Renewable Energy Development Tree Surveys
Urban Tree Management provides specialist arboricultural surveys and reports for solar farm, wind farm, and wider renewable energy developments across the North West and nationwide.
Working as part of multidisciplinary project teams alongside ecologists, planners, and civil engineers, we deliver BS5837-compliant tree and hedgerow assessments that satisfy local planning authority requirements and keep your project on programme.
BS5837-Compliant Reports for Solar and Wind Farm Projects
Trees and hedgerows are a material consideration in the planning process for all renewable energy developments. Whether you are proposing a solar farm on agricultural land, a wind turbine installation on an upland site, or a battery storage facility within an existing landscape, any trees or hedgerows on or near the site will need to be surveyed, assessed, and accounted for in your planning submission.
Urban Tree Management carries out initial tree and hedgerow surveys for renewable energy sites at the earliest stage of feasibility, identifying constraints and opportunities before design work begins. We assess trees and hedgerows in accordance with BS5837:2012 and the Hedgerow Regulations 1997, advising on how existing vegetation can be integrated into the scheme layout, retained alongside infrastructure, or appropriately managed during construction and operation.
Beyond the solar arrays or turbine bases themselves, we consider the full extent of the development footprint — including cable routes, grid connection corridors, access tracks, substation compounds, and security fencing — advising on tree and hedgerow impacts at every stage and producing the documentation required to support a successful planning application.
We work on renewable energy projects of all scales, from single-turbine and small solar installations through to large utility-scale schemes requiring multi-site surveys and programme-managed reporting.
What We Deliver for Renewable Energy Projects
- Initial tree and hedgerow survey to BS5837:2012
- Hedgerow survey and assessment under the Hedgerow Regulations 1997
- Tree Constraints Plan showing RPAs, crown spreads and hedgerow locations
- Arboricultural Impact Assessment for planning submission
- Cable route and infrastructure corridor arboricultural assessments
- Tree Protection Plan and Arboricultural Method Statement for construction phase
- BNG-compatible baseline tree and hedgerow data
- Ongoing construction phase monitoring and clerk of works support
- Nationwide coverage for large-scale and multi-site schemes
Why Early Arboricultural Input Saves Time and Cost
The most common cause of delay on renewable energy planning applications involving trees is insufficient arboricultural information submitted at validation stage. Engaging Urban Tree Management at feasibility stage — before site layout design is fixed — allows your design team to avoid siting infrastructure within root protection areas, plan cable routes that avoid significant hedgerows, and produce a layout that local planning authorities are more likely to approve without onerous conditions.
Early involvement also allows BNG baseline data to be captured at the same time as the BS5837 survey, avoiding the need for a return site visit and reducing overall survey costs.
