14 / INSIGHT
CUT THROUGH THE BS Terry O’Regan examines some of the finer points of trees in relation to design, demolition and construction as captured in BS 5837:2012 PHOTO BYTERRY O'REGAN - ‘AN ALL TOO TYPICAL SCENE ON IRISH CONSTRUCTION SITES’
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n my preceding article ‘What is a Tree?’ (Horticulture Connected, Spring 2018) I promised that I would elaborate on how to build on the resource that is BS 5837:2012 and also share some of my misgivings about the standard. Before moving on to my elaboration and misgivings, I would first of all urge all of you to consider the dirty, wriggley, unseen, underground rooty bits in the thoughts called up by my simple ‘What is a tree?’ question. This is vital if we are to take BS 5837 seriously. For those still in the dark, BS 5837:2012 covers trees in relation to design, demolition and construction. Some years after I qualified with my degree in horticulture from UCD, I received a phone call from Leo Curran, my botany lecturer. He was interested to know what my thoughts were on my experience of the degree course in UCD. I told him that I thought the course lost sight of first principles far too early in the process. Experience in the real world had forced me time and again not to refer to the mass of data that had been churned out at me, but to go back to first principles for answers. By the early 1990s as I began to realise that the day to day practice re landscape and landscaping in Ireland was a blundering fiasco, I saw the need for a clear policy and strategy approach. And again when I became engaged with the European Landscape Convention in the mid-1990s I saw the vital necessity of having a coherent structured approach to tackling serious issues. My subsequent work in SE Europe and Kosovo in particular reinforced my conviction that one must clearly set out one's stall at the start of any strategic document and keep the core objectives in mind at all times throughout the process.
“The planner who in the majority of Irish local authorities has no qualified tree professional to consult may all too easily be hoodwinked” In my experience, BS 5837:2012 does not stand up to scrutiny. It’s not a perfect publication, but it does potentially provide a common ‘hymn sheet’ for all involved in design, demolition, construction and development planning to sing from, and a basis for working together towards a better outcome for the present and future tree population. With regard to working together, it is worth noting that the foreword to the standard states that BS 5837 “provides recommendations and guidance for arboriculturists, architects, builders, engineers and landscape architects. It is also expected to be of interest to land managers, contractors, planners, statutory undertakers, surveyors and all others interested in harmony between trees and development in its broadest sense.” That is reasonably all-embracing, if a bit limp and uncertain in tone. I would respectfully suggest that those who should turn to BS 5837 for recommendations and guidance should include all of those politely invited to find the standard ‘of interest’ especially the planners, statutory undertakers and surveyors. British Standard 5837:2012, Trees in relation to design, demolition and construction – Recommendations is at
Summer 2018 / www.horticultureconnected.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED
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