NEWS AND COMMENT/OPINION: This is a story which I think follows a trend in the UK because I have read about at least three councils who have butchered or chopped down trees in residential areas without consultation or notice, which has drastically spoiled the amenity of those areas.
Most recently it occurred in Torquay when the council, without notice, chopped down to a stump a group of palm trees which had been standing in the town for up to a hundred years. They were part of a park and everybody who came to Torquay were familiar with them. They were kind of branding for the town because they gave the town a South of France feel. Anyway they’re gone and this is a similar example of callous tree surgery.
This is also on the south coast of England. Fifty lime trees have had their branches lopped off along Charminster Avenue. It’s been described by a resident, Charlie Palmer, as an “environmental disaster”. The photographs tell the story better than words actually as you can see them below. The trees are been pollarded which means trimmed but they been pollarded so brutally that the work has been described as butchery.
Contractors were employed to pollard the trees. Charlie Palmer, also said that the trees had never been pruned so harshly and that the foliage that was there was useful habitat for wildlife.
Now, as you can see, the trees do not bear leaves. All the leaves have gone more or less. No doubt they will come back to a certain extent over the years but in the meantime the residents will have to look at ugly trees. What’s the point of that?
Trees are meant to enhance the amenity of an area. This council has carelessly, arguably negligently, instructed a contractor to trim back these trees without giving proper instructions it seems to me and without discussing the matter with the residents who live on that street. Surely they have a say in the matter? But no, they woke up to this mess.
One resident said: “The only thing I care about is that there was a valid reason to do so much harm to those beautiful trees.” We don’t know what the purpose was except that the local authority says that the pollarding was designed to promote growth of a dense head of foliage and branches. Where are the branches? How long will it take?
The trees are 50 years old. The council is adamant that the process is for the public’s safety and to promote the trees’ health. The trees are protected by a tree preservation order which means they can’t be cut down or wilfully damaged or destroyed.
This is ironic seeing as the council has wilfully damaged the trees. Of course, they would argue otherwise but the question is whether they have overdone it and the general opinion on the ground is that they have.
Charlie Palmer added: “I can’t believe the butchery that has happened. I just can’t understand how they get away with it. It’s quite an environmental disaster. They were there for days and they have cut back every tree in the avenue. The trees are home to wildlife; we have squirrels, birds and, in the summer, we’ve got lots of beautiful butterflies because of all the vegetation. It’s an avenue because it is lined with beautiful trees and now it’s just got stumps.”
