Rhondda Active Travel Route

Overview: 

Challenge

The new travel route passes through an ecologically and arboriculturally sensitive area, with extensive woodland habitat and significant numbers of trees along the route.

The principal challenge for Wildwood would be undertaking an arboricultural survey of such a large area, with several hundred trees that had to be recorded and categorised, to determine the optimal design of the travel route. Avoiding the highest value trees and woodland habitat, as well as determining suitably mitigation and compensation measures.

Approach

Wildwood undertook BS5837 Tree Surveys for both the Phase 4 and Phase 5 sections of the route, providing the RCTBC team with high quality survey data that allowed their engineering team to overlay arboricultural constraints onto development plans.

Surveys had to be undertaken over the course of multiple days, split into sections and phases, utilising GIS systems and digital data capture.

Extensive consultation was required with multiple design teams and disciplines, including infrastructure engineering, drainage design, ecology and biodiversity, and the local council tree officer. The scheme for both Phase 4 and Phase 5 went through multiple design changes and iterations, before arriving at the plans which have been put into construction.

Following the extensive impact assessment stage of work, Wildwood produced an Arboricultural Method Statement which formed the basis for best practice during construction along the travel route. This included sensitive measures to protect areas of potential Ancient Semi Natural Woodland and veteran or notable trees of high arboricultural and biodiversity value, while balancing the needs of the contractors and construction methods required to achieve a high quality design. Input was also required into woodland management plans for the travel route, ensuring a net gain in biodiversity would be provided over the lifetime of the project.

Wildwood assisted with tree surveys that informed repair works to several retaining walls along the new travel route, ensuring that the RCTBC engineering team were aware of any arboricultural constraints and maintained compliance with relevant legislation.