A DETAILED examination of the issues around the controversial felling of a tree in Christchurch will be discussed on Tuesday.

A special meeting of the scrutiny and policy review committee at Christchurch council will go over issues which arose previously in more depth.

During the first meeting of the committee in August, members raised concerns about certain ‘omissions’ in the report presented by officers.

They also called for a report on the policy to protect trees and sensitive buildings as a result of the blunder committed by the council over the handling of the Cornfactor site application.

Issues will include the archaeologists’ methods and supervision by Bournemouth University, whether the landlord’s permission was provided to fell the trees and the evidence submitted by the developer Renaissance Retirement over the cost of alternative foundation digging methods to avoid damage to tree roots on the site’s boundary.

A report into the matter says excavation during the archaeological dig was deeper than expected in the first incidence of root damage.

And since the county archaeologist was only able to visit the site once during the investigations, the council is set to review its approach to securing expert advice.

Regarding alternative foundation digging methods, the report, led by strategic director Dave Barnes, says the developer was not able to use the council’s suggested system due to financial constraints.

“They also stated that the terms of the funding arrangements were so constrained and staged that it was likely that the funding support would be withdrawn given the project was already experiencing delays,” the report states. The council, which has no powers to request access to the financial details of a development, had to accept the statement in good faith, although it did not become a practical issue due to the damage to the trees committed by the archaeological digging.