Category Archives: MTOA Members

National Tree Officer Conference 2017 – Call for Papers

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National Tree Officers Conference 2017 – Call for Papers Now Open

 

After last year’s success of the inaugural first National Tree Officers Conference it returns in 2017. The conference is being organised by the London Tree Officers Association (LTOA), the Municipal Tree Officers’ Association (MTOA) and is facilitated by the Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF). This is a great opportunity for tree/woodland/planning officers to present their latest research, best practice and innovation in different areas of local authority arboricultural work.

The conference will be held on Wednesday the 8th November 2017, at the Oakengates Theatre, Limes Road, Telford, TF2 6EP (www.theplacetelford.com).

The submission period for abstracts to be presented at the conference is now open and it will close on Friday 12th May 2017 at 17:00hrs.

Abstracts, up to a maximum of 500 words and will be considered on a wide range of subjects that are relevant to the remit of a tree/woodland/planning officer. (Abstracts will only be considered from local government – employed tree officers and woodland officers.) Presentation sessions will be between 20 – 40 minutes; please specify the length of your presentation will be when making your submission.

For guidance, the following subject headings are suggested:

  • Tree strategies/policy/tree database innovation
  • Biosecurity
  • Planning
  • Tree risk management
  • Case studies – tree projects and or best practice
  • Tree related planning and enforcement case studies
  • Raising the profile of trees with the local government setting/working effectively with politicians
  • Tree planting
  • Working well with the public/tree groups/forums/friends of groups

Abstracts will be reviewed by a selection committee and selection will be based on overall quality, appropriateness, focus and the practical nature of material and appeal to a tree officer audience. Additional subjects (not listed) may be considered, following review by the selection committee.

Conference bookings will open later in the year at www.charteredforesters.org/event/tree-officers-conference-2017

We look forward to seeing you at the conference, and receiving a wide range of abstracts.

Submissions by email to: Becky Porter, London Tree Officers Association executive.officer@ltoa.org.uk.

Press Enquiries:

 Hester McQueen

Marketing & Communications Officer Institute of Chartered Foresters 59 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2JG Email: Hester.McQueen@charteredforesters.org

Tel: +44 (0)131 240 1425

2017 Tree Inspection Workshops with Frank Rinn

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After the huge success of the 2016 workshops MTOA are pleased to announce more dates for 2017

These are hands-on class’s so delegate numbers are limited.

When: 27th and 28th September 2017

Where: Midland Arts Centre, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham

 

  • How can you tell if a tree is safe?
  • Do you want to make better tree assessments, increase your knowledge of tree biomechanics, wood decay and diagnostic tools?
  • Is increasing the precision and accuracy of your inspections and reports important?

Back-to-back workshops with Frank Rinn, inventor of the RESISTOGRAPH and Tomograph and world famous instructor on tree inspection can help you to be a better municipal arborist.

MTOA is bringing Frank Rinn in from Heidelberg, Germany just for these advanced workshops. Classroom topics will include: wood anatomy, tree biomechanics, the effects of pruning and cabling, and possibilities and limitations of technical inspection methods. Outdoor hands-on field time with Frank and his assistants will include: resistance drilling, sonic tomography and sonic root plate assessment.

Added Bonus:

Everyone registering the Day 1 Tree Safety Workshop will receive an ArboMech-software licence (WIN, ANDROID, or MacOSX). This software allows to determine how strong a cross-section is weakened by a defect and this can be done on a PC/Notebook, tablet, or smartphone (at the tree).

Everyone registering for the Day 2 Advanced Tree Safety Workshop will receive an ArWiLo-software licence (WIN, ANDROID, or MacOSX). This software allows to determine the impact of pruning on wind-load reduction and this can be done on a PC/Notebook, tablet, or smartphone (at the tree).

Registration Fees:
Day 1: £85 MTOA members (£135 non-member)
Day 2: £85 MTOA members (£135 non-member)
Both Days: £150 MTOA members (£225 non-member)
(Seven day cancellation policy)

 

Contact the MTOA office to register your place now, these will sell out early. enquiries@mtoa.co.uk 

Free Forestry Safety and Health Awareness Day – Get Involved!!

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Free Forestry Safety and Health Awareness Day

Friday 18 March 2016 – Central Scotland, Battleby, Perthshire

Tuesday 22 March 2016 – Northern England, Kielder Castle, Northumberland

 

  

 

HSE has again teamed up with the Forestry Commission’s Learning and Development team to host the events, which are dedicated to raising awareness of important health and safety issues specific to the forestry industry. Attendance on the day is free.

The events are supported by the Forest Industry Safety Accord (FISA) and HSE gratefully acknowledges sponsorship from Egger Forestry, Euroforest, Scottish Woodlands and Tilhill Forestry.

Developed in partnership with the industry, all those involved in forest operations should benefit from the half-day event, from forestry work managers to site supervisors, to those actually carrying out the work.

Trainers who have years of experience working in forestry will cover issues relating to the use of forestry machinery and forestry chainsaw work, directional felling including the use of hydraulic wedges and bottle jacks, hand-arm and whole body vibration, and public access issues.

At the events, scenarios are acted out based on situations that have led to serious accidents in the past. Risks are examined and common sense solutions are identified that can be applied on site.

Each event is developed to reflect the type of forestry work taking place in that geographical area.

Attendance at the event is by booking only. For further information or to book places please contact Jack MacGregor at HSE by emailing treework.shads@hse.gsi.gov.uk or telephoning 01463 723273 (indicating whether you wish to attend the morning or afternoon session). Applications will be confirmed upon receipt.

Please feel free to forward this bulletin to other forestry businesses that you think would be interested in attending.

National Tree Officer’s Conference 2016 – Call for Papers Now Open

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ltoa    Inst-charter-fores        

Click here to download information

 

National Tree Officer’s Conference 2016 – Call for Papers Now Open

 

2 February 2016

 

The first National Tree Officer’s Conference is being organised by the London Tree Officers Association (LTOA) and the Municipal Tree Officers Association (MTOA)

and facilitated by the Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF). The conference will provide an opportunity for tree officers to present to their colleagues on the latest research, best practice and innovation in different areas of local authority arboricultural work.

The conference will be held on the 9th November 2016, at the Oakengates Theatre, Limes Road, Telford, TF2 6EP (www.theplacetelford.com). Conference bookings will open later in the year at www.charteredforesters.org/tree-officers-conference

The submission period for abstracts is now open and will close on the 14th April 2016.

Abstracts are to be a maximum of 500 words and will be considered on a wide range of subjects that are relevant to the remit of a tree/woodland/planning officer. (Abstracts will only be considered from local government (LG)-employed tree officers and woodland officers.) For guidance, the following subject headings are suggested:

  • Tree strategies/policy/tree database innovation
  • Biosecurity
  • Tree risk management
  • Case studies – tree projects and or best practice
  • Tree related planning and enforcement case studies
  • Raising the profile of trees with the LG setting/working effectively with Politicians
  • Tree planting
  • Working well with the public/tree groups/forums/friends of groups.

 

Abstracts will be reviewed by a selection committee (Russell Horsey MICFor, Matthew Seabrook, Al Smith MICFor, Jake Tibbetts) and selection will be based on overall quality, appropriateness, focus, and the practical nature of material and appeal to a tree officer audience.We look forward to seeing you at the conference, and receiving a wide range of abstracts.Submissions by email to: Becky Porter, London Tree Officers Association executive.officer@ltoa.org.uk.

 

Chalara- Ground Zero Field Trip (FREE to MTOA members) 30th July

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Please come and join us for this informative and eye opening field trip, looking at the affects of Chalara where it was first spotted on our shores (Framlingham, Suffolk).

This event is free to MTOA members (but you will need to make your own way there and buy your own lunch!) and is coupled with an afternoon site visit to Staverton looking at the ancient trees (now confirmed). Our itinary for the day is- 08.45 meet at Pound Farm for an 09.00 start on the tour of the site. There should be plenty to see and discuss hence the early ish start. We anticipate we should finish around 12pm at Pound Farm which will give us time to do the appropriate biosecurity stuff before moving on to Staverton for lunch and then the tour of the site. Please see http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/wood/4401/pound-farm/ for directions. Spaces are limited to a maximum of 30 so please show your interest as early as possible. We look forward to seeing you there. There is a group meeting down there the night at the local Inn (the Crown, Framingham – IP13 9AP) before so if you wish to join us prior to the day please let us know.

As of today (16th July) there are still spaces available for you to join us for this thoroughly informative day so please let us know you’re coming as soon as you can.

Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014 – in Force 31st July 2014

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Has anyone else come across this yet? The Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014 comes into force on 31st July 2014. They were only laid in Parliament on July 3rd, so no time at all before they come into force. I only found out about them yesterday.

The Regulations deal with the filming and recording of meetings and publication requirements for decisions made by officers. It would appear that any decisions delegated to officers that:

  • Grants a permission or licence
  • Affects the rights of an individual
  • Awards a contract or incur expenditure which materially effects the local authorities financial position

will need to be recorded.

The officer making the decision will need to produce a written record as soon as practical after taking the decision which must cover:

  • The date the decision was taken
  • What the decision was and the reasons for the decision
  • Details of alternative options considered and why they were rejected
  • In the case of express delegations any member who declared a conflict of interest
  • Any background papers they have used (non-published which has been materially relied upon in writing a report)

The decision must be made available for inspection by public:

  • at the offices of the relevant local government body
  • on the website of the relevant local government body
  • by other such means that the relevant local government body considers appropriate

I’m not concerned about TPO applications for consent, Section 211 Notices and Hedgerow Removal Notices as these would all be web-enabled and available to the public. However, there are other areas of work which require decisions and are not currently publicised:

  • TPO Replacement Planting Notices
  • Replacement Hedgerow Notices
  • Work under the Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1976
  • Requests for TPO’s to be served
  • Dealing with dead/dangerous trees
  • High Hedge Remedial works Notices

The list could go on. Anyway, I thought I would highlight this to you as the deadline is imminent.  I’ve not thought how I’m going to record this information yet.  Meetings next week to see how to progress this.  If any of you are aware of these Regs. and have already something in place then I’m sure we all would appreciate some help on this. If you are not aware of them, then you are now!

 

R Rose