BS5837 Tree Survey & Arboricultural Planning Package — Marple Road Bus Infrastructure Scheme, Stockport

THE CHALLENGE:

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council was delivering a programme of bus infrastructure improvements along the Marple Road and Dooley Lane corridor in Stockport as part of their Bus Pinch Points 2 scheme — one of a number of highway improvement projects across the borough aimed at improving public transport reliability and accessibility. The proposed works included footway widening into the highway verge, raised kerb installations at bus stops, left turn lane extensions, and associated kerbing and fencing works along a significant section of the Marple Road corridor.

The highway verge and adjacent land along Marple Road supports a substantial population of mature trees — including Category B and Category C trees with root protection areas extending into the proposed works footprint. Several of the trees identified in the survey had root protection areas directly overlapping with areas of proposed excavation, kerbing, and footway construction — creating a complex arboricultural constraint that needed to be fully understood, assessed, and mitigated before the scheme could proceed to construction.

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council required a full BS5837 arboricultural planning package to support the scheme — demonstrating that all retained trees along the corridor had been properly surveyed and assessed, that the arboricultural impacts of the works had been rigorously evaluated, and that comprehensive tree protection measures had been specified and drawn to allow construction to proceed without causing unacceptable damage to the retained tree population.

OUR ROLE:

Urban Tree Management was commissioned to deliver the complete BS5837 arboricultural planning package for the Marple Road Bus Pinch Points 2 scheme — from initial tree survey through to Tree Protection Plan and Arboricultural Method Statement.

The initial BS5837 tree survey recorded all trees on and adjacent to the works corridor — assessing species, dimensions, condition, and amenity value for each tree and classifying all trees in accordance with BS5837:2012 as Category A, B, C, or U. Crown spreads were measured at the four cardinal points for accurate plotting, root protection areas were calculated for every tree, and all data was recorded using GPS-enabled survey software for precise georeferencing onto the site survey drawings provided by the Council's highways team.

A Tree Constraints Plan was produced in AutoCAD at 1:500 scale, plotted directly onto the Ordnance Survey base and the Council's site survey drawing — showing every tree's crown spread, root protection area, BS5837 category, and shading arc clearly and accurately. The plan was produced to a standard directly compatible with the Council's highways drawing set, allowing the design team to assess the relationship between the proposed works and the tree constraints across the full corridor at a glance.

An Arboricultural Impact Assessment was then produced evaluating the direct and indirect impacts of the proposed works on every tree within the survey scope — assessing root protection area incursions, ground compaction risks, above-ground crown conflicts with proposed structures, and the cumulative impact of the scheme on the retained tree population as a whole. Where impacts were identified, mitigation measures were specified and the residual impact after mitigation was assessed and classified.

The Tree Protection Plan was produced in AutoCAD plotted onto the site survey drawing at 1:500 scale, specifying Construction Exclusion Zones for all trees requiring full exclusion of construction activity from their root protection areas, tree protection fencing positions and specification, areas requiring arboricultural supervision during construction, and areas where temporary ground protection must be installed to allow access within root protection areas adjacent to existing hard surfacing. The plan included a full prohibition schedule and construction exclusion zone specification setting out the rules governing all construction activity near retained trees throughout the programme.

The Arboricultural Method Statement was produced as the written companion to the Tree Protection Plan — setting out in plain, accessible language the specific methods to be used for all construction operations near retained trees, the sequence of tree protection installation, the arboricultural supervision requirements, and the responsibilities of the site team and appointed arboriculturist throughout the construction programme.

THE OUTCOME:

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council received a complete, professionally produced BS5837 arboricultural planning package for the Marple Road Bus Pinch Points 2 scheme — covering 16 individual trees and two groups across the full works corridor, with a Tree Protection Plan drawn in AutoCAD at 1:500 scale directly compatible with the Council's highways drawing set. The package provided the Council's highways and planning teams with the arboricultural evidence base needed to demonstrate that the scheme had been designed and specified to protect the retained tree population along Marple Road throughout the construction programme.

The Tree Constraints Plan produced at the early design stage allowed the Council's design team to clearly identify which trees were most constrained by the proposed works and to refine the works specification accordingly — reducing the level of root protection area incursion and ensuring the Tree Protection Plan reflected a construction methodology proportionate to the actual risk to each tree. The Arboricultural Method Statement provided the construction team with a clear, plain-language guide to tree protection requirements on site from the first day of construction through to completion.



This project demonstrates Urban Tree Management's extensive experience in delivering BS5837 arboricultural planning packages for highway and transport infrastructure schemes for local authorities across Greater Manchester — producing technically robust, AutoCAD-drawn outputs that integrate directly into the Council's highways drawing sets and meet the arboricultural requirements of Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council's planning and highways teams.

BS5837 Tree Surveys for Highway & Transport Infrastructure — Greater Manchester & North West

Urban Tree Management provides the full range of BS5837 arboricultural planning services for highway improvement schemes, transport infrastructure projects, and local authority capital works programmes across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire, and the wider North West — delivering technically robust, AutoCAD-drawn outputs that integrate directly into highways drawing sets and meet local authority planning and highways requirements.

Get in contact with our highly experienced and personable team of arboriculturists today, to discuss your requirements and to obtain your zero obligation quotation.