July 2013

Trees in relation to design, demolition and construction

This is the title of a revised British Standard, published just over a year ago. With a background in urban and man-made soils and a professional career developing expertise on how trees relate to the soil environment, Andy Moffat is in a strong position to advise on this subject. Indeed, this area has grown in importance for the company over the last few months, with clients seeking this kind of advice from London and the Home Counties. Andy Moffat & Associates can offer specialist services as well as preparing Tree Protection Plans and Arboricultural Method Statements to support planning applications for development in urban and peri-urban environments.

Wildfire research and policy development

This month has seen publication by the Royal Forestry Society of an article on deliberate fire setting in the countryside, written by Andy Moffat with colleagues in Forest Research. It explores the importance of understanding social as well as psychological drivers behind this destructive practice, and concludes that in places like south Wales arson should be regarded as a particular form of anti-social behaviour and is related to social deprivation. Wildfires are increasingly in the news at home and abroad (e.g. Arizona), and wildfire risk is a new inclusion to the 2013 National Risk Register for Civil Emergencies published this week HERE. Andy Moffat has been active in promoting the importance of understanding and managing wildfire risk and will be a plenary speaker at the forthcoming Wildfire 2013 Conference in Cardiff in October.

For bibliographic information on the article, see HERE