WORKS REFUSED:
Front garden: 1 x Lime - pollard to new, smaller, undefined height.
REASON FOR REFUSAL:
This mature Lime tree is protected by a Tree Preservation Order due to its good condition and the amenity value and benefits it provides to the property and surrounding area. It is one of a few Limes at the front of several properties along Inkeman Terrace, providing continuity and contributing to the area's sense of place.
The Lime tree is currently pollarded to a height that is consistent with the neighbouring Lime tree and prevents the crown from interfering with the property. Reducing to a lower height would reduce the tree's amenity value and would provide no significant benefit to the owner's or general public. Inconveniences cited, such as sap and leaf fall, would not be affected greatly by a reduction. On balance, a further reduction would have a greater negative impact than positive and therefore I encourage the applicants to continue to maintain the tree in it's current form, pollarding to the most recent reduction points on a cycle no more frequent that every two years.