Policy BG2 - Protection of Trees, Hedges and Biodiversity

Justification:

The Hoe's biodiversity assets include trees, hedges, green spaces, the Hoe foreshore, and micro-habitats distributed across the Forum area's parks, gardens, seafront, and built environment. The local community has expressed strong support for the retention and enhancement of trees within the area, in both park and street settings. There is a growing recognition of the importance of trees to society, particularly in the urban environment, where the urban forest has the potential to provide a broad range of benefits to local people and the environment. Alongside tree protection, the local community recognises the importance of hedges and shrubs as part of the local ecosystem, particularly for their role in providing habitats for birds and invertebrates and sustaining biodiversity. The unique environment of the foreshore is also highly valued for its biodiversity potential.

Tree canopy cover for Plymouth Hoe is 9.15% - about half that of the wider Plymouth urban forest (Plymouth Hoe Design Guide, p103), and therefore policies BG2 and BG3 aim to retain existing trees and increase canopy cover to a target of 15% where this does not conflict with other landscape priorities. The existing trees on Plymouth Hoe have a significant capital asset value and provide valuable amenity and ecosystem services to the local area. This inherent value will increase over time as the trees grow in stature, justifying current and future investment in this important resource. Most of the trees on the Hoe are semi-mature, and this underlines both the increased value of the existing mature trees and the positive prospects for the next generation of mature trees as the currently semi-mature stock increases in size and age.

Policies BG2 and BG3 are informed by the Local Green Spaces Audit for the Hoe Neighbourhood Plan, by Management Plans for each of the designated local green spaces and by AECOM'S Assessment of Trees for the Plymouth Hoe Design Guide, which quantifies existing tree cover and makes recommendations for its enhancement.

The policies are also informed by Plymouth City Council's Declaration of Climate Emergency, with further supporting evidence contained in Plymouth's Green Space Strategy 2008-2033, which sets out objectives that seek to 'provide, protect and promote biodiversity within Plymouth's accessible green spaces'; Plymouth Hoe Design Guide; The Plymouth Plan for Trees; the Plymouth Policy Area Tree Canopy Cover Assessment; Plymouth City Council's Tree Management Principles 2019 - 2024; and Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan policies DEV26 and DEV28.

The Environment Act 2021 introduces an obligation for developments to demonstrate 10% biodiversity net gain (as measured by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs metric) that can be maintained over a 30-year time frame. As the Management Plans for each of the designated local green spaces are updated during the lifetime of the Hoe Neighbourhood Development Plan, these will be used to identify priorities and sites for the delivery of off-site net gain opportunities that add to species diversity and resilience in appropriate locations within the Hoe Neighbourhood Area.

Intent:

Policy BG2 protects existing trees and hedges from being lost for development, requires mitigation or compensation for any trees or hedges lost through development, and encourages tree and hedge planting initiatives. The strategic objective of the policy is to increase tree canopy cover to a target of 15%, alongside increasing other habitat provision in the Hoe Neighbourhood Area, and to safeguard existing trees, hedges and habitats that contribute significantly to the environmental quality and character of the area. Proposals that result in the maintenance, protection, or increase in the provision of trees and hedges will be supported. Proposals that result in the loss of trees and hedges will not be supported unless they provide equivalent mitigation.

Key Evidence Sources:

• Local Green Spaces Audit for the Hoe Neighbourhood Plan
• Plymouth Hoe Design Guide
• Plymouth's Plan for Trees
• Plymouth City Council's Declaration of Climate Emergency
• Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan Policy DEV28
• Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan Supplementary Planning Document
• Biodiversity Network Creation Process 2017
• Plymouth Policy Area Tree Canopy Cover Assessment