Lillibrooke Phase 1-3 BS 5837 Tree Survey & Arboricultural Report
For Berkley Homes
Project: Lillibrooke Phase 1-3
Location: Maidenhead
When: 2025-2026
Services: BS 5837 Tree Survey and Report, Arboricultural Impact Assessment, Arboricultural Method Statement, Tree Constraints Plans, Arboricultural Impact Assessment Plans, Tree Protection Plans, design advice and stakeholder liaison.
Project Overview: Maydencroft was commissioned by Berkeley Homes Oxford & Chiltern to provide comprehensive arboricultural consultancy support for a multi-phase residential development comprising around 300 units at Lillibrooke, Maidenhead.
Our work included detailed surveys of trees within and adjacent to the development site, followed by the preparation of the BS 5837 arboricultural documentation required to inform the evolving masterplan. This included Tree Schedule, Tree Survey and Constraints Plans, Arboricultural Impact Assessments, Arboricultural Method Statements and Tree Protection Plans.
Site Constraints: The site contained extensive established tree cover, including an area of designated Ancient and Semi-Natural Woodland and a mature common oak identified during the survey as a veteran tree.
Ancient woodland and veteran trees are classed as irreplaceable habitats within English planning policy. The National Planning Policy Framework states that development resulting in their loss or deterioration should be refused unless there are wholly exceptional reasons and a suitable compensation strategy is provided.
The veteran oak therefore required a greater level of protection than would ordinarily be calculated under BS 5837. Its Root Protection Area was recalculated using a distance of 15 times its stem diameter. A separate 15-metre buffer zone was also established from the boundary of the ancient woodland. These distances reflected Natural England and Forestry Commission standing advice, which recommends:
- A buffer of at least 15 metres from ancient woodland
- For veteran trees, a minimum buffer of 15 times the stem diameter or five metres beyond the canopy edge, whichever provides the larger area
The client wished to retain proposed pedestrian routes that passed through the ancient woodland buffer and within the protected rooting areas associated with the veteran tree. This required a carefully designed technical solution that allowed the paths to be delivered without conventional excavation or unacceptable damage to the underlying soils and roots.
Our Approach: Maydencroft worked closely with the client and design team to ensure the development responded appropriately to the site’s most important arboricultural constraints.
Following consultation and review comments from the Woodland Trust, the layout was amended to move buildings away from the veteran tree and other important trees. The veteran tree’s RPA was recalculated, and buildings previously shown within the protected areas were relocated further south, removing the requirement for potentially damaging foundation excavations.
Previously proposed raised bunds within the ancient woodland buffer were also removed to prevent changes in soil levels that could have restricted water infiltration, nutrient uptake and gaseous exchange.
No-Dig Footpath Solution: Where footpaths remained necessary within the protected areas, Maydencroft recommended a specialist no-dig construction methodology.
The paths were designed to be constructed directly over the existing ground using a cellular confinement system or root-bridging system, overlaid with a permeable finished surface. This avoided conventional excavation and reduced the likelihood of roots being severed or damaged.
The cellular confinement system was specified to:
- Distribute pedestrian and construction loads across the existing soil surface
- Minimise soil compaction
- Avoid changes to existing ground levels
- Maintain water percolation into the underlying soil
- Retain gaseous exchange between the soil and atmosphere
- Allow continued water and nutrient uptake by retained roots
The same approach was applied to paths within the ancient woodland’s 15-metre buffer and the veteran tree’s increased RPA.
The revised arrangement limited the residual area of surfacing within the veteran tree’s RPA to approximately 3%, while avoiding excavation throughout the installation.
Stakeholder Liaison: Maydencroft liaised with the Local Planning Authority as the design and arboricultural strategy developed.
Comments and concerns were communicated to the client and design team and incorporated into revised layouts, protection plans and construction methodologies. This maintained clear communication between all parties and ensured that the proposed mitigation was practical, technically robust and properly reflected within the planning documentation.
The continued dialogue also allowed the client’s requirement for pedestrian connectivity to be balanced against the need to protect irreplaceable habitats.
Tree Protection & Monitoring: The no-dig methodology was supported by detailed Tree Protection Plans and the establishment of Construction Exclusion Zones.
Tree protection fencing was specified to prevent storage, machinery movements, changes in soil levels and other unauthorised activities within sensitive areas. Construction of the footpaths was also required to take place under the supervision of the project Arboricultural Consultant.
A programme of arboricultural monitoring was recommended during the installation of tree protection measures and throughout construction within the ancient woodland buffer and the protected areas surrounding the veteran tree.
Outcome: The collaborative approach resulted in a substantially improved design that:
- Retained and appropriately protected the veteran tree
- Recognised its increased rooting requirements
- Established a 15-metre ancient woodland buffer
- Moved buildings away from sensitive rooting areas
- Removed potentially damaging changes in ground levels
- Provided a technically appropriate no-dig solution for essential footpaths
- Gave the Local Planning Authority a clear and auditable strategy for tree protection and construction monitoring
By engaging early with the client, the Local Planning Authority and the Woodland Trust, Maydencroft helped reconcile the development’s access and connectivity requirements with the long-term protection of the site’s most valuable arboricultural features.
