Scheduled expert tree surveys take place every year by professional surveyors. The surveyors will generally only assess Devon County Council-owned trees within the limits of the highway, or Devon County Council-owned trees that are outside the limits of the highway, but which could affect the highway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These inspections take place throughout the summer on high-use main roads, including A and B roads, and on the highway around high-risk target sites, such as near schools and hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since 2020, we have been carrying out these inspections, on a district-by-district basis, in the following order:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2018 and 2019, we were carrying out these inspections on a two-year rolling cycle, on the below basis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prior to 2018, we carried out the inspections on a three-yearly cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We increased the inspection frequency in 2018, and again in 2020, as a result of the continued spread of Ash Dieback<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We expect landowners to arrange for trees on their land to be privately surveyed to ensure public safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ad-hoc expert inspections may be carried out in response to reports from the public or our own officers. Occasionally this will be for privately owned trees. If the tree presents a significant enough danger to the highway, we will write to the tree\u2019s owner advising them of the action they need to take to remove the threat to the highway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You are responsible for maintaining and inspecting your own trees regularly. We suggest using a professional tree expert<\/a> to inspect your trees and to particularly check for trees that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n For more information about maintaining your trees and vegetation see the information for landowners<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We carry out regular safety inspections of the highway, where we look for any kind of defect. These inspections are not carried out by arboricultural experts, although the inspectors do have a basic level of training in identifying tree hazards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roads, footways, and cycleways are inspected according to their strategic importance. Our Safety Inspection Manual<\/a> explains how often we inspect, the criteria we use to decide if something is a safety defect, and what we will do about any defects we find.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat landowners are expected to do<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Highway checks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What action we take<\/h2>\n\n\n\n