The contract involves executing arboricultural tasks throughout Winchester, including tree felling, pruning (such as deadwood removal, crown reduction, and crown lifting), and planting, which includes sourcing and supplying the necessary trees.
All work is completed to BS3998: Recommendations for Tree Work Standards.
Our highly skilled team of arborists are proficient and comfortable with pruning tasks so excel in these operations, taking great pride in their work.
Recognising the importance of public engagement, we regularly ensure the allocation of additional resources to maintain site safety and to keep residents and other interested parties informed and updated on ongoing work.
As part of this contract, we are responsible for watering over 600 newly planted trees, on a weekly basis, from May to September. We have completed this for the past 3 years.
Our most recent contract with Hampshire County Council has allowed us to work and gain experience with working on more sensitive worksites such as schools and community sites. Due to the locations of the specified works, we ensure that contact is made with the premises on the day of the projects being passed to ourselves so that we can ascertain the requirements of working on the sites promptly to ensure effective plans can be made.
As the majority of the schools are Woodland schools, the woodchip and timber are often left on site to benefit the pupils. Where this is not possible, we ensure contact is made with other local schools to offer these products as we aim to keep the byproducts of our operations within the local area to benefit the wider community.
Effective programming and communication are key within the contract due to the varying risks which need to be mitigated before working on site. This can range from varying working hours to be flexible around the busiest times of the day on site to presetting cordons to allow our teams to swiftly move between the working areas.
A set programme with specific requirements is always discussed and issued to the client prior to the works starting allowing all parties to raise concerns which are mitigated promptly.
Due to the variety of sites the team attend for the council ranging from police stations, art centres, ambulance centres, schools to highways it has allowed the company to further create universal habits that are built into daily routine to ensure no matter the variaty of sensitive site that is being attended all members present are being respectfull to the regulations whilst following our methods to ensure no control measures are being missed.
For the past five years, Climbers Way Tree Care Ltd has been a trusted contractor for Fareham Borough Council, providing arboricultural services under a framework agreement which was renewed in 2023 for a further 4 years. This strong partnership has resulted in mutual respect and collaboration, especially in problem-solving involving tree care issues. Within the framework we carry out various works within specified timeframes ranging from urgent to 6 months.
Often the work packs allocated are spread across various locations, leaving only a small amount of work in any given area. Recognising the inherent inefficiency this caused we have worked with the council to develop a more streamlined approach to manage such tasks.
To ensure all work is completed efficiently, we consolidate work into larger packs based on the resources required which improves our efficiency significantly. This consolidation not only reduces the time required but also allows for better resource allocation, which includes appropriate equipment and skilled personnel. As a result, we are able to complete a larger volume of work in a shorter time frame, providing the council with a more cost-effective solution.
As the work within the packs are often within close proximity to properties, community engagement is key in ensuring that we are able to carry out the specified work first time with minimal disruption. When we survey the work, we always ensure contact is made with the residents who will be affected so that we can programme the works at a convenient time.
Through working with the council for many years we have formed and adjusted many habits in company to facilitate a quick response to deal with a range of issues that can come up at short notice. For example, we have logged and saved plotted trees on maps throughout the council on a platform that all team phones have access to. When a call or email of urgency comes through from the council, we have been able to offer a quicker service than others on the framework to facilitate the work through the steps the office team follow. Practitioner teams are preset with equipment and maps ready to access this straight away. If the trees are new or not on the mapping system they can be added remotely, tagged for the teams ready on arrival.
The contract delivery includes the provision of ongoing arboricultural safety works across the county which we have been completing on behalf of the council for the past 7 years.
The primary focus is on trees presenting potential hazards to heavily trafficked public footpaths and highways alongside regular maintenance work which is often issued in packs as large as 500 trees. All works issued to us is managed inhouse and programmed to ensure timely completion with minimal disruption to the public.
Due to the highly populated areas we work within, we have to ensure that public engagement is maintained throughout the duration of the works. We are required to liaise with interested parties on a regular basis, including community engagement where works may interrupt events taking place or access to properties and businesses. This has included letter drops to properties within the vicinity of scheduled works, contacting local business owners and utilising community Facebook groups to inform the public of upcoming projects. We have also utilised this method to advertise woodchip and timber for schools, allotments and community groups to ensure that the work carried out has a positive impact on the local community.
As part of our operations, we implemented traffic management strategies following the Chapter 8 guidelines, “Traffic Safety Measures and Signs for Road Works and Temporary Situations”. We survey all projects allocated to ourselves to ensure that potential risks and additional requirements are highlighted before our teams attend a worksite. As part of this, our surveyors would specify on various packs if Traffic Management is or isn’t required, from this our office team would seek the appropriate licences for the resources required on set dates.
As part of our most recent contract for Oxfordshire County Council, we undertook the project of planting over 300 trees throughout the county. This involved dealing with members of each parish council to agree the locations of each tree. In a couple of parishes, we took part in community engagement days in which we assisted members of the community with planting their trees in the green spaces and advising them on the ongoing maintenance required.
All works were completed in accordance with BS3998: Recommendations for Tree Work Standards.
Tree surgery is difficult, time consuming, and often highly dangerous work. Finding the right person to take care of it for you could save you from injury, damage to property, and even legal difficulties. But choosing the best company isn’t easy, when so many cowboys out there could actually make things worse, not better. In this article we’ll help you spot the warning signs, and learn how to pick a company who will give you great results and keep you protected.
What Can a Tree Surgeon Do for You?
A good tree surgeon will take all of the stress out of tree work for you. Whether you’re looking for a full tree removal, some hedge trimming or just some advice, using a professional is always a good idea.
Keep you protected
First and foremost, using a tree surgeon takes as much risk out of tree surgery as possible. The best tree surgeons will have health and safety specialists, and be fully trained to use the proper safety equipment. What’s more, they will know how to take care of even the largest trees without damaging your property.
What’s even better is that in the highly unlikely event of an accident occurring, if you’ve used a reputable tree surgeon, they will be fully insured and legally liable for any injury or damage.
Work to the highest standards
Even though our tree surgeons might make it look easy, tree surgery is extremely complex work. Getting the outcome you want is harder than you might think, and using a professional is the only way to guarantee that you’ll get the best results.
A good tree surgeon will be qualified, properly trained, and highly experienced. That’s how you know their work will be of the highest standard. They will also have the right equipment and be fully trained in how to use it safely and effectively.
But this service goes beyond the work on the trees themselves; it also means that they will look after your property too. A good tree surgeon will work in a highly professional way, clearing away debris as they work and leaving you with no mess to clear up.
Protect the trees and environment
People undertaking tree work without the right qualifications might not realise the amount of damage they’re doing to a tree. This is a key difference between an amateur tree surgeon and a properly qualified arborist. If you find a tree surgeon who is also qualified in arboriculture, you can be sure that the health of the tree will be protected.
A conscientious tree surgeon will also think carefully about where and how to dispose of any waste wood. Cowboy tree surgeons will leave this behind or dump it somewhere where it could harm the environment. Professional tree surgeons will have thought about the best way to dispose of waste wood in an environmentally-friendly manner.
What to Look for When Choosing a Tree Surgeon
But how can you know for sure if a tree surgeon really offers everything you’re looking for? We’ve got some top tips about the things to look out for that should give you confidence that you’re working with a reputable company.
Check their credentials
Probably the most important thing of all is that you check that the tree surgeon has the proper qualifications, insurance, and professional accreditations. At Climbers Way Tree Care, you can always find these details on the About Us page, or by getting in touch directly.
All of our team members are fully qualified and insured, and we’re very proud to hold a number of professional accreditations, including being an ARB approved tree surgery, the gold standard for arborists.
Check the quality of their work
The next most important thing is to find out more about the tree surgeon’s work. A quality tree surgeon will have many years of experience and will want to shout about the work they’ve done to date.
You should also find out whether the tree surgeon works to the British Standards for tree surgery. A key one to look for is BS 3998, which is the expected standard all professional tree surgeons should work to.
At Climbers Way Tree Care, we have decades of experience, just some of which is shown on our Testimonials page. Here you can see our previous work and hear from some of our satisfied customers. All of our work is conducted according to BS 3998, so you can have total confidence in the quality of our work.
Look for professional service
If the company has all of the above, you’re probably onto a winner. The last thing to look for, which might set a company apart from the competition, is the level of service they offer. You should ideally go with a company that has good customer service from the outset, including offering free quotations, and making it simple to contact them.
They should also provide details of how they’ll conduct themselves on site – such as keeping your property clear of debris, and what happens with the waste wood at the end of the job.
At Climbers Way Tree Care, we are proud of the priority we place on our customer service. You can get a free, online quote with just a few pictures, and can easily get in touch with our expert team with any questions or to book an on-site consultation.
This level of service continues all the way through the job. We will treat your property with the utmost respect, clearing away all debris throughout and at the end of the job, and disposing of it responsibly at a biomass plant.
