Page updates to follow: information on this page is  practically complete (updated 19th January 2024).

Find our Reports to Chichester City Council, and relevant Minutes by its Council business year (May to April):

• 2024 - 2025
• 2023 - 2024

We last reported on Strategy to the Community Affairs Committee Meeting of 4th September 2023.

• 2022 - 2023
• 2021 - 2022
• 2020 - 2021
• 2019 - 2020
• 2018 - 2019

You can read our original 2018 Strategy report here.

Council year May 2024 to April 2025

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Council year May 2023 to April 2024

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No report given. Apologies sent.

Grant application made.

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting
Monday 16th January 2023  :

Community Affairs Committee, Chichester City Council

Minute 63

"CHICHESTER TREE WARDENS

The report from the Chichester Tree Wardens was noted without comment."

Full Minutes here.

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting
Monday 14th November 2022  :

Community Affairs Committee, Chichester City Council

No report given. Apologies sent.

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting
Monday 5th September 2022  :

Community Affairs Committee, Chichester City Council

Minute 30

"CHICHESTER TREE WARDENS

Paula Chatfield of Chichester Tree Wardens summarised the report that had been sent to Councillors.

Councillors thanked the Chichester Tree Wardens for all the work the do for the city’s trees.

Councillor Gaskin asked for more information regarding CAVAT (Capital Asset Value for Amenity Trees) and what was the cost involved for the charity.

Ms Chatfield advised it was the standard way of valuating a tree and the amenity value of the tree. She further advised there was no cost involved if the charity used an established formula. However, to gain an accurate valuation, a qualified expert would need to be hired at a cost."

Full Minutes here.

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting
Monday 6th June 2022  :

Community Affairs Committee, Chichester City Council

Minute 16

"CHICHESTER TREE WARDENS

The Chairman noted the apologies received from the Tree Wardens and the report which was circulated previously with the Agenda."

Full Minutes here.

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting
Monday 21st March 2022  :

Community Affairs Working Group, Chichester City Council

Minute 80

"CHICHESTER TREE WARDENS

Mrs Chatfield presented her report on behalf of the Chichester Tree Wardens.

She informed Members that the Tree Wardens had recently had a review of their activities and confirmed their three primary activities of promote, plant and protect where possible.

Mrs Chatfield reported that, since her last report, two Tree Wardens had resigned. One of these having decided to move on while the other had decided to retire.

She asked that a record of thanks be made in the minutes to Mr Brian Hopkins who had been a Tree Warden since the 1990s and had now decided to retire.

Members were informed that Mr Hopkins had been the original author of the Chichester Tree Trail and that he had recently updated the trail during the pandemic period.

Mrs Chatfield urged Members to look at the new Tree Trail which, due to lack of funding, was only available online (https://www.treesinchi.org/chichester-tree-trail)

The Committee was advised that the Tree Wardens had concerns about the current high speed cabling installation by City Fibre.

Mrs Chatfield informed Members that, if City Fibre decided to lay the trunking in the verges rather than under pavements, there would be a risk that future tree planting could be affected due to the need to avoid planting near the cabling.

She further informed Members that West Sussex County Highways had very little control over this work beyond when roads could be dug up and the quality of the reinstatement of the highways once the cables had been laid.

The Chairman suggested that concerned residents could raise the issues of using the verges with the installation teams with a view to discussing making minor cable route adjustments with them."

Full Minutes here.

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting
Monday 17th January 2022  :

Community Affairs Working Group, Chichester City Council

Minute 65

"CHICHESTER TREE WARDENS

Members were advised that Mrs. Chatfield had had to leave the meeting and that a written report would be included with the minutes."

Full Minutes here.

N0 written report was submitted in advance. Due to a change in the running order of the meeting, our representative was unable to stay to deliver our report verbally. Read our update here.

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting
Monday 15th November 2021  :

Community Affairs Working Group, Chichester City Council

No report given.

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting
Monday 6th September 2021  :

Community Affairs Working Group, Chichester City Council

No report given. Apologies sent.

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting
Monday 7th June 2021  :

Community Affairs Working Group, Chichester City Council

Minute 9

"CHICHESTER TREE WARDENS

The Chairman noted the report that had been received from the Chichester Tree Wardens and circulated to Members with the agenda.

The Working Group were advised that the current focuses for the Tree Wardens were identifying areas for new tree planting and fund raising.

In response to a question from Councillor Lishman, Mrs Chatfield confirmed that the community orchards around the city that had been planted by Transition Chichester were there for everyone and that any fruit on the trees could be picked for personal consumption."

Full Minutes here.

Tree-relevant Minutes of meeting
Monday 29th March 2021  :

Community Affairs Committee, Chichester City Council

Full Minutes here.

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting
Monday 29th March 2021  :

Community Affairs Committee, Chichester City Council

Minute 59

"CHICHESTER TREE WARDENS

The Chairman noted the apology for absence from the Chair of Chichester Tree Wardens.

Members were directed to the report that had been submitted on behalf of the Tree Wardens and circulated with the Agenda, the contents of which were noted.

Councillor Carter raised concerns about the effectiveness of the Tree Preservation Order (TPO) system. She highlighted the particular case of an oak tree in Parklands that had been marked to be saved but now was not, despite the presence of a TPO.

Councillor Carter also raised the case of memorial trees with TPOs at the former St Wilfrids Hospice site that developers had been ripping up. It was suggested that these companies were paying any subsequent fines that were imposed rather than making efforts to respect the TPOs that were in place.

The Committee expressed concerns about the apparent failure of the TPO system. The Mayor informed Members that he would be taking this issue up with the relevant Officers so see if there was anything that could be done.

The Town Clerk reminded the Committee about his earlier career experience managing TPOs.

Members were advised that while TPOs did not mean that the tree could not be removed or cut back at all, they meant that permission should be sought before any work on those trees was undertaken.

The Town Clerk asked Members to supply him with specific examples of where they felt TPOs had been abused. He advised the Committee that he would pass these to the City Council’s Planning Adviser and ask her to make representations to Chichester District Councils Tree Officer.

The Mayor suggested that, in the short term, the City Council’s Planning and Conservation Committee should start looking at applications involving TPOs again to allow the Committee to note and comment on any applications of concern.

The Chairman suggested that the Mayor and Councillor Scicluna could also raise awareness of the issue in their roles as members of the Chichester Conservation Area Advisory Committee (CCAAC).

Councillor Sharp agreed that it was important that general awareness was raised on the issue of trees so that residents were aware of what was happening and why.

Councillor Sharp commented on the Tree Wardens report regarding the fundraising that had taken place in 2020 to plant new trees in three areas around the city.

She also asked whether, with a new tree project Officer at the District Council, was it appropriate for local residents to be asked to fund additional trees when Government funding could be available for the same purpose.

The Chairman asked Councillor Sharp to clarify the situation with regards to Government funding and report back to the next Community Affairs Committee.

Councillor Scicluna expressed regret that, despite the TPO and objections raised by the CCAAC, the oak tree at Oswald Court had been felled."

Full Minutes here.

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting
Monday 11th January 2021  :

Community Affairs Committee, Chichester City Council

Minute 45

"CHICHESTER TREE WARDENS

The Chairman asked Mrs Chatfield (Chichester Tree Wardens) to present a short verbal report to the Committee about the activities of the Tree Wardens.

Mrs Chatfield advised the Committee that, since the last Community Affairs Committee meeting held on the 16 November 2020, the Tree Wardens met once and that there were some housekeeping matters that were of interest to the Committee.

Members were informed that the Tree Wardens had now opened an account with the local credit union to enable them to undertake fundraising activities more easily.

Mrs Chatfield also informed Members that the new Trees Project Officer at Chichester District Council had already been in contact, that the Tree Wardens were finalising reporting to Trees for Cities regarding the recent grant funding and that West Sussex County Council had introduced a trees policy.

The Committee was advised that the Tree Council had put a stop to activities while Covid19 lockdown was in place despite some voluntary activities being permitted."

Full Minutes here.

Other relevant Minutes:

42. UPDATE FROM THE PREVIOUS MINUTES

"(a) Minute 30(a) – Chichester Tree Summit

Members were advised that, due to the ongoing pandemic restrictions, the need to maintain distancing and the restrictions on use of the Council House; it was not currently possible to arrange new dates for the Chichester Tree Summit.

Mrs Chatfield expressed the hope that an event of some kind could be arranged towards the autumn. She also suggested to Members that it might be possible to organise an online event for the landowners and other interested parties to discuss the issues as originally envisaged for the first part of the Tree Summit.

Councillor Sharp suggested that this format could allow for a wider participation from the areas around Chichester if that was felt to be appropriate."

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting

Monday 16th November 2020  :

Community Affairs Committee, Chichester City Council

Minute 33

"CHICHESTER TREE WARDENS

The Chairman asked Mrs Chatfield (Chichester Tree Wardens) to present a short verbal report to the Committee about the activities of the Tree Wardens.

Mrs Chatfield advised the Committee that, further a successful round of fund raising over the summer for new street trees, West Sussex County Council had started the process of planting the trees in the designated locations. Members were further advised that, as part of the service, residents near to the trees had received information cards about the trees which included a request to assist with the watering of the tree to help it establish itself. Mrs Chatfield reported that this had generated a feel good factor and that a total of 70 trees would be planted in the Whyke and Parklands areas.

The Committee were advised that Chichester District Council had recently advertised for a “Trees Outside Woods Officer” whose responsibility it would be to work with relevant local and national organisations to progress tree planting projects.

Mrs Chatfield also informed Councillors that the My Favourite Tree competition poster had been picked up nationally on social media and it was her hope that the competition could be reinvigorated.

Mrs Chatfield reported that the Tree Wardens had received several contacts from members of the public in relation to recent work the City Council had undertaken to reduce and tidy up the Beech hedging along the boundary of the Whyke allotments. Concerns had been raised that the hedge was being removed but the contacts had been reassured that the intention of the work was to tidy and restore the hedge to a more manageable condition.

Members were also advised that the Tree Wardens had been receiving questions about Oaklands Park and the history of the park and its trees. Mrs Chatfield further advised that it was hoped that this would trigger the creation of materials that would help the public better understand these aspects of the park.

The Committee were informed that Chichester Free School had been applying for orchard and hedgerow bundles to support the creation of an “outside sunny space” and that Kingsham School had sought support from the Tree Wardens to extend their Forest School area.

Mrs Chatfield highlighted the recent publication of the Chichester Green Space report that had been commissioned as part of the Neighbourhood Plan process and also went on to recommend Councillors take advantage of a walk through Summersdale Copse which was currently enjoying an interesting natural display of fungi.

The Chairman thanked Mrs Chatfield for her work and verbal report."

Full Minutes here.

Other relevant Minutes:

30. UPDATE FROM THE PREVIOUS MINUTES

"a) Minute 16(b) – Chichester Tree Summit

The Committee noted that there had been not progress on reorganising the Chichester Tree Summit due to the current pandemic emergency. Mrs Chatfield expressed a wish to discuss with Officers the possibility of some form of tree summit being arranged in an online format. The Town Clerk agreed that this should be possible and that discussions could take place once a clearer idea about the pandemic and lockdowns had emerged."

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting

Monday 7th September 2020  :

Community Affairs Committee, Chichester City Council (Virtual meeting)

Minute 19

"CHICHESTER TREE WARDENS

The report from the Chichester Tree Wardens had been circulated to all Members and noted.

Mrs Chatfield (Chichester Tree Wardens) answered questions from the Committee.

The Chairman, on behalf of the Committee, thanked Mrs Chatfield and her team for their ongoing and very valued work."

Also relevant

Minute 16. UPDATE FROM THE PREVIOUS MINUTES

"(b) Minute 6(b) – Chichester Tree Summit

The Member Services Support Officer advised the Committee that, as restrictions were still in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic, no further updates regarding a rearranged date for the were available.

It was hoped by Members and the Tree Wardens that there would be a possibility of making further progress in the New Year."

Full Minutes here.

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting

Monday 1st June 2020 :

Community Affairs Committee, Chichester City Council (Virtual meeting)

Minute 6

"UPDATE FROM THE PREVIOUS MINUTES

"(b) Minute 56 – Chichester Tree Summit

The Member Services Support Officer advised the Committee that the Chichester Tree Summit itself had been postponed due to the current pandemic but it was still very much the intention to rearrange the event as and when the circumstances allowed. Members were notified that a piece of work had been undertaken in the Assembly Room which had indicated that only 34 socially distanced people could be permitted in the room at any one time.

It was noted that the “My Favourite Tree” competition was still running with details available on the website and ward board posters.

Councillor Oakley asked about the Agenda for the Tree Summit and whether it included reference to ongoing maintenance of newly planted trees on the highway.

The Chairman deferred this discussion to the Tree Wardens report under Agenda item 15."

Minute 9

"CHICHESTER TREE WARDENS

The report from the Chichester Tree Wardens had been circulated to all Members and noted.

Mrs Chatfield (Chichester Tree Wardens) highlighted the issue of ongoing watering of new trees and that it was very important that tree survival rates were considered as well as tree planting rates.

Members were informed that, despite the postponement of the Tree Summit, it was the intention of the Tree Wardens to try to start a project called “Mind the tree gap” which would give residents the opportunity to identify where gaps in tree planting had developed. Mrs Chatfield emphasised that, as well as identifying the gaps and ensuring they were filled, it was important that volunteers were found to water the trees as they settled in.

The Committee was advised that the decline in highway trees would need intervention before it could be reversed. The Chairman asked what form this intervention would take. Mrs Chatfield informed the Committee that once the areas of concern were identified then there would need to be fundraising or grant applications undertaken to pay for the additional tree planting.

Mrs Chatfield updated Members on the issue of the current state of affairs regarding looking after existing trees and watering. Tree Wardens in Summersdale and Parklands had taken responsibility for trees in their areas while the City Council ensured that trees in the City Centre were watered as required. In other areas, trees requiring watering were identified from a West Sussex County Council list with, ideally, two nearby households being asked to look after them."



Full Minutes here.

REPORT TO BE UPLOADED ...

Monday 30th March 2020 :

Community Affairs Committee, Chichester City Council

CANCELLED due to Covid19 lockdown

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting

Monday 3rd February 2020 :

Community Affairs Committee, Chichester City Council

Minute 55

"CHICHESTER TREE WARDENS

The report from the Chichester Tree Wardens had been circulated to all Members and noted.

Mrs Chatfield (Chichester Tree Wardens) advised the Committee of an error in her report. Where it referred to Brian Cole, it should read Brian Hopkins.

The Committee was then asked if it would support asking West Sussex County Council to ensure that any tree loss caused through works on the Highways would be made good as at the current time it was the Tree Wardens’ understanding that there was no budget for this and little had been done by way of replacement recently.

Mrs Chatfield also asked if, in the future, it would be possible for the City Council to hold any monies raised by the Tree Wardens in a Civic Tree Planting fund. The Town Clerk agreed this should be possible but it would require the involvement of the Deputy Town Clerk/Responsible Finance Officer.

City resident, Dr Boise, then commented that she was pleased that the enthusiasm for tree planting was growing and for the successes enjoyed by the Tree Wardens. She went on to ask for clarification on three points:

(i) Ensuring that the County’s Highways Budget makes provision for tree planting to replace lost highway trees and starts closing the ‘austerity tree gap’.

Councillor Oakley (West Sussex County Council) responded that the County Council’s Highways budget was directed primarily towards safety with annual inspections and work to remove dangerous and diseased limbs and trees as appropriate. He suggested that Parish Councils could bid for New Homes Bonus grants to fund tree replacement where it was felt that this was needed.

Councillor Oakley then suggested that, while trees definitely have benefits, it was felt there were certain negative aspects to trees in urban plantings; namely root ingress in to drains and pavement damage.

The Chairman asked that the availability of funds for replanting within County Council budgets be investigated. Councillor Oakley agreed to look in to this, with the caveat that he was not optimistic; and would report back to the next Community Affairs Committee meeting. The Town Clerk agreed to send an email to Councillor Oakley to back up this request.

(ii) Undertaking or commissioning a comprehensive Chichester tree inventory leading to a strategy to complement the Neighbourhood Plan.

Mrs Chatfield responded by advising the Committee that the Tree Wardens were all volunteers, giving as much of their time to the Tree Warden role as they were able. She further advised that the Tree Wardens had originally suggested the idea of a comprehensive audit of the trees in Chichester and it was hoped that the forthcoming Tree Summit would feed in to this process.

As the question had referred to the Neighbourhood Plan, the Chairman then asked the Mayor to comment as Chairman of the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group. He advised the Committee that the Steering Group would be setting up a Trees Working Group which would include Mrs Chatfield. This Working Group would review the amount of tree planting required to achieve the carbon neutral target and also ensure that the right trees were planted in the right places.

Dr Boize responded that she felt that street tree planting had been overlooked in favour of a much bigger scheme as envisaged by the Neighbourhood Plan and the Tree Summit. She stated that it was her opinion that street trees should form a much more important part of the focus of the discussions and plans.

Mrs Chatfield pointed out that, in the discussion about land owners and their involvement with tree planting, one of the organisations involved would be the County Council who had already indicated a willingness to attend the public sessions of the Tree Summit to advise the public on how they could get involved with planting trees on the highway. Additional landowners being invited included the hospital, the District Council and the Cathedral. It was hoped that this would then feed in to a strategy for Chichester as a whole.

The Chairman asked Dr Boise to write directly to the Mayor to ask for this discussion to be included within the Neighbourhood Plan process.

(iii) Increasing funding for tree planting by for example encouraging and match-funding public donations.

The Chairman indicated that this would be something that the City Council could consider.

Councillor Gershater advised the Committee of a process, previously highlighted by Councillor Joy for calculating the number of trees required to offset carbon emissions; and offered his assistance in producing a mathematical model for this purpose.

Councillor Sharp reminded Members about the Urban Tree Fund Challenge and the Mayor indicated that it was the City Council’s intention to investigate this and other funding sources as appropriate."



Full Minutes here.

REPORT TO BE UPLOADED ...

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting

Monday 18th November 2019 :

Community Affairs Committee, Chichester City Council

Minute 43

"CHICHESTER TREE WARDENS

Paula Chatfield, Acting Chair, Chichester Tree Wardens, gave a verbal report to the Committee, and mentioned the following:

• Increase in National Policy in recognising the importance of trees (including in response to the recent climate emergency declared by the City Council).
• Tree Summit meeting held at the City Council on 11 September 2019.
• Chichester Tree Wardens ongoing concern at the loss of trees in Chichester due to ill-health/being unsafe.
• WSCC plans to plant a total of 17 trees in Chichester in the 2019/20 planting season.
• Disappointment at the loss of trees lining the hedgerow bank alongside Westhampnett Road where the new Lidl is under construction. Tree Wardens intervention led to retention of trees on the historic hedgerow line on the western boundary of site. They have since submitted for inclusion in the Ancient Tree Inventory (ATI), and had verified as “ancient”, two ash trees in this hedgerow. This brings the number of trees in Chichester on the ATI to 5.

A resident of East Broyle had contacted the Town Clerk with a request to become an additional Tree Warden for Chichester. The Committee were asked to confirm the appointment and the Town Clerk was asked to advise Julie Bolton (West Sussex Tree Wardens Network Co-ordinator) West Sussex County Council of the request.

RESOLVED that arrangements be put in place for a new Tree Warden for Chichester and that the Town Clerk take the necessary action. 

In response to the City Council’s decision to prepare a Neighbourhood Plan, Chichester Tree Wardens had started to look at areas for new trees/woodland, either through regeneration (e.g. in Phase 2, Whitehouse Farm) or new planting.

Councillor Sharp gave thanks to Paula Chatfield for attending a meeting with her and the Mayor to discuss ideas for the Tree Summit which was also looking at ways to bring landowners together."



Full Minutes here.

Verbal report at meeting (Paula Chatfield).

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting

Monday 2nd September 2019 :

Community Affairs Committee, Chichester City Council

Minute 24

"CHICHESTER TREE WARDENS

The Chairman noted the apologies from Paula Chatfield (Chichester Tree Wardens).

The Town Clerk advised the Committee that, while a report had not been submitted, the Tree Wardens were continuing to undertake their work in support of the care of the trees in Chichester."



Full Minutes here.

No report given. Apologies sent.

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting

Monday 3rd June 2019 :

Community Affairs Committee, Chichester City Council

Minute 8

"CHICHESTER TREE WARDENS

The Chairman welcomed Paula Chatfield and Jenny Cole from the Chichester Tree Wardens.

The Tree Warden representatives gave a detailed verbal report to the Committee about their activites and initiatives.

Notes were supplied post-meeting and are appended to these minutes for information."



Full Minutes here.

Report Appended to Minutes (reproduced below).

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting

Monday 25th March 2019 :

Community Affairs Committee, Chichester City Council

Minute 64

"CHICHESTER TREE WARDENS

The Vice-Chairman welcomed Tree Warden Jenny Cole to the meeting.

An update was given on the responses that the Chichester Tree Wardens had given on various local consultations and the work the Tree Wardens were currently undertaking, for example, clearing weeds and debris from the base of trees and recording ancient trees in the area. It was noted that old Oak trees had been felled on private land adjacent to the Centurion Way.

Councillor Dignum asked if the Tree Wardens could submit a report indicating what type of trees and where they could be planted in the City Centre as it had previously been mentioned that increasing the number of trees in the City Centre could a Public Realm Project."



Full Minutes here.

Verbal report at meeting (Jenny Cole).

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting

Monday 21st January 2019 :

Community Affairs Committee, Chichester City Council

Minute 52

"CHICHESTER TREE WARDENS

The Committee were advised that the Chichester Tree Wardens had not submitted a report to this meeting.

The Chairman advised that he had asked the Planning Adviser to report to the next Planning & Conservation Committee Meeting on the consultation on Protecting and Enhancing England’s Trees and Woodlands by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. 

Councillor Plowman commented that consideration should be given when planting trees to their longevity."



Full Minutes here.

No report given.

Chichester Tree Wardens' Report to meeting

Monday 12th November 2018  :

Community Affairs Committee, Chichester City Council
Minute 39

"CHICHESTER TREE WARDENS

Tree Warden for Chichester, Mrs Chatfield, advised that planning applications for trees in the Conservation Area were commented upon by the tree wardens for that area and that the tree wardens for the City were aiming to work together and become familiar with each other’s areas of the City. It was hoped that any policies or reviews undertaken by the District and County Councils that involved trees, ie. trees on the highway or the Local Plan Review, would be able to be merged together and give a cohesive management of trees in Chichester.

The Committee noted that a Memorial Tree to the late 10th Duke of Richmond and Gordon would be planted on Friday 30 November 2018 in Priory Park and the Friends of Chartres would plant a tree next year in Jubilee Park to commemorate 60 years of twinning with Chichester."



Full Minutes here.

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