Penarth Civic Society
Cymdeithas Ddinesig Penarth
formerly The Penarth Society
Penarth
Tree Forum
Friends of Penarth's Trees...
June 2024 - This page is currently going through an update. Information may be incorrect or missing.
Penarth is known as "The Garden By The Sea." It earned this nickname thanks to the many parks and gardens dotted around the town. Locations which are filled with trees, many of which were planted during the Victorian development of the area, while others pre-date the expansion of the town. Either way, many of these trees still exist today, and, alongside the newer ones being planted, need to be looked after, monitored and maintained.
A task that is as big as the town itself...
About The Group
The Penarth Tree Forum was established in 2008 as a way of ensuring the town's tree population is looked after. Both naturally grown and specifically planted. While the PTF mainly focus on public-location trees (such as those in the parks, other greenspaces, and along the streets), they are also able to advise on privately owned ones.
Members of this group are a mix of knowledgeable experts and keen tree-care volunteers.
What the Group Does
The PTF liaise and work in collaboration with the Vale of Glamorgan Council* regarding trees that need attention or to suggest sites for tree planting.
Tree Monitoring & Action
They have helped identify a number of trees around the town that either needed care and maintenance, or
The Vale Council planted some new trees, on the Railway Path, although they are still not replacing street trees felled. We will continue to press the Council on this issue.
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The PTF also collaborate with other environmental groups in the town so we can help each other.
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Street Tree Warden Scheme
Street Tree Management, Penarth Tree Strategy, Street Tree Action Plan
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TPO & Tree-works Planning Applications
This information is currently pending as this team is in formation.
This team is forming to help ensure that trees under a Tree Protection Order (TPO)* are projected, as well as help people apply for such orders where possible.
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They will also help to ensure the correct paper work is filled out for any tree-related work needed (public and private) as well as ensure permits are obtained by the relevant parties.
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Tree Volunteers and Coordinators
The members of this team are the vital ground workers of the group. They are volunteers who have taken on the responsibility of directly caring for the trees themselves, whether that's individual ones within a location, or a collection.
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The Tree Volunteers water, weed and mulch around the trees monitor their health and prune where necessary. They also help to plant new trees in suitable locations.
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The Tree Volunteers keep an eye on trees around Penarth, looking out for those that may need some attention from the council, or are succumbing to disease or rot. After heavy storms and adverse weather they look out for damage that needs to be reported to the VoGC (see below for a link you can use to report also).
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TPO and treeworks planning applications subgroup (soon to be added)
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Projects and Teams
Because the PTF covers a wide scope in the types of trees and locations they help manage, their volunteers come together to form mini-teams, which spread themselves across the town. Some only concentrate on a particular area (or even tree-grouping).
Why their work is important
As a town, Penarth has a heavy mix of urban and green spaces, all of which contain trees. Many of these trees date back to the Victorian times, and some pre-date their formation of the town. It is important that these trees are both recognised and protected as vital assets for the area. Not just from the historical value, but the ecological one too.
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While it is great that the Victorians included a lot of trees as they expanded (including the natural ones), their effort's weren't always as good as intended, and now we are having to live with some of the longer-term consequences.
Sometimes the wrong species were planted, some have been allowed to grow over-large, a number have been removed and not replaced. The Penarth Tree Forum aims to take a key role in looking after these trees, as well as helping to help establish new trees for future generations.
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Particular emphasis is placed on involving local residents and the Friends of Victoria Square group came about as a result of one of our Open Meetings. We were fortunate in 2020 to be given some tree saplings by the Woodland Trust which were given away to residents. Our leaflet on Planting trees in front gardens is available on this site here (PDF).
Notable Projects
All projects are continuously monitored & maintained throughout the year.
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Woodland Town Status Campaign
The PTF would like to one day have this applied to our town. For that we'd need to increase the overall tree-canopy coverage to a minimum of 20% (something that is measured via ariel observation by 3rd party agencies working with the VoGC).
This is currently an ongoing campaign, and overall tree-coverage is getting close to this number (though there are various methods used to determine, which do vary the results. Latest reports suggest it is close to around 18%.
Updates on this campaign will only be available when we receive data collection updates. We cannot say when this might be.
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Did you know that Greater London has this award, and is in fact the world's largest urban forest!
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Vale Tree Officer Campaign
The PTF have been campaigning for many years to get the VoGC to establish the dedicated role of Tree Officer to ensure there is someone specifically there to co-ordinate the VoGC's Tree Strategy and tree work. in early 2024, after a long campaign, this role was finally filled.
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The VoGC Tree Officer will work all over The Vale, and with other departments such as Parks & Open Spaces, the County Ecologist and Highways (for roadside tree plantings). in Penarth they will collaborate with the PTF to share advice and help implement the town's portion of the Tree Strategy, and other tree-related projects.
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Cosmeston Community Orchard
Planted by Gwyrddio Penarth Greening* c2010, the PTF has since taken on caring for this hidden gem within Cosmeston Lakes Country Park.
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Wordsworth Park Whips
in 2021 PTF Volunteers along with the VoGC Parks planted around 250 whips of various tree species within Wordsworth Park to help supplement the already existing trees they look after there.
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Project Giant
At a number of locations around Penarth, including Alexandra Park & the Railway Path, Giant Sequoias (Redwoods) where installed. While not a native species to the UK this particular tree is quite hardy and should do well within the local climate and planting conditions. These trees will grow tall, but this will vastly help to increase the town's tree-canopy coverage.
Collaborations with our other sub-groups
All of our other sub-groups - Friends of Victoria Square, Railway Path Project, Friends of St Joseph's Park, Friends of Arcot Triangle & Friends of the Italian Gardens - have trees in their locations. The PTF assist these groups with their expertise & advice.
(FoVS was itself formed as a result of the PTF's concerns over the neglected status of the trees at Victoria Square).
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Collaborations with our other organisations
The PTF also work with other organisations such as Gwyrddio Penarth Greening, the Vale Local Nature Partnership, Penarth Living Streets, Friends of The Kymin, Penarth Growing Community (GPG), Friends of Golden Gates Park & more.
Formation of The Group
At the request of PCS members, who were concerned about the loss of trees in general and street trees in particular, we set up the Penarth Tree Forum in 2016. The Forum has been working with the Vale of Glamorgan Council to encourage them to develop a strategy for trees, in particular street trees.
The Tree Strategy for Penarth, produced by our group, is available here (PDF).
Active Details
Meeting Times & Locations:
The group mostly has no fixed meeting days, times or locations, generating work parties and carrying out tasks as required around the town of Penarth. Individual members can carry out their tasks as needed and when available.
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Members also assist other PCS groups with their tree-related work, and can also help non-PCS groups with tasks and advice.
Members do meet at least once a month at The Cosmeston Orchard to assist in maintaining it.
Current Chair: Nick Crofts
Tree Expert: Penny Daw
Projects Overseer: Anna Smith
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How to Join:
Contact us at the below email address
How to Contact: penarthtreevolunteers@gmail.com
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Related Weblinks
Links to be added
Online & Social Media
You can find more details about the group and their activities at the following sites:
Own Website: N/A
Facebook Page: (Penarth Civic Society)
Facebook Group: @penarthtreeforum
(this group is open to all, though posts & members may be moderated for content not related to its specification.)
Instagram: N/A
Twittter: N/A
Whatsapp: Available via membership
Other: N/A