Royal Ascot OEMP
Protection of Trees in Royal Ascot
The Operational Environmental Management Plan (OEMP) for Royal Ascot was compiled to fulfill conditions of approval for the development of Royal Ascot; the provisions of the OEMP is thus legally binding on all residents, owners, Home Owners Associations and Bodies Corporate in Royal Ascot. Failure to comply with the provisions of the OEMP must be referred to the Environmental Management Committee (EMC), which is empowered by the OEMP to impose monetary penalties on the responsible party.
Section 2.5 of the OEMP deals with the protection of trees in Royal Ascot and reads as follows:
No mature trees retained on the site during the construction phase of the development, or large trees planted during landscaping may be felled without prior consent of the Environmental Management Committee.
The following must please be noted:
1.	This ruling applies to trees in the public areas along the streets, in public areas within the precincts, as well as to trees that were originally in place in private gardens when the development started.
2.	Requests from individual residents or owners to have trees in the public areas of Royal Ascot or the precincts removed, must first be considered by the relevant Home Owners Association (HOA) or Body Corporate. If the HOA or Body Corporate supports the decision, the request must be forwarded to the EMC via the Royal Ascot Portfolio Manager.
3.	The reasons for the request must be clearly spelt out. It need be emphasised that, following a recent ruling by the Constitutional Court, obstruction of a view or views is not a valid reason for cutting down a tree or a shrub.
4.	Trees or shrubs will also not be trimmed when interfering with television or satellite dishes without other options having been considered first. That means that if the television aerial or satellite dish can be moved to a position where the tree or shrub does not interfere with the signal, this must be considered. There are instances where aerials and dishes are situated low down on walls and where they can be raised to avoid trees and shrubs interfering with the signal. Alternatives also include the possibility of providing communal aerials or satellite dishes in precincts.
5.	If the EMC does approve the removal of a tree, the normal practice will be that this tree must be replaced by another tree in a more convenient site, this site need not necessarily be close to where the original tree stood. The cost of replacement will be borne by the person or organisation making the request for removal.