Bath Spa Railway Station, Dorchester Street, City Centre, Bath

The proposed site of tree works is the tree belt to the south of the Grade II* Bath Spa Train Station, situated within the core of the Bath conservation area and World Heritage Site. The tree belt forms part of the northern riverbank along the River Avon, and as such makes up part of a critical green corridor through the city centre that acts as valuable wildlife habitat as well as public amenity space well-used by walkers and cyclists. The riverbank is also of high public visibility from Rossiter Road and the end of Claverton Street on the approach to Widcombe’s local high street. As such, it is considered a prominent area of tree coverage which positively contributes to the green, enclosed setting of the river whilst also breaking up Bath’s built environment in a way that reflects the well-treed hillsides that make up Bath’s landscape setting.

This application is being considered alongside applications 22/03411/TCA and 22/03413/TCA as part of a series of tree works and removal in this area.

We recognise the need to remove these due to indicated, ongoing structural damage to the adjacent retaining wall. However, we also emphasise that a balance should be sought to also ensure that the tree coverage and associated biodiversity in this area is sustained and enhanced wherever possible. This should be achieved through an established, long-term programme of tree maintenance, and where possible or necessary the planting of new native specimens may ensure against the potential thinning of the canopy in wider landscape and streetscape views.

It is unclear as to how many trees total would be removed as part of works (indicated to be 3x trees and 2x “groups” of trees). We suggest that the scope of the application should be further clarified to better assess potential impact on the riverside canopy.