WALTHAMSTOW: Family's anger at tree felling (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

WALTHAMSTOW: Family's anger at tree felling

11:34am Thursday 13th August 2009 in Waltham Forest News By Carl Brown

Richard Burton beside his chopped maple

A FATHER-OF-TWO asked for a beloved maple tree to be pruned – only for council contractors to chop it down entirely.

Richard Burton, 49, of Pentire Road, Walthamstow, along with his partner Fiona and their two grown-up children, has for many years enjoyed watching a family of wood pigeons roosting in the beautiful tree in the street outside his home.

Since last December, Mr Burton has repeatedly called on the council to maintain the tree to prevent roots from causing a trip hazard to pedestrians.

In June he asked the council to prune the tree back as he has done in previous years.

But the council's contractors came along and chopped the tree down last week, and Mr Burton is furious that the tree was not looked after properly to prevent it from growing too big in the first place.

He said: “It was a nice to have trees around, it makes the street look better and it has always been there, it was not diseased.”

Mr Burton, an IT worker, said the workers who chopped the tree down told him the authority no longer has a permanent tree maintenance contract in place.

Instead, firms are called in to chop problem trees down.

The council's own website states: “At present there are approximately 20,000 highways-owned trees in the borough which are generally pruned every three years, however, financial restrictions have recently altered this pruning regime and the tree section is currently reviewing its maintenance programme.”

Mr Burton said: “The council's preferred option was to let it become too large then cut it down - problem solved for the council, no ongoing maintenance costs.”

Mr Burton is now urging the council to plant a new tree outside his house, but is sceptical it will do so.

The Guardian is awaiting a response from the council.