Highbury East Liberal Democrats

Many of you may have heard that the council plans to remove a tree on Fieldway Crescent.  This is a large plane tree and is a very important part of the street landscape here.  We have had contact from lots of residents about this and know about the concerns of the loss of the tree.

We have spoken to officers and this is the situation so far as we understand it:

There are several related issues here, the health of the tree and the condition of a number of homes nearby and what the tree will be replaced with.

Islington has lots of trees and we are very proud of these.  However, in the ten years we have represented you it has been clear that many of the trees planted decades ago were not an ideal type of tree for such built up streets.  As a council we get lots of claims from homeowners for insurance claims for damage to their home as a result of the impact very large trees.  The Fieldway Crescent case is not unique and we have dealt with many over the years.  As a result of our desire to retain as many trees as possible we have  invested in an amazing team of tree officers, equipment, surveys and policies to make sure this happens (more on this later)

We are not able to go into the case in great detail as it is currently part of an insurance claim and the details are confidential.  Whatwe are able to let you know is that this case has a long history and the tree has undergone significant crown reduction work over the last five years in order to reduce the trees water uptake and attempt to halt the desiccation of the soil, and so halt the damage to the nearby buildings.  However this has not had the desired effect and the damage to peoples homes continues - the evidence of that damage is clear and well evidenced and you will understand how frustrating and expensive such damage is to homes, especially after people have spent so much money buying and doing up the property (not to mention peoples desire to ensure the value of their property remains).

Neither the council or the affected residents wanted to remove the tree and they have worked together to find an alternative practical solution but there is none.  In many similar cases if the council does not remove the tree then it can no longer defend the claim and the councils or householders insurance could be removed - not a surprise if damage is so extensive that the fabric of a building is affected.  Removal to protect homes that are so clearly damaged and affected by the tree is, we believe, reasonable and we assume is a step you would consider taking if a tree was damaging your home to such a degree too.

What will replace it:

At this point the tree service are not aware of any reason why we could not replant trees in the immediate vicinity and as always intend to plant replacement trees in the Winter of this year.

Removal in relation to insurance claims does not automatically mean that replanting will be prevented. And yes, newly planted trees will take many years to attain the size and stature of mature trees, however trees are living entities with a finite lifespan, so the process of tree removal and replacement is a reality in all circumstances.

The councils tree policy is very good and very robust and does all it can to keep trees.

The councils policy and procedures are designed to maximise and protect as many trees as possible in the borough because we believe in the benefits of trees in the urban environment, and it is for these reasons that the council‘s tree policy is weighted in favour of tree retention.

We have an expert, dedicated and extremely well qualified tree team that we are very proud of, who take our policy towards protecting and retaining trees seriously.  Islington Council are members of the London Tree Officers Association (LTOA), and our Arboriculture Manager is a member of the Executive Committee of the Association. The tree service have also been involved in developing the Risk Limitation Strategy (RLS) and the Joint Mitigation Protocol (JMP) for dealing with insurance claims, and are campaigning for adopting these protocols in the revised tree policy, for dealing with claims in the future.

We also have a new PICUS machine that detects the extent of decay in  trees to we can avoid unnecessary felling. We are one of the three London boroughs (along with Southwark and Barnet) who have helped to develop the CAVAT system for tree stock valuation, and are currently the only London Borough to have valued all its street tree stock using this system.

The system we have in place for insurance claims is based on lots of research and with tree retention in mind.  It has been developed to ensure claims are dealt with efficiently and that the correct level of evidence is obtained to determine the actual cause of damage. We are pleased to say that we have adopted this procedure in this case and many others, we are hopeful that this will reduce the number of claims involving trees that are submitted to the council in the future and ensures that trees are removed as a last resort and only when necessary.

We hope this helps give you the information that those who have expressed concern need.  We have spoken to officers, reviewed the evidence and the decision taken and are confident that the council officers have acted well and have only come to this conclusion as a last resort.  The decision is the right decision.  Although we are unable to show you all the detail relating to the insurance claim we hope you will see from this that we have looked into this matter thoroughly on your behalf and share with you our assessment (as non tree experts but definitely tree lovers like you) based on the evidence we have seen.  We hope you feel confident that the removal of this tree is a necessity and not being done on a whim.

If you do want to chat about the issue further then do get in touch with any of us.