Planning application requiring method statement...

[markmac]

Hello there.
I've recently had my application reccommended by the council, with a few stipulations before they'll let me start the work.

Basically its a victorian end of terrace with a 4.8m wide plot of land at the side. 3.3m of this is for a garage and then a final 2m high wall to separate the rest of my land(by creating a passage way) to the public footpath.

the footpath is approxm 2m wide, and then there is a 3m wide tarmac'd section before the road. there is a horse chestnut tree in the centre of this tarmac, and it is the same height as the house.(15-20m??not a particularly tall house).

The council want to see a method statement that they are happy with that allows me to set my foundations without affecting the tree roots.

What foundations could be used that wouldn't affect the roots? as I reckon I'm going to have roots where i was hoping to lay some strip concrete foundations!

absolutely any advice or help would be appreciated, as this is something I've never come across.
Thanks.
Mark.

heres a picture. you can just see the tree to the right of the picture..

 

[markmac]

photos added

 

[Robert too]

for a start they are probably expecting you to mention hand dig within the tree vicinity .

I would phone the tree officer and have a chat with them

 

[Colin_p]

At a glance I'd suggest deepening / enlarging the two foundations that run at 90 degrees from the house and then connect the two with a shallow re-inforced groundbeam for the long run that runs nearest the tree.

This may lead onto and mean you'll need to get a structural engineer to design the foundations.

That said, it is probably the best and most economical way of getting round the problem.

 

[markmac]

cheers Robert/Colin. useful info

Would I need to run a deep strip foundation for the front wall of the garage? as the garage door will be the only thing there, or could i use a corner strip foundation where the front corner of the garage,single gate, and the 2metre high wall will be. Then use that as an anchor point for the 2 ground beams that will run parallel(one for garage wall, one for 2m perimemter wall)?

What sort of span can you get with groundbeams?
The garage will be approx. 3.3mx8m but the perimeter wall will run a further 5m(13m) then turn to adjoin the exist back wall of my yard.(the gable yard wall will be demolished so that i have a yard that spans the back of the house and garage, then wraps around the garage as an access way to the front with a single gate.)

I hope I'm making myself as clear as possible!!??