Councillor Elizabeth Grey introduced a report by the Lead Commissioner – Environment Wirral which informed that the Council had developed the Wirral Tree Strategy (WTS) in partnership with Wirral Initiative for Trees (WiT) and a range of other key stakeholders. This ambitious strategy focused on tree protection, maintenance and planting and sought to dramatically increase Wirral’s Urban Forest (including the green infrastructure of parks, gardens, woods, trees in streets, footpaths, green spaces, trees and hedges) as a means of carbon capture. It was anticipated that WTS would also support the development of a National Tree Strategy.

The Wirral Tree Strategy (WTS), including an Executive Summary, was attached to the report as Appendix 1.

Councillor Grey informed that over the next ten years, the Council and its partners would:

·  establish a clear picture of Wirral’s tree stock and its benefits;

·  plant over 200,000 trees (at least 21,000 per year, net of loss incurred through Ash Dieback) such that Wirral’s tree canopy cover would be doubled once those trees were fully grown;

·  replace every felled tree with multiple new trees;

·  ensure that all new and replacement trees were planted under the principle of ‘right tree for the right place’;

·  ensure that all decisions and activities undertaken in relation to trees were made in a structured and consistent way; and

·  work constructively with individuals and groups across Wirral to deliver this ambitious vision and action.

The Cabinet was informed that in pursuit of this vision, the WTS would provide a mechanism for:

·  improving the provision and care of trees, woodlands and hedgerows;

·  formulating a focused action plan for the 2020-2030 period and beyond; and

·  monitoring the action plan(s) and policies for the care, management and enhancement of Wirral’s trees, woodlands, and hedgerows.

Councillor Grey informed that whilst the WTS was a ten-year strategy which covered the period of 2020-2030, it was also an ongoing framework for thinking about trees, woodlands, and hedgerows across the Borough of Wirral. The WTS was intended to be a living document, which would grow, change, and develop to meet future challenges in implementing the strategy, and, as such, would be regularly revised and extended over the next 50 years.

The Cabinet noted that the Council could continue operations without adopting a tree strategy. However, this course of action would be problematic in several respects.

Firstly, the Council would have no strategy in place to guide the process of replacing the trees which had been recently felled across the borough as part of the tree management regime. Not only would this course of action allow Wirral’s tree stocks to be depleted at a time when their benefits were vital in response to the climate emergency, it would contrast sharply with the commitments to replace such trees that the Council had made to residents, partners and stakeholders. If the Council were to fulfil its commitments to residents, partners, and stakeholders, as well as responding adequately to the practical reality of the climate emergency, it needed the WTS to provide  ...  view the full minutes text for item 110