Homegrown were asked to clear the vegetation along a 14 mile section of railway line in the East Midlands, which consisted of urban and rural areas, as well as working in areas of AONB (Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and SSSI’s (Sites of Special Scientific Interest). The work was to remove vegetation within 6m of the running rail and to reduce or remove any trees capable of striking the network. Homegrown was awarded the contract due to our technical expertise and experience in arboriculture, along with our timed program of works and delivery standards.

Homegrown had to overcome many of the normal issues during this project such as access and waste removal, but with the added complication of working in such environmentally sensitive area. This was achieved by creating a solid working partnership with the client and having regular discussions and commination with both the client and interested parties over the whole lifespan of the work. These discussions centred around the impact the works would have on both the aesthetics of the area, and more importantly on the biodiversity and environmental impact. As such, we worked closely with all parties in creating a plan to maintain as many trees along the route as possible. All this had to be done with the main emphasis on arrangements for working around members of the public and keeping both them, and our staff, safe and well.

The whole project lasted 12 months and involved a range of Homegrown expert personnel, not just our qualified arborists undertaking the technical works, but everyone from supervisors looking after the onsite teams, site managers managing the workload and welfare to project managers, planners and back-office staff supporting the ongoing work. Due to the size of the projects, we had 3 site compounds, each with their own welfare facilities.  

In using Homegrown for this project, the client benefitted from the wealth of knowledge and experience we bring to the job in sensitive circumstances and our ability to adapt our working practices in relation to specific arboriculture requirements. We have the ability to take on the whole project managing all aspects of work from project inception through to completion and hand over.  

Homegrown also left standing dead timber and habitat piles in certain locations along the route to encourage wildlife. We created hedge rows by reducing the vegetation to 1.4 meters high along the length of key areas, the hedge rows will now be maintained by the client and have the benefit of being a great wildlife habitat and also much more visually pleasing.  

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