‘TREE-MENDOUS’ SUCCESS FOR BABERGH MAN

Babergh District Council’s Tree Officer has scored a national first by being awarded Professional Membership of the Arboricultural Association via the new Assessment Method. He has achieved this by submitting for assessment examples of the work he has undertaken during the last 5 years.

David Carmichael joins an elite group of just 300 individuals who have this prestigious qualification. David, whose great, great, great uncle was Head Gardener at Sandringham, has spent all his working life caring for and managing trees in Suffolk.

“You could say that my love of trees and woodland is in the blood. I was trained in both forestry and arboriculture and I’m delighted to have achieved this recognition, especially so since it was gained partly on the strength of my tree inspections standards”.
David was assessed against a wide range of professionals skills including the monitoring & maintenance of tree health, the administration of Tree Protection Legislation and management of veteran trees.
David is part way through a five year programme of surveying every Babergh-owned tree in the district from the tip of the Shotley Peninsula westwards. His accumulated skills are certainly being put to the test as it is estimated that the council owns 21,000 trees plus whole woodland areas!
“The principal aim of the survey is to allow us to better target our efforts on those trees that most need our attention. It is also giving us an idea as to the financial ‘value’ of each tree, which is useful for insurance claims if Babergh trees are damaged or destroyed”.
To date, the average ‘value’ of a Babergh tree is £622. The parish of Capel St. Mary has the most valuable trees (an average of £1,500), whilst Hintlesham parish has the lowest (£183 each).

More information on trees in Babergh.