Most highway tree work is carried out on open-crowned broadleaved trees. These are generally too exposed for many birds to nest in, but we check trees for nests before work begins. Our contractors will not contravene environmental legislation.
Excessive growth removal
We maintain a list of trees that regularly produce excessive, or epicormic, growth on the trunk and base of a tree. Some species of tree, such as limes, will produce a large quantity of epicormic shoots. We undertake annual maintenance to cut this back to ensure highways are safe.
Pruning
We do not prune trees owned by West Sussex County Council (WSCC) that are causing problems to adjoining properties, unless there are safety reasons for doing so.
Felling
We remove trees along the highway network and on county council properties that are dead, diseased, dangerous or causing a problem where no alternative can be found.
For example, we remove ash trees on county council land that are infected by ash dieback. This rapidly spreading fungus causes trees to become unstable and die, so they must be removed to prevent harm to people or property. Private landowners are responsible for managing trees on their land in the same way.
Our contractors remove groups of tree stumps, be aware that this work can take time to complete. In some cases, the arboriculturist may choose to retain a stump where it provides valuable habitat for biodiversity and does not pose a safety risk.
Our budget for tree works
We have a limited budget for tree works which we focus on necessary work. Not only that, there are very sound arboricultural reasons as to how and why we manage trees. We try to retain a healthy and diverse tree stock that will continue to provide local communities with a wide range of unique benefits. We will do this where necessary, as directed by a qualified professional.
You cannot pay to have a highway tree pruned or felled. If a county arboriculturist has inspected a tree and no works have been raised it is because they are not essential for safety reasons.
Trees are objectively inspected and managed in accordance with good arboricultural practice to maintain a healthy and diverse tree stock. All requests from residents for tree works will be dealt with in a fair and consistent manner.