Cambridge City Council - Framework Agreement for Arboricultural Services 2025 - 2029

Cambridge City Council is seeking to award a framework agreement to Arboricultural Association accredited ‘ARB approved contractors’, for the provision of arboricultural services.

The Council directly maintains trees growing in the Authority’s publicly owned open spaces. It also directly manages trees growing on the Highway for Cambridgeshire County Council.

Trees growing on Highway and communal Housing land (approx. 15,000 individual and groups of trees) are maintained on a systematic, proactive, cyclical programme. The City is divided into three sectors on a geographical and ward basis and trees are inspected every three years. Works are scheduled for each ward during the summer and suppliers are invited to quote on a ward-by-ward basis; the work to be performed at a specified time between late summer and mid-March. Works that cannot wait until the next cyclical assessment are issued on an ad-hoc and priority basis as they arise.

The maintenance of trees in other areas of public open space directly managed by the Council include for example, parks, commons, recreation grounds, children’s play areas, closed churchyards, cemeteries, the crematorium, allotments, and nature reserves. These areas have recently been moved to a systematic, proactive, and cyclical management regime in line with Highway and communal Housing trees. There are approximately 10,000 trees as individuals, groups and woodlands that fall into this category.
In addition, other proactive cyclical works include for example, annual epicormic removal and subsidence risk abatement works.
The Council plants and maintains around 250 standard trees annually into the Highway and public open spaces. Larger sizes are also sometimes planted. Areas prioritised for planting generally for the year after proactive maintenance. External funding has increased these numbers over recent years.
Details of all the trees directly maintained by the Council are recorded, and works issued, using proprietary tree management software (Ezytreev).

Suppliers included in the Framework may carry out maintenance and planting for other Councils and groups within the Authority for example, City Homes (trees in tenants’ gardens); Estate and Facilities (housing land); Parking; CCTV; Property Services; Project Delivery and Environment (land subject to environmental improvement schemes and watercourse management). The relevant Council Officer will issue works generally with advice given from the Tree Council. It is the aspiration of the Council that all tree maintenance and planting services shall be contracted through this framework. However, the Council reserves the right in exceptional circumstances to contract for specific services outside of this contract although such instances are likely to be infrequent and may never arise.

On this regard, the Council is now seeking suppliers that can provide experienced and qualified staff, and suitable equipment to respond to a variety of tree-based works. These works will include:
• Lots 1 & 2: Tree maintenance services: For both Lots, Suppliers should be able to deal with a range of tree maintenance operations varying in their complexity and situation. They should include; pruning, dismantling, felling, stump removal, tree inspections and reports, working adjacent to the Highway, working in public spaces, and working along watercourses.
• Lot 3: Tree planting and establishment services: Applicants for this Lot should be able to deal with a range of tree planting operations varying in their complexity and situations (e.g. Highways and public open space). Applicants should be able to deal with planting schedules containing up to 250 standard trees within specified timescales. The planting of larger sizes of trees may sometimes be required.