TOWN councillors in Minehead were this week recommended to spend more than £9,000 on a tree survey which will identify work needing to be carried out over the coming winter.

A tree surveyor inspected all of the ‘significant trees’ on Minehead’s open spaces in the spring of last year and any recommended work was then carried out by a mixture of council staff and contractors.

A tree risk management strategy was also adopted to guide the council’s approach to managing risks posed by trees on the open spaces.

Town clerk Ben Parker said since then the council had taken ownership and management responsibilities from Somerset Council for a substantial number of additional open spaces across Minehead, which significantly increased the number of trees for which it was responsible.

Mr Parker said: “These newly devolved trees already have a current survey in place, but it was carried out by a different contractor, using a different platform and standard to that used by the town council.”

He said when the town council’s surveyor checked the trees they were not in full leaf and a further visit before the autumn of 2025 was recommended to assess the trees in full leaf.

Mr Parker said: “The devolved tree stock comes with varying inspection intervals, with the first batch of inspections due to expire shortly.”

He said there was now an opportunity to bring all trees under a consistent survey methodology aligned with the tree risk management strategy.

It would also help with budgeting for next year, mean lower-risk trees could be surveyed less frequently, and enable upskilling of staff to undertake inspections after storms or at set intervals, reducing costs.

Mr Parker said: “The council has a legal duty to manage risks from trees on its land, and commissioning surveys from suitably qualified consultants is a recognised way to meet this obligation.”