The report provided an update upon previous Council tree planting initiatives in Brentwood Borough over the past two years, and set out the proposed tree-planting initiatives for the forthcoming winter season.

The success rate of the overall planting scheme is approximately 34%, which is lower than what would usually be anticipated. This was attributed to the severe drought conditions experienced this summer, and in the instance of St. Faiths Country Park, vandalism further exacerbated the situation.

Planting schemes for the winter of 2022/23 identify sites for approximately 14,500 trees, delivered through the Tree for Climate scheme, fully funded by central government. Funding, through the Urban Tree Challenge, for a further 167 larger street trees has been partly secured and requires a match funding commitment of £22,500 from the Council to deliver.

Cllr Laplain requested that further reporting to identify the net gain of trees comes to a future committee. 

Cllr Russell MOVED and Cllr Gelderbloem SECONDED the recommendations in the report. A vote was taken by a show of hands and it was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY:

Members were asked to:

1. Note the planting scheme as outlined in paragraph 14, Table-2 of the report.

2. Approve that match funding of £22,500 is considered in the budget setting process for MTFS 2023/24, which is subject to full council approval on 1^st March 2023.

Reasons for Recommendation

The proposed tree planting scheme is identified as a key deliverable in the draft 2022 Environment Strategy, and represents an opportunity to deliver on a significant number of tree planting at a low cost to the Council.