The Council is currently delivering a planned programme of landscape inspection and monitoring of communal areas on new developments throughout East Suffolk. We have invested additional resource in this work area, recognising its importance to communities and the environment.
The aim is to ensure that:
- all planning conditions associated with natural environment features are being complied with, including landscape, open space, features for biodiversity and wildlife conservation;
- landscape schemes have been delivered in accordance with the planning permission;
- landscape management is being carried out to ensure the landscape is maintained to an acceptable standard.
Why is a programme of landscape compliance monitoring needed?
Provision of landscape, open space and a high-quality natural environment is essential for the creation of sustainable, liveable, well-designed places for people to live and work.
At times, the delivery of landscape schemes on new development falls short of the quality standards that are expected, or landscape schemes may not fully comply with the planning permission that has been granted.
These issues are not unique to East Suffolk, and several studies (see footnotes below) have shown that issues with the delivery of landscape on new development may be quite common across the country. There are also increasing challenges establishing new trees and other landscape features due to increasingly unreliable rainfall and weather patterns caused by climate change.
The Council is committed to restoring ecosystems and biodiversity and reaching net zero by 2030. You can read more about this in ‘Our Direction 2028 Strategic plan’.
How does East Suffolk Council carry out the landscape monitoring programme?
Our landscape officers carry out regular inspections of landscape areas on new development sites. The Council’s landscape compliance monitoring is focussed on public open space and communal areas on new development and other screening planting or ‘structural’ planting.
We check what has been delivered against what has been approved and record issues that need to be addressed. Examples of features we may check on site include:
- Tree planting;
- Grassland areas / seeding;
- Ornamental planting;
- Hedge planting;
- Hard landscape features (e.g. paths within public open space etc).
When issues are identified, East Suffolk Council officers contact the development company or management company responsible for the site to ensure issues that have been identified are resolved. Repeat site visits are carried out where necessary including inspection of replacement planting.
What development sites are included in the landscape monitoring programme?
The planned programme of landscape monitoring is currently focussed on new major residential development schemes (sites with 10 dwellings or more).
When planning permission is granted, a condition is normally included with the decision notice requiring failed planting to be replaced. This planning condition will normally cover a period of five years. Sites that are still within this replacement period will generally be included in the landscape monitoring programme. The five-year landscape replacement condition will apply to all planting carried out to replace failed landscape features, such as trees, calculated from the planting date.
Who is responsible for carrying out any remediation or replacement?
If the development has only recently completed or is still under construction this will normally be the company or individual that has been granted permission to carry out the development.
For most new major residential development, the communal areas will eventually be conveyed to a Management Company that has been established to oversee the management of any communal areas. A Managing Agent will generally be appointed to oversee the responsibilities of the Management Company.
East Suffolk Council aim to work with all responsible parties to ensure the landscape and natural environment on new developments meets the requirements of the planning permission that has been granted.
Where necessary, the Council will pursue formal enforcement action in accordance with the East Suffolk Local Enforcement Plan.
Footnotes
Lost Nature report from Wild Justice.org.uk
Brasington, D (2025). Evaluation of the Success of Urban Tree Planting in England between 2012 and 2022. Fund4Trees, Oxford. pp79. Available from: Evaluation of the Success of Urban Tree Planting in England between 2012 and 2022.
Contact us
Contact East Suffolk Council landscape compliance monitoring.