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    <item>
      <author>Paul Thompson</author>
      <category domain="http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/">News</category>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #1f497d; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;&lt;a href="http://marishalthompson.co.uk/Downloads/AtkinsScottPrivateEstateLiability.pdf"&gt;&lt;font face="Calibri" size="3"&gt;http://marishalthompson.co.uk/Downloads/AtkinsScottPrivateEstateLiability.pdf&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font face="Calibri"&gt; &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/atkins-vs-scott-private-estate-tree-limb-failure-judgement/</guid>
      <link>http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/atkins-vs-scott-private-estate-tree-limb-failure-judgement/</link>
      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:59:53 GMT</pubDate>
      <pubDateParsed>2008-08-27T18:59:53</pubDateParsed>
      <title>Atkins vs Scott : Private Estate tree limb failure Judgement</title>
    </item>
    <item>
      <author>Paul Thompson</author>
      <category domain="http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/">News</category>
      <description>&lt;div class="storyHead"&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;National Trust in 'health and safety' tree-felling row&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;The National Trust has been accused of &amp;quot;health and safety paranoia&amp;quot; for felling a swathe of historic trees near a stately home.&lt;/h2&gt;
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&lt;div class="slideshow"&gt;
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&lt;div class="ssImg" style="display: block" oldblock="block"&gt;&lt;img height="288" alt="Beech trees at Kingston Lacy" src="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/00793/Beech-avenue_793697c.jpg" width="460" /&gt;
&lt;div class="imageExtras" style="width: 460px"&gt;&lt;span class="caption"&gt;No trees have fallen since one came down in a storm in 1989&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="credit"&gt;Photo: CHRISTOPHER JONES&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;div class="ssImg" style="display: none" oldblock="block"&gt;&lt;img height="288" alt="Beech trees at Kingston Lacy" src="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/00793/KingstonLacy_793696c.jpg" width="460" /&gt;
&lt;div class="imageExtras" style="width: 460px"&gt;&lt;span class="caption"&gt;Officials are worried that the roadside trees at Kingston Lacy could blow over on to passing cars&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="credit"&gt;Photo: CHRISTOPHER JONES&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;It has authorised tree surgeons to begin chopping down a number of 170-year-old beeches after experts warned they were at the end of their lifespan.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Officials are worried that the roadside trees at Kingston Lacy - one of the grandest country houses in Dorset - could blow over on to passing cars.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But environmentalists claimed the Trust was over-reacting.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Rodney Legg, chairman of the British Open Spaces Society, said: &amp;quot;I am aware of many beech trees that are 200 years older than these ones, so you could say that these are healthy and of robust middle age.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I think this is health and safety paranoia on the part of the National Trust. Who's to say that any tree in Britain is safe from falling down?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;A tree is only likely to come down in the most extreme weather conditions.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;He added: &amp;quot;We may as well start demolishing houses that are built next to roads as it could be argued a tile or brick could fly off in high winds and kill someone. Life has risks but felling a few historic trees is not going to make a huge difference to the safety of the planet in the grand scheme of things.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Kingston Lacy in Wimborne was the seat of the Bankes family - who previously lived in Corfe Castle - between the 17th and 20th centuries.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In 1835 William John Bankes, a renowned traveller and collector of art, planted an avenue of 731 beeches down the B3082.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Bankes, a friend of Lord Byron who described him as &amp;quot;the father of all mischief&amp;quot;, placed 365 trees on one side and 366 on the other to represent the days of a normal year and a leap year.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;They have become a famous site for residents as well as the 180,000 people who visit each year.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Since the 1970s the National Trust, which now owns Kingston Lacy, has felled a couple of trees annually for safety reasons.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But this year it has identified 21 which should come down, leaving 605 standing.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Mr Legg said no trees had fallen victim to the weather since 1989, when one came down in a severe storm.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Peter Samson, head warden at the Kingston Lacy estate, said the decision was taken on the advice of tree experts.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;We monitor the beech trees once a month and then a full assessment is carried out bi-annually,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;We have just had a full assessment and the recommendation was to fell 21 trees and cut dead wood and diseased branches off a further 70.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Due to climate change and the increasing demand of health and safety we have to make a decision to remove them. The last time a full tree came down naturally was following the 1989 storms but branches with diameters of 18-inches have come down since then.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Beech trees only generally live for 150 years so these have already exceeded this so are coming to end of their natural life.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Mr Samson said the lost trees will be replaced with similar looking Hornbeam trees as they are more robust.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Our intention is to replant the avenue with hornbeams - most people will not be able to tell the difference as they look similar to beeches,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Hornbeams will be safer next to the road and less likely to cause a problem with health and safety in years to come.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
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      <link>http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/national-trust-in-health-and-safety-tree-felling-row/</link>
      <pubDate>Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:36:46 GMT</pubDate>
      <pubDateParsed>2008-08-25T21:36:46</pubDateParsed>
      <title>National Trust in 'health and safety' tree-felling row </title>
    </item>
    <item>
      <author>Paul Thompson</author>
      <category domain="http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/">News</category>
      <description>&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #01347e; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;Major Plans Announced For BREEAM Sustainable Building Standards &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 8pt; color: black; line-height: 150%; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;In advance of CLG's consultation on carbon reduction in new non-domestic buildings, BRE Global will be launching &lt;strong&gt;BREEAM Energy Star &lt;/strong&gt;in the Autumn. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 8pt; color: black; line-height: 150%; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 8pt; color: black; line-height: 150%; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;BREEAM Energy Star&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 8pt; color: black; line-height: 150%; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt; is the latest addition to the BREEAM family of sustainable building standards, which are continually updated to make new and existing buildings more sustainable and cost effective from cradle to grave.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 8pt; color: black; line-height: 150%; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;Martin Townsend&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 8pt; color: black; line-height: 150%; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;, the new director of BREEAM, says that &lt;strong&gt;BREEAM Energy Star&lt;/strong&gt; will encourage the design innovation necessary to achieve the Chancellor's policy objective of zero carbon non-domestic buildings by 2019. &amp;nbsp;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 8pt; color: black; line-height: 150%; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;&amp;quot;The &amp;nbsp;BREEAM family of sustainability standards we are developing also includes &lt;strong&gt;BREEAM Communities&lt;/strong&gt; for urban developments - developed jointly with the RDAs and leading international urban planners - and &lt;strong&gt;BREEAM In-Use&lt;/strong&gt;, designed to reduce costs and improve the sustainability of a building's operation. &amp;nbsp;The aim of the BREEAM family is to provide a comprehensive set of sustainable building standards that cover buildings that are based on robust scientific evidence and developed through consultation with industry and with strong market engagement&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 8pt; color: black; line-height: 150%; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;&amp;quot; says Townsend. &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 8pt; color: black; line-height: 150%; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;Setting out the shape of things to come, Townsend described other aspects of the multi-faceted BREEAM family which will soon include :&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul type="disc"&gt;
    &lt;li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; color: black; line-height: 150%; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"&gt;the launch of &lt;strong&gt;BREEAM International&lt;/strong&gt; this Autumn as an &amp;lsquo;open source' standard, with its first derivative in the form of &lt;strong&gt;BREEAM Emirates, &lt;/strong&gt;with &lt;strong&gt;BREEAM Europe&lt;/strong&gt; not far behind &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; color: black; line-height: 150%; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"&gt;schemes for Responsible Sourcing developed with major manufacturers and the Construction Products Association &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; color: black; line-height: 150%; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"&gt;an LCA toolkit &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; color: black; line-height: 150%; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"&gt;standards to cover new building types such as Further Education Colleges and Olympic venues&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 8pt; color: black; line-height: 150%; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;Chairman of the BRE Trust, &lt;strong&gt;Sir Neville Simms&lt;/strong&gt;, commented &amp;quot;&lt;em&gt;So much progress in such a short time reflects our strength in depth and breadth, which is built on the success of our rapidly growing existing schemes that have enabled developers and constructors to independently demonstrate their commitment to building a more sustainable future&amp;quot;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 8pt; color: black; line-height: 150%; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;em&gt;The BREEAM approach has been copied worldwide because it works, is based on sound evidence, is independent of sectoral interests and can be adapted to different markets and climates. With the new Energy Star and expanded family of standards, we are setting a cracking pace&amp;quot;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;font face="Calibri" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/major-plans-announced-for-breeam-sustainable-building-standards/</guid>
      <link>http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/major-plans-announced-for-breeam-sustainable-building-standards/</link>
      <pubDate>Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:34:42 GMT</pubDate>
      <pubDateParsed>2008-08-22T21:34:42</pubDateParsed>
      <title>Major Plans Announced For BREEAM Sustainable Building Standards </title>
    </item>
    <item>
      <author>Paul Thompson</author>
      <category domain="http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/">News</category>
      <description>&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-line-height-alt: 14.4pt"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN" style="font-size: 18pt; color: #81004b; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN"&gt;Climate Change Affects UK's Birds, says report&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 21.6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9pt; color: #81004b; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN"&gt;15 August 2008&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 21.6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9pt; color: #81004b; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN"&gt;Climate change is causing a number of widespread British birds to lay their eggs much earlier than 40 years ago, that&amp;rsquo;s just one of the trends revealed in the latest State of the UK&amp;rsquo;s Birds report &amp;ndash; an annual publication produced by a coalition of conservation organisations looking at the fortunes of the UK&amp;rsquo;s bird populations.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 21.6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN"&gt;Information from the British Trust for Ornithology&amp;rsquo;s Nest Record Scheme (incorporated in the State of the UK&amp;rsquo;s Birds report for the first time) shows that birds like the chaffinch are, on average, laying their eggs about a week earlier than they did in the mid 1960s. Information obtained for other species, such as blue and great tits, robins and swallows, shows a similar pattern.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 21.6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN"&gt;The changes in laying dates recorded since the mid 1960s are believed to be in response to increasing temperatures triggered by climate change. In 1966, the average date for chaffinches laying their first egg was May 11, but by 2006 this date had moved forward to May 2. For robin, the average dates have moved from April 28 to April 22, in 2006.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 21.6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN"&gt;Dr David Leech, organiser of the BTO&amp;rsquo;s Nest Record Scheme, said: &amp;ldquo;Every year a network of 500 BTO volunteers monitor 30,000 nests, providing an enormous wealth of information about the changes in nesting activities of many of our birds. Over time, this body of information reveals a fascinating insight into how wildlife is affected by environmental changes.&amp;rdquo;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 21.6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN"&gt;The report, which is produced by a partnership of organisations, also shows that birds are impacted by climate change in other ways too.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 21.6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN"&gt;Information from the British Trust for Ornithology shows that song thrushes rear fewer young during dry summers [note]. Song thrushes feed their chicks largely on earthworms which are much harder to find in drier ground. A graph combining rainfall in England and Wales with song thrush nesting success showed that the birds reared more young than any year since 2004 &amp;ndash; another wet summer. Drier summers are an anticipated feature of climate change in the UK and the data indicates that this bird of conservation concern will struggle in future.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 21.6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN"&gt;Each winter the UK&amp;rsquo;s food-rich estuaries are vital to the survival of internationally-important numbers of wading birds that arrive from northerly and easterly breeding grounds. Although the overall number of these birds increased by about 50 per cent up to the late 1990s, numbers have since started to decline. The declines have been particularly acute for several key species, including purple sandpipers, ringed plovers and dunlins. These waders have decreased by over 59, 13 and 21 per cent respectively between 1979/90 and 2004/05 and this decline is largely thought to be fuelled by birds wintering elsewhere in Europe where conditions are becoming more suitable. The report confirms that the dunlin, which used to be the UK&amp;rsquo;s most numerous wading bird in winter, is now at its lowest level since records began. Volunteers for the Wetland Bird Survey now count more knot than dunlin. However, in colder than average winters, the UK&amp;rsquo;s estuaries will remain crucial for birds escaping harsher conditions in continental Europe.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 21.6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN"&gt;This year&amp;rsquo;s report also looks at the plight of the Balearic shearwater &amp;ndash; the only Critically Endangered bird to regularly visit the UK. A study reveals that one in 10 of the world population of this dove-sized relative of the albatross visits UK inshore waters. Breeding around Majorca and the other Balearic islands, this bird migrates out of the Mediterranean to the Atlantic during the autumn. Research has shown that the birds are having to travel increasingly further north in search of food because of shifts in the distribution of fish driven by climate change.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 21.6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN"&gt;Dr Mark Avery, the RSPB&amp;rsquo;s Conservation Director, said: &amp;ldquo;This year&amp;rsquo;s report shows that climate change is with us already and from our gardens to our seas, birds are having to respond rapidly to climate change simply to survive. As often before - birds are acting like the canaries in a mine shaft and giving us early warning of dangerous change.&amp;rdquo;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 21.6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN"&gt;Dr Tom Tew, Chief Scientist for Natural England, said: &amp;ldquo;The consistent declines in specialist bird species highlighted by this year's report indicate that the variety and richness of our countryside is being lost. This reflects the findings of Natural England's own State of the Natural Environment report. This loss is affecting many plants and animals. We urgently need to act to reverse the loss and fragmentation of important habitats if our wildlife is to stand any chance of adapting to climate change.&amp;rdquo;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 21.6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN"&gt;Richard Hearn, Waterbird Monitoring Programme Manager at the Wildfowl &amp;amp; Wetlands Trust, said: &amp;ldquo;The rate of redistribution of some waterbirds has been dramatic in recent years, but for some species we still know little about the extent to which decreases in numbers in the UK are due to redistribution to other parts of their range or real decreases in overall numbers. It is vital that we learn more about the extent and consequences of redistribution in order to ensure that these species are effectively conserved&amp;rdquo;.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 21.6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN"&gt;Andy Douse, senior ornithologist with Scottish Natural Heritage, said: &amp;ldquo;This report highlights continuing problems for Scottish seabirds, such as guillemots, puffins and kittiwakes. There have been further declines in breeding success in 2007, as shown by the new Scottish seabird indicator.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 21.6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN"&gt;&amp;ldquo;We know that this is almost certainly due to lower food availability, principally sandeels. We are also aware that changes in sandeel abundance are probably linked to climate change in the seas around the Scottish coastline. Sadly these changes in productivity are likely to mean fewer breeding birds and therefore continued decline in some key species that are so emblematic of Scotland's marine environment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 21.6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN"&gt;Matt Murphy, Ornithologist for the Countryside Council for Wales, said: &amp;quot;This decrease of certain waders such as dunlin and ringed plover is also reflected in the Welsh wintering populations. Both have declined in our major estuaries such as the Severn and the Dee. Another effect of climate change is thought to be the spread of little egrets north along the Welsh coast over the last ten years.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 21.6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN"&gt;&amp;ldquo;Climate change also seems to be affecting the pied flycatcher - an archetypal bird of Welsh oak woodlands. They appear to be breeding earlier across a number of sites and the worry is they may eventually breed so early, they are out of sync with their major food source of caterpillars.&amp;rdquo;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 21.6pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN"&gt;Professor Howard Platt, Chief Scientist with Northern Ireland Environment Agency said: &amp;ldquo;We are concerned about the dramatic reduction in overall duck numbers wintering on Lough Neagh - the UK's largest lake. We are funding some research to see if certain species are 'short stopping' in Europe because there are ice-free water bodies that would have been ice-bound before climate change.&amp;rdquo;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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      <pubDate>Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:29:52 GMT</pubDate>
      <pubDateParsed>2008-08-22T21:29:52</pubDateParsed>
      <title>Climate Change Affects UK's Birds : BTO Reports...</title>
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      <author>Paul Thompson</author>
      <category domain="http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/">News</category>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;The recent National Tree Safety group Conference have published conclusions from the conference, these can be viewed at&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt"&gt;&lt;a _tesavedurl="http://www.marishalthompson.co.uk/Downloads/NtsgConferenceConclusions.pdf" href="http://www.marishalthompson.co.uk/Downloads/NtsgConferenceConclusions.pdf"&gt;&lt;font face="Calibri" size="3"&gt;www.marishalthompson.co.uk/Downloads/NtsgConferenceConclusions.pdf&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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      <guid isPermaLink="true">http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/national-tree-safety-group-conference-publish-conclusions/</guid>
      <link>http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/national-tree-safety-group-conference-publish-conclusions/</link>
      <pubDate>Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:56:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <pubDateParsed>2008-08-14T14:56:00</pubDateParsed>
      <title>National Tree Safety Group Conference Publish Conclusions</title>
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      <author>Paul Thompson</author>
      <category domain="http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/">News</category>
      <description>&lt;h1&gt;Britain's oldest trees listed for protection&lt;/h1&gt;
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            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;They have stood for hundreds of years, but Britain's ancient trees are increasingly threatened by vandalism, disease and development.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;Now a list of 20,000 of the oldest, most precious trees has been compiled in an attempt to protect them.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;From a 5,000-year-old yew said to have sheltered the young Pontius Pilate, to an oak which inspired Mendelssohn and a sycamore under which the Tolpuddle Martyrs met, many of the trees have played a key role in the nation's history.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;Britain has more old trees than anywhere else in northern Europe, but many are now at risk. Although some can be protected by preservation orders, conservationists say these can be rescinded if a tree is claimed to be dead, dying or dangerous. The Government is preparing to bring in rules that would give greater protection to ancient trees and conservationists have compiled the register to highlight as many as possible.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;Jill Butler, from the Woodland Trust, which compiled the list with the Ancient Tree Forum and the Tree Register of the British Isles, said: &amp;quot;These are representatives of our history and heritage, in the same way that old buildings are.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;Trees are classified according to three stages - growing, mature or ancient.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;Once a member of the public has nominated what he or she believes to be an ancient tree, a verifier from the register will study its girth and the conditions in which it is growing. From this age can be established and whether it qualifies as ancient.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;10 prominent trees from the woodland trust&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fortingall Yew, Perthshire&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;Up to 5,000 years old and believed to be the oldest living organism in Europe. According to local legend, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea who oversaw the crucifixion of Jesus, was born in the shade of this tree and played beneath it as a child.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Haresfield Oak, Gloucestershire&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;With a girth of more than 23ft, this tree was reputedly planted to mark the route that the funeral cort&amp;egrave;ge for Edward II took from Berkeley Castle to Gloucester in 1327.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Druid's Oak, near Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;Has a girth of nearly 30ft and is thought to be up to 1,000 years old. Felix Mendelssohn is said to have composed some of the music for A Midsummer Night's Dream while visiting these woods.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wesley's Elm, Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;John Wesley visited Stony Stratford five times and is said to have stood beneath this tree to deliver his sermons. Up to 300 years old, with a girth of more than 25ft, it has been damaged by vandals and reduced to little more than a hollow.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dickens Oak, Chigwell&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;At least 300 years old, with a girth of almost 20ft, the tree is near to The King's Head pub which Charles Dickens portrayed as The Maypole in Barnaby Rudge. On a verge between a busy road and a footpath, it is in good health, despite suffering damage.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Law Day Oak, Bonnington, Kent&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;Has been used as a venue for the administration of justice since at least the reign of Elizabeth I. An annual parish meeting is still held beneath its branches.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Treflach Hall Cedar, Shropshire&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;One of the youngest trees on the register, as the species was not introduced until the 1630s. The tree has survived well, despite losing a branch when hit by a low-lying RAF Hercules during a night exercise.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Oriental plane tree, Wokingham&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;In the grounds of a supermarket and believed to be about 800 years old. Mysteriously absent from a 1739 engraving of the area.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Queen Elizabeth Oak, Northiam, East Sussex&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;On August 11, 1573, Elizabeth I stopped in the village on her way to Rye, sat beneath the 1,000-year-old tree and ate a meal served to her from the house nearby. She changed her shoes of green damask silk and left them as a memento. In 1944, the area around the tree was used to inspect troops ahead of D-Day.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Martyrs' Tree, Tolpuddle, Dorset&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;A sycamore pollard, which began life 150 years before a group of disgruntled labourers met beneath it in 1834 and formed an organisation that was the precursor of modern trade unions. The members of the group were later transported to Australia&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;/tr&gt;
    &lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;</description>
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      <link>http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/britains-oldest-trees-listed-for-protection/</link>
      <pubDate>Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:49:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <pubDateParsed>2008-08-14T14:49:00</pubDateParsed>
      <title>Britains oldest trees listed for protection</title>
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      <author>Paul Thompson</author>
      <category domain="http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/">News</category>
      <description>&lt;h1&gt;Fears over trees due to new safety proposals&lt;/h1&gt;
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            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;Homeowners may cut trees down rather than face annual inspections proposed under new safety rules.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="listory"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a lang="en.uk" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2164036/New-safety-regulations-for-trees-could-lead-to-expensive-inspections.html" jquery1218725121343="60"&gt;New safety regulations for trees could lead to expensive inspections&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
            &lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="listory"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a lang="en.uk" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/07/15/eaoak115.xml" jquery1218725121343="61"&gt;Ancient oak in Surrey tree valued at &amp;pound;500,000&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
            &lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="listory"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a lang="en.uk" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/07/13/eatrees113.xml" jquery1218725121343="62"&gt;Britain's oldest trees listed for protection&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;A tree near a road or path would have to be inspected by 'a trained person' every three years and by an expert every five years at the owner's expense under guidelines proposed by the British Standards Institution (BSI).&lt;/p&gt;
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                        &lt;td width="400"&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;img height="267" alt="Fallen tree: environmental groups say there is only a 1 in 10,000,000 chance of being killed by a falling tree" src="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/graphics/2008/07/30/eatrees130.jpg" width="400" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
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                    &lt;tr&gt;
                        &lt;td class="caption"&gt;&lt;center&gt;Fallen tree: environmental groups say there is only a 1 in 10,000,000 chance of being killed by a falling tree&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
                    &lt;/tr&gt;
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            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;But environmental groups say there is only a 1 in 10,000,000 chance of being killed by a falling tree and that the proposals are the latest example of threats blown out of proportion by a health and safety culture.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;They fear that homeowners and landowners may take an axe to a tree rather than face inspection costs and liabilities.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;A campaign is now underway to get the BSI, the UK's National Standards Body, to modify its proposals.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) said the loss of significant numbers of trees would damage the quality of life in towns and villages for unnecessary reasons.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;script language="javascript" src="http://marishalthompson.co.uk/core/NetGravity/mpu.js" type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
            &lt;script language="JavaScript" src="http://ads.telegraph.co.uk/js.ng/site=earth&amp;amp;spaceid=mpu&amp;amp;sz=200x200&amp;amp;sz=240x400&amp;amp;sz=250x250&amp;amp;sz=300x250&amp;amp;ls=f&amp;amp;transactionID=1218725125750&amp;amp;Section=earth/earth_news&amp;amp;view=details&amp;amp;xml=/earth/2008/07/30/eatrees130.xml" type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;Tom Oliver, Head of Rural Policy at CPRE, said: &amp;quot;The BSI has generated anxiety and confusion with proposals which could threaten the future of trees valued for their public amenity.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&amp;quot;There is a real risk that members of the public will worry about costs and liabilities arising from trees in their gardens near public rights of way, pavements or other houses. They may be encouraged to take unnecessary pre-emptive action and fell trees to avoid inspection costs and liabilities.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&amp;quot;The BSI should act swiftly to dispel these fears and prevent the unnecessary loss of trees.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;For almost 60 years the legal principle applied to trees is that risk should be kept as low as practically possible but recent court cases - where people injured by trees have sued the owners and been granted the right to compensation in the courts - has prompted a review.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;The public is also now much more aware of the risks that trees pose after isolated incidents in which people have been killed by falling trees.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;But critics say the new proposals - a 'walk by' inspection by their owners at least once a year, a 'trained person' tree inspection every three years and an expert inspection every 5 years with the details of each inspection recorded in detail - are draconian and unnecessary.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;The Forestry Commissioner for England's Sir Harry Studholme, whose responsibilities include preserving trees, said: &amp;quot; I would say that the proposals come from somebody who sees the problem from a very narrow perspective. They are well meant but unfortunately they don't see the bigger picture and have unintended consequences.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;The Health and Safety Executive said it was concerned some organisations were over-reacting to the low risk of falling trees.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;Chief executive, Geoffrey Podger, said the HSE did not believe any action was needed because the risk of injury was low and most eventualities were covered under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&amp;quot;Where trees are in very public places we suggest that non-specialist staff with a working knowledge of trees should look out for obvious problems as part of their everyday work.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&amp;quot;Inspection by tree experts is likely to be appropriate only in very limited circumstances, for example where a tree in a very public area is known to be unstable but is kept for heritage or other reasons,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;Rick Haythornthwaite, chair of the independent Risk &amp;amp; Regulation Advisory Council, set up to encourage balanced and sensible decisions about risk, called for a &amp;quot;common sense break&amp;quot; in discussions which could seriously affect the future maintenance and care of trees right across the UK.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&amp;quot;I am deeply concerned by the proposed introduction of what could be a disproportionate, costly and unnecessarily bureaucratic system for managing trees,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;The RRAC said it was concerned that only people involved in the tree industry - who had a vested financial interest in the outcome - knew about the proposals and urged ordinary people to make their views known as part of the consultation process.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;The draft guidelines recommendations for Tree Safety Inspection can be viewed on the BSI website - &lt;strong&gt;Recommendations for tree safety inspection&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a lang="en.uk" href="http://drafts.bsigroup.com/?d=127" target="external" jquery1218725121343="63"&gt;http://drafts.bsigroup.com/?d=127&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; - (you will need to register first).&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&amp;nbsp;The BSI said: &amp;quot;This draft standard has been developed to assist with tree inspection and will enable the assessment and reduction of potential structural failure.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&amp;quot;It has been developed at the request of the industry to identify the best practice to tackle this issue and is aimed at those designing tree inspection regimes, those undertaking tree inspections and tree managers.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&amp;quot;The BSI British Standards Committee welcomes comments from any interested party on this draft British Standard BS 8516 and would encourage any individual or organisation to send their comments to &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a lang="en.uk" href="http://www.bsigroup.com/drafts" target="external" jquery1218725121343="64"&gt;www.bsigroup.com/draft&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;s.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&amp;quot;This will ensure that there is broad input to the development of the standard.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;/li&gt;
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      <guid isPermaLink="true">http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/fear-over-trees-due-to-new-safety-proposals/</guid>
      <link>http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/fear-over-trees-due-to-new-safety-proposals/</link>
      <pubDate>Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:46:16 GMT</pubDate>
      <pubDateParsed>2008-08-14T14:46:16</pubDateParsed>
      <title>Fear over trees due to new safety proposals</title>
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    <item>
      <author>Paul Thompson</author>
      <category domain="http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/">News</category>
      <description>&lt;h1&gt;Ancient oak in Surrey tree valued at 500,000 GBP&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;An oak tree in Surrey thought to be more than 300 years old has been valued at &amp;pound;500,000 by council officials.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="listory"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a lang="en.uk" jquery1218724774484="60" _tesavedurl="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/04/22/ntrees122.xml" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/04/22/ntrees122.xml"&gt;Britain's most expensive tree valued at &amp;pound;750k&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
            &lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="listory"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a lang="en.uk" jquery1218724774484="61" _tesavedurl="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/06/14/eahedge114.xml" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/06/14/eahedge114.xml"&gt;Playing tag to save trees&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;The tree, in a suburban street in Weybridge, has been assessed according to its size, health, historic significance and the pleasure it brings to residents.&lt;/p&gt;
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                        &lt;td width="300"&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;img height="400" alt="Oak tree in Weybridge, Surrey that has been valued at &amp;pound;500,000" width="300" border="0" _tesavedurl="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/graphics/2008/07/15/eaoak115.jpg" src="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/graphics/2008/07/15/eaoak115.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
                    &lt;/tr&gt;
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                        &lt;td class="caption"&gt;&lt;center&gt;The oak tree in Weybridge, Surrey that has been valued at &amp;pound;500,000&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
                    &lt;/tr&gt;
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            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;It has been valued under a new system adopted by several councils to stop healthy trees from being cut down because they have been blamed for subsidence in buildings.&lt;br /&gt;
            &lt;br /&gt;
            Capital asset value for amenity trees (Cavat) means that from now on, risk-adverse councils or insurers will have to undertake extra engineering work to prove a link between a tree and subsidence, which can also be caused by broken drains and dry weather.&lt;br /&gt;
            &lt;br /&gt;
            It is hoped it will stem the tide of older, healthy trees that are felled each year by insurers and councils on spurious grounds.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;In London alone, more than 16,000 trees including some over 100 years old have been chopped down because of insurance claims in the past five years, although the London Assembly said that only one per cent of those removals were justified.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;The Weybridge oak, which is around 40 feet high with branches stretching around the same width, is thought to be over 300 years old, although an exact age cannot be established without damaging it be taking a tissue sample for carbon dating from the centre of its trunk. English oaks can live for up to 600 years.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;Its value has been calculated using a complicated mathematical equation that sees Pi multiplied by the radius of the tree at its based squared.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;script language="javascript" src="http://marishalthompson.co.uk/core/NetGravity/mpu.js" type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;script language="JavaScript" src="http://ads.telegraph.co.uk/js.ng/site=earth&amp;amp;spaceid=mpu&amp;amp;sz=200x200&amp;amp;sz=240x400&amp;amp;sz=250x250&amp;amp;sz=300x250&amp;amp;ls=f&amp;amp;transactionID=1218724776484&amp;amp;Section=earth/earth_news&amp;amp;view=details&amp;amp;xml=/earth/2008/07/15/eaoak115.xml" type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;This sum is then assessed against nursery rates for planting and producing a similar tree, with value added or subtracted depending on the tree's location and local residents' level of attachment to it.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;David Munro, from Surrey County Council, said that in reality, the tree's monetary value was simply a tool to determine the level of protection it should receive.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;&amp;quot;The real value is its history and contribution to the environment and the amount of pleasure it gives our residents, which is considerable,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;The country's most expensive tree is currently a plane tree in Berkeley Square, Mayfair valued at &amp;pound;750,000.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;p class="story2"&gt;In London alone, the value of trees is estimated at &amp;pound;6.4 billion under the new system, with traditional English trees such as oaks, horse chestnuts, planes and beeches emerging as the most valuable.&lt;/p&gt;
            &lt;/li&gt;
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      <link>http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/300-year-old-oak-valued-at-163-500-000/</link>
      <pubDate>Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:41:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <pubDateParsed>2008-08-14T14:41:00</pubDateParsed>
      <title>300 year old oak valued at 500,000 GBP</title>
    </item>
    <item>
      <author>Paul Thompson</author>
      <category domain="http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/">News</category>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;BS.3998 Recommendations for Tree Works is currently being revised and the draft form is now available from the link below. Comments are invited and the current draft is available until the&amp;nbsp;31st. October 2008&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a title="http://www.marishalthompson.co.uk/Downloads/BS3998.pdf" href="http://www.marishalthompson.co.uk/Downloads/BS3998.pdf"&gt;www.marishalthompson.co.uk/Downloads/BS3998.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/bs-3998-revised-draft-issued-for-consultation/</guid>
      <link>http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/bs-3998-revised-draft-issued-for-consultation/</link>
      <pubDate>Thu, 14 Aug 2008 08:28:13 GMT</pubDate>
      <pubDateParsed>2008-08-14T08:28:13</pubDateParsed>
      <title>BS.3998 Revised Draft Issued for Consultation</title>
    </item>
    <item>
      <author>Paul Thompson</author>
      <category domain="http://marishalthompson.co.uk/news/">News</category>
      <description>&lt;h2&gt;A five-year-old girl died after falling into a swollen river and a driver was crushed to death by a falling tree as storms battered the country.&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;div class="oneHalf gutter"&gt;
&lt;div class="headerOne"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class="story"&gt;
&lt;div class="byline"&gt;
&lt;p&gt;By Sarah Knapton &lt;br /&gt;
Last Updated: 6:52AM BST 14 Aug 2008&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class="slideshow"&gt;
&lt;div class="ssImg" style="display: block" oldblock="block"&gt;&lt;img height="288" alt="Driver killed by falling tree during high winds at Clapham Common, London" src="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/00790/storm-death-460_790521c.jpg" width="460" /&gt;
&lt;div class="imageExtras" style="width: 460px"&gt;&lt;span class="caption"&gt;In south London a driver was crushed to death when a tree crashed onto his van after being toppled in high winds&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="credit"&gt;Photo: REX FEATURES&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The girl was swept half a mile in raging waters after slipping from a riverbank while she played with her dogs in Stratton, north Cornwall.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;After clinging to a piece of driftwood for 90 minutes the schoolgirl was spotted by rescue teams and pulled from the water. But she later died in hospital.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In south London a driver was crushed to death when a tree crashed onto his van after being toppled in high winds. His two passengers also suffered back, neck and shoulder injuries.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The accident happened in Clapham Common around 2pm. Neighbours said the tree had been dead for ten years and could not stand up to the strong winds.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Police also named a 14-year-old diver who vanished in squally conditions off the coast of Berry Head, Brixham, Devon, on Monday.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Louis Price is feared drowned after he failed to surface on a diving trip with his father. Rescue teams have now called off the search.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The stormy weather prompted several flood warnings from the Environment Agency.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The South West was among the areas worst affected by flooding as half a month's rainfall fell in 24 hours in parts of the country.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Dozens of homes were flooded in Fife, Scotland, with some householders deluged by four feet of water. Trees were downed by high winds which disrupted trains on lines out of London to the South East and ferries out of Dover were delayed.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Overnight, three men were rescued from the roof of their car in Grantham, Lincolnshire, after becoming stranded in a ford. In Northern Ireland, three teenage girls on a camping trip were pulled from their cars after becoming trapped in the floods.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Earlier a child and two adults were pulled from their cars after floodwater engulfed the vehicles in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The unsettled weather is set to continue throughout the rest of the week and over the weekend across most parts of the country. But there were tentative indications that finer, more settled weather may be in store later in the month.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 14 Aug 2008 07:52:58 GMT</pubDate>
      <pubDateParsed>2008-08-14T07:52:58</pubDateParsed>
      <title>Driver crushed by falling tree in storm battered Southern Britain</title>
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