Council owned trees

Trees are not static; they are living, dynamic, ever changing and susceptible to events including lack of rainfall, poor soils and pollution. Removing dead or dying trees is part of the proactive tree management of a council.

The removal of a publicly owned tree in a street or park in our borough means that the tree is dead or dying, diseased, unsafe or demonstrated to be causing subsidence damage.

Trees have a limited lifespan and it is important that dead, diseased, decaying or structurally unstable trees are removed. This protects the health of nearby trees, and the safety of residents and their property. Trees tend to decline at the end of their lives, we care for dying specimens, (e.g. gradual crown reduction) but we can only delay, rather than prevent the inevitable removal of the trees.

Diseased trees can often appear to be perfectly healthy, but a detailed inspection by a qualified arboriculturalist can reveal problems that are not obvious to the untrained eye.

The Council considers all tree removal carefully - each tree that is removed is inspected individually by our qualified arboriculturist before a decision is made.

Every year our Environment team undertake a survey of all trees on the highway, in council housing estates and in parks and open spaces. As part of this survey, dead, dying and diseased trees are identified for removal.

Tree and stump removal are completed as separate operations due to the types of equipment involved. Trees stumps are usually removed up to two months after a tree has been felled. Occasionally a temporary reinstatement of tarmac is applied for an interim period if re-planting is due to take place later in the season.

We are not able to remove trees for any of the following reasons:

• increasing the amount of sunlight reaching properties or gardens
• improving reception for satellite TV reception
• alleviating seasonal or naturally occurring problems, eg falling leaves, fruit, seeds or berries, bird droppings, insect sap, or pollen
• allowing for vehicular crossovers, except in exceptional circumstances. See dropped kerbs, vehicle crossings and driveways for more information