Flat A, 37 Park Road, Torquay, TQ1 4QR

T1 - Lime - Reduce tree down to previous pollard points, leaving tree at approximately 6m high pollard.

Ash tree requires pollarding, reducing down to a maximum height of 5 metres. Work on this tree has been carried out before. The last time it was pollarded was in 2023. Turkish Oak tree requires removal of branches. Crown reduce the overall height by approximately 3.5 metres.Reduce the remaining lateral crown spread by approximately 2.5 metres to clear side elevation of building, maintaining a balance and natural crown profile. Work on this tree was done previously in 2021. Removal of elder tree which has got old and has some dead branches.

T001 - Mature Beech (Fagus sylvatica) Observations: Mature beech with a substantial fungal fruiting body present at the base of the stem, visually consistent with Ganoderma spp. Sounding of the lower stem with a sounding mallet produced a pronounced hollow response extending from the base to approximately 2 m above ground level on the road-facing side, indicating potentially significant internal dysfunction and decay within the lower main stem. The defect is located within the tree?s primary load-bearing region, where the main stem transfers crown loading into the root system. Decay or loss of sound wood in this area is therefore considered structurally significant. The full extent of internal decay and remaining residual wall thickness could not be quantified through ground-based inspection alone. The tree supports a large mature crown and is located immediately adjacent to a public highway, with pedestrians, moving and parked vehicles, and nearby residential properties within the potential failure zone. Recommendation: Dismantle T001 to near ground level. The recommendation is based on the presence of basal fungal decay, the pronounced hollow response extending approximately 2 m up the lower stem, and the location of the defect within the principal load-bearing region of the tree. These findings materially reduce confidence in the tree's long-term structural reliability. Although the tree provides significant local amenity value within the Conservation Area, this is considered outweighed by the extent and structural significance of the identified defects and the potential consequences of whole-tree or basal failure onto the adjacent highway and surrounding targets.