversary, the story is on the PCS web site in full.

More soon, hopefully to tell you about a fantastic win!

2009-11-30T02:32:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-30T01:06:00.000-08:00

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.