Premier Inn, Aviemore
JBA was commissioned to support a new planning application on a site with outline consent for a travel lodge, following Cairngorms National Park Authority’s objections to the new building and its impact on trees.
This site is a triangular plot at the southern end of Aviemore which used to house a petrol station. Various levels and embankments influenced the design, with trees along the eastern and southern sides screening roads and the railway. The JBA Arboriculture team were instructed to review the original tree survey and assess whether it accurately reflected the tree population within and adjacent to the site.
We visited the site at short notice, updating the tree data in accordance with BS5837:2012 guidelines. The information was used to assess the various options and our holistic, risk-aware approach resulted in an arboricultural impact assessment to support the preferred design option. This removed fewer trees than the original proposal, retained more screening around the site and provided greater opportunities for high quality replacement planting.
Ongoing liaison helped refine the design and we were able to devise bespoke tree protection fencing suitable for the steep slopes.
Planning approval was achieved in April 2017, with Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) planning committee commenting the proposal was a better development than the previously approved scheme.
We provided an arboricultural method statement, tree removal and protection plans to discharge planning conditions, taking into account the presence of red squirrel dreys found on site. No squirrels were found by the ecologist to be using the dreys, so no works were needed to be done under the Scottish Natural Heritage licence .
A pre-commencement site meeting in March 2018 with CNPA, JBA and Ogilvie Construction agreed on the phased tree works and location of protection fencing, and the tree works were undertaken later that month under ecological supervision.
