00642 Verges Booklet - Devon County Council

(i) Planting sites immediately over or adjacent to underground pipes
and cables or in the immediate vicinity of overhead cables should
be avoided. Consultations with the Statutory Undertakers will be
necessary;
(j) Sites should be chosen to avoid the possibility of future root
damage to road foundations;
(k) For all new highway schemes, landscaping should be evaluated
from the outset at the initial design stage and additional land take
considered to enable planting within the above guidelines.
(iv) Tree Planting in New Development Areas
Narrow verges should not be created adjacent to the carriageway,
being costly to maintain, and trees situated in such verges make
maintenance more difficult, are unlikely to comply with planting criteria
and aesthetically are not necessarily the best option. It is suggested
that:-
(a) Planting is undertaken in verges or feature areas situated at the
back of the footway possibly by agreement on land, which it is
not the responsibility of the highways authority to maintain. In
the case of new layouts which are being considered, it may be
appropriate for tree planting to be made a condition of planning
consent within the boundary of the new development.
(b) The use of forest trees singly or in groups in suitable feature
areas can be more effective and involve less maintenance than
smaller trees planted at regular intervals.
(v) Landscaping and Potential of Land Adjacent to
Highways and Ancillary Land Surplus to Requirements
Where the Authority owns areas of land adjacent to the road or
between carriageways several possibilities arise for the use of land, for
example:
(a) the planting of coppice (hazel, chestnut, ash, willow) to be cut
back every seven to ten years;
(b) the planting of a forest plot of poplar, willow, alder, birch;