Trees planted across the motorway network in Scotland for years 2023 and 2024: EIR release

Information requested

"The number of trees and shrubs planted or planned to be planted, and financial value of the contract to plant trees, across the trunk and motorway network in Scotland, for years 2023 and 2024. I am also requesting an indication of any future tree planting plans, if any exist."

Response

As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA),so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

Response to your request

Transport Scotland is responsible for the management of Scotland’s strategic Trunk Road Network (TRN). This includes the planning, design, and delivery of new infrastructure as well as the work
required to maintain the existing asset. This latter obligation is delivered by contract through the Trunk Road Operating Companies and Design Build Finance Operate (DBFO) Concessionaires, who look after their relevant areas and routes across the network.

Tree and shrub planting is a common element in both aspects of Trunk Road management. Planting forms an integral part of all new major projects and is provided to meet multiple objectives depending on the specific needs of the site, including shelter, screening, landscape integration, ecological connectivity, biodiversity enhancement etc. Planting is also delivered by the Operating Companies and DBFO Concessionaires, where appropriate, as part of their annual management and maintenance activities.

The planting itself will vary in terms of the material used (species, size, form), the method of planting, and the form or layout of the relevant area – again, depending on the local conditions and project objectives. Transport Scotland requires that all plant material is native and of local provenance, as far as practicable.

Transport Scotland is managing the delivery of a number of new infrastructure projects and improvement schemes in various stages of planning and preparation. These are being developed in
response to the Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 (summary) to help deliver the vision, priorities, and outcomes that are set out in the second National Transport Strategy. Many of the interventions brought forward through this process will include the planting of trees and shrubs, but it is not possible to provide details at this time.

Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), Transport Scotland is not required to provide information which it does not have. As the detailed designs related to future planned works beyond 2024 are still in preparation, we do not have plant numbers or cost information.

This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about costs for tree planting, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

Considering the above context, the following information is provided in response to your questions and includes data from both new schemes underway and ongoing network maintenance. Many of the projects from which the information is drawn span a longer timescale than the specified 2023 – 2024 window and we have used our best endeavours to extract the data pertinent to the required time period. In the same fashion we have also undertaken an exercise to isolate the costs associated with this planting, as far as this is possible.

With regards to your specific request I provide the following approximations:

• Trees & shrubs planted on the TRN between 01/01/23 and 31/12/24 - 410,266.
• Approximate cost of planting for the above material - £1,367,886.54.

Please note that the cost information provided covers the variability of planting specifications and related costs, which are contingent on a number of factors – location, size and type of material, method of planting, means of support and relevant soil additives. This will vary within and across projects depending on the relevant scheme conditions and objectives.

We do not have precise costs for the planned planting of trees and shrubs during the next autumn planting season up until 31 December 2024. We have, however, included estimated values for this planting based on previous experience of similar works, and these costs are incorporated into the information provided above.

About FOI

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