Trees in Ash Lane felled

I have had phone calls and emails from residents regarding the cutting down of trees at Ash Lane, Randwick.

Photo: Site where trees were lost

Some 15 trees were removed: some being over 30 years old and had bats roosting in them. Here is the response from Highways:

"I can confirm that we are removing these trees, following the high winds we had 4-5 weeks ago we had a report of a couple of the trees being in an unsafe condition. We took 2 of them out straight away before they fell, but we took the opportunity to inspect the rest, and they were found to be potentially unsafe as well. The problem is that there is insufficient room for them to develop a decent root system in the bank, and they will always be a potential danger during high winds. They are the wrong trees in the wrong location."

I have in the past raised concerns about the loss of verge-side trees (see blog 18th May). I have been assured that consultation around such matters would be improved. I recognise this is perhaps a small matter in terms of Highways work but it has a very significant impact on that local area. I was somewhat reassured that they also wrote:

"In terms of consultation, due to the urgent need to maintain public safety, the result, i.e removing the trees is not negotiable, has been minimal in this instance, and restricted to residents in the immediate vicinity who are involved. If we had a choice, and more time we would have carried out full consultation, but I trust you will appreciate the need to expedite matters when public safety is compromised."

In terms of the bats and chippings left behind here is the answer:

"Our tree surgeons are very environmentally aware and come straight back to us if they find such a situation. The safety issue does take a legal take precedent, but in the event we found a bat roost we would call in specialists to relocate it before felling. Our policy is to leave chippings to decompose naturally on site if at all possible for a number of reasons. The decaying matter provides a habitat for many wild species. By removing the chippings we increase the number of journeys and subsequently our carbon footprint. Also this adds to cost due to disposal charges. We do remove chippings if it is not suitable to leave them, and we insist that they are spread rather than left in heaps."