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WQ.186/2021
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT BY DEPUTY K.F. MOREL OF ST. LAWRENCE
QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 26th APRIL 2021 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 4th MAY 2021
Question
Will the Minister provide details of the amount spent on tree protection activities for each of the years 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 (including the forecast only for 2021); and advise what proportion of the departmental budget this expenditure entailed?
Answer
Various activities performed by the Department (IHE) can be considered tree protection', however, are typically mixed in with other work. It is therefore difficult to associate all direct cost tree protection' activities.
The Regulation team maintain a List of Protected Trees' under the Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002[1] as part of their remit. The team also deals with any applications which are submitted to carry out works to a protected tree. Similar to other applications affecting protected assets, no fee is levied for this work. This activity is covered within the overall budget for the team and it is not possible to separately identify specific costs.
The Natural Environment team perform works that could be considered tree protection' as part of Health and Safety, Tree management, and habitat condition improvement (including woodlands); this could mean felling trees that reduce overall woodland/copse diversity, felling trees/saplings for the benefit of specimen trees, or felling groups of trees that show disease spread. Additionally, the Ranger team along with Back to Work and volunteers pull seedlings of invasive tree species on a regular basis to help conserve the integrity of established habitats.
Please find some associated tree work costs below from 2018–2021 from the Natural Environment budget of IHE.
Year | Total | Comments |
2018 | £4,000 |
|
2019 | £12,195 |
|
2020 | £24,397 |
|
2021 | £7,932 to date | Projection £20,000 |
Additional moneys have been made available via an amendment to the Government Plan 2021-2024[2] to enhance tree protection which includes the development of an Island Tree Strategy and £420k is projected in 2021.
It should be noted that as part of this work, an amendment to the Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002 is being prepared which will propose increased protection for trees, as well as 21 other updates to the Law, but we are unable to estimate the costs associated with any tree protection' aspects alone. The amendment is expected to be in a position for lodging at the end of Q3 2021 following internal consultation and discussions with the EHI Scrutiny Panel.
Ongoing support for tree protection will need to be considered as part of future Government Plans.