UTS:CLG Graduate Paper Series: Managing Trees in the Public Domain

Part six of the eight-part UTS:CLG Graduate Paper Series is Steven Lawler's dissertation:

The purpose of research conducted by Steven Lawler was to appraise the value that urban forests provide with respect to local government’s triple bottom line (social, environment, economy); to gain an understanding of local government best practice with respect to managing trees in the public domain; and to clarify what industry practitioners would like to see included as a resource to assist them in effectively managing trees in the public domain. In keeping with these objectives, the research questions were as follows:

  1. In metropolitan Sydney, how do councils balance the benefits of urban trees against the potential risk of trees to public safety and infrastructure?
  2. What support do senior managers in local government need to provide to Tree Management Officers (TMOs) so they can confidently perform their duties?
  3. What would be the ideal scope, style, content and format of a resource that would assist TMOs fulfil their role in a competent manner?

Interviews were conducted with TMO’s from six metropolitan councils. To support the qualitative data collected through the interviewing of TMOs, a literature review of current published journals and a comprehensive review of a number of council policies, technical manuals and master plans was also carried out.

The study found that councils had not yet fully acknowledged either the value or the risk of trees in the public domain. Several LGAs had not invested sufficient resources to develop and implement a policy to better protect their urban forest. There was a lack of resourcing, with only one of the six councils surveyed believing they are sufficiently resourced to carry out pro-active tree maintenance works.

There was a strong belief amongst the TMOs that their role over recent years was being performed under greater scrutiny due to the communities’ heightened perception that trees pose a risk to public safety. In addition, TMOs were found to be exposed to significant pressure from both internal and external sources in performing their role in a professional manner. This included customers who vocally didn’t agree with the TMO’s decision; political pressure; and, in particular, the proliferation of social media and some people’s use of it as a means to vent their negative feelings about staff with no fear of recrimination and no recourse for the targets of their spleen.

There was support amongst the TMOs for an online best practice guideline, but this was not seen to be a priority, since the current Best Practice Manual: Trees and tree roots (Statewide, 2013) was regarded as being of sufficient quality and utility for their needs. Nevertheless, if a guideline were to be developed, respondents suggested that at a minimum it might include:

  • Community education and promotion of the importance and value of trees
  • Approaches towards standardising tree inspections and tree maintenance programs
  • Clear risk assessment methodologies
  • Guidance on how to plant trees
  • Methods to determine the monetary value of trees.

On the basis of the study, Steven recommended that councils provide greater funding to allow TMOs to perform proactive works on the urban forest, paying special attention to trees that are showing signs of decline or that are located in high risk areas. Potential high-risk areas are those adjacent to schools, playgrounds and commercial centres. Councils need to develop and adopt quality tree management policies and street tree master plans. This would assist the TMO in their decision-making processes, especially in circumstances where pressure was being applied.

The purchase of an asset management system that was designed specifically for the management of trees would be a great assistance to TMOs. It would enable officers to record the history of maintenance performed on each tree throughout its lifecycle.

Dissertation summary by Ronald Woods, UTS:CLG Teaching and Research.

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Read the full dissertation: Managing Trees in the Public Domain

UTS:CLG Graduate Paper Series:

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