Goodbye to 2009, welcome to 2010!

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.