Latest news with #treefelling
BBC News
5 hours ago
- Health
- BBC News
Diseased ash trees in Redditch to be felled to protect residents
Trees infected with a deadly disease will be felled in order to protect public Borough Council plan to cut down a number of ash trees along Birchfield Road, from the top of Bromsgrove Road to the slip road for Bromsgrove Highway, in Webhealth, that are infected with ash dieback. The disease leads to leaf loss, branch die and ultimately tree death, however it also poses risk to humans and animals as weakened branches can suddenly fall. Jen Snape from the local authority said it was "imperative" to look after the environment and remove any trees that could become "a safety risk to residents". Orange marks had been placed on infected trees, with work expected to get underway in the coming months, a spokesperson for the borough council said. They added that the removed trees would not be replanted, as the surrounding trees and vegetation were "sufficient to allow natural regeneration". Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Telegraph
8 hours ago
- General
- Telegraph
Network Rail ‘wrongly' felled 300 trees
'Cowboy' Network Rail workers unnecessarily felled more than 300 healthy trees in a valley in Derbyshire, an analysis of its own figures suggests. Dozens of contractors are accused of spoiling the area around the village of Higham, near the Peak District, by chopping down oak and ash trees during bird nesting season. According to a vegetation management plan outlined to residents, the government-controlled company – which is responsible for maintaining lines across Britain – was seeking to 'remove or reduce trees and vegetation that could disrupt railway operations '. It laid out plans to 'clear all vegetation within 6.5 metres of the tracks', removing 648 trees between the settlements of South Wingfield and Clay Cross. The company said it would 'prune or remove' any trees further away that 'posed a risk'. However, analysis by The Telegraph of the company's data found that 433 of the trees felled – more than two-thirds of the total – were more than 6.5 metres away from the line. Around 22 per cent of those trees would likely have needed felling under national guidelines for dealing with ash dieback disease, suggesting the remaining 336 were cut down unnecessarily. It comes after distraught residents accused Network Rail of a 'scorched earth operation' which had left the countryside stripped bare. People living nearby said they had woken to find stacked piles of trunks and branches – containing nests to which birds still returned – following overnight weekend works. Cllr Heather Liggett said it had devastated a unique area of greenery which had been untouched ever since the railway line was built in 1840. 'There seems to be one law for them and another for the rest of us,' she said. She pointed out how a local golf club was refused permission to trim back an overgrown footpath because it was bird nesting season, leaving members of the public at risk from golf balls. Branding the Network Rail workers 'cowboys', Cllr Liggett added: 'Where is the law when it comes to these people? The community has been treated diabolically. 'To go felling trees at midnight; you are not going to know what [birds are] nesting. It's deplorable.' Sarah McRow obtained the Network Rail data through a freedom of information (FOI) request and suspects it ploughed ahead with clearing the vegetation to ready the line for electrification. The 56-year-old, who co-owns a nearby alpaca farm, said: 'It's completely brazen. They are absolutely doing this to bypass all the stringent ecological rules if they went down the electrification line. 'They've just gone hell for leather to take as much down as they possibly can... everyone has kicked up a fuss. You can't stick a tree back up once it's been felled. It's just outrageous what they are doing.' A report from the Tree Council, a charity, found oak trees had been felled 'which could have been retained' in what it described as a 'slash and burn' approach. In Network Rail's FOI response, an unnamed senior engineer said: 'Through climate change, our weather is becoming more extreme every year and this risk is growing. 'Whilst the vegetation has grown in this location for some time, the year-on-year increased risk this creates means we must action. 'We acknowledge that it's not ideal to start this work in bird nesting season. However, if we were to wait, we'd have to carry more of the risks through another autumn and winter storm season, which isn't tolerable.' Network Rail did not explain why hundreds of trees more than 6.5 metres away had been chopped down. A spokesman said: 'We have received the Tree Council's report about our work in this area. 'We take their recommendations seriously. We will review their report thoroughly and develop a detailed response in due course.'
The Sun
3 days ago
- General
- The Sun
Ex-Premier League manager wins bitter battle with neighbours over 7 ‘nuisance' trees full of squawking magpies
FORMER Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan has won his battle with neighbours to axe seven "nuisance" trees at his Cheshire mansion - despite fears for magpies. The Liverpool legend, 74, and his next door neighbours were left stumped after half a dozen locals living opposite objected to the "wholesale" cull. 3 3 One protestor even sent a sound recording to the local council of birds in the trees including blackbirds, blue tits, parakeets, robins and Magpies, in a desperate bid to save the 60ft-high sycamores. Newcastle are called the Magpies because of their black and white striped kit, like the bird's plumage, and Keegan bossed them back in the 1990s. The 50-year-old trees were slapped with a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) before the row of four houses, including Keegan's, were built. But Keegan and his neighbours have now successfully applied to the local council to have the "dead and decaying" trees completely felled to the ground. In a letter, one objector wrote: "The protected trees have always provided a welcome and quite natural habitat for the wide diversity of animals, especially birds. "For many years, our property and those of our neighbours have overlooked an empty field. Now our view, especially during the winter months, is of four detached houses. "During the summer months, a time when most people enjoy being out in their gardens, the protected trees have provided a level of privacy, shade from the sun and good noise reduction (for all parties). "Over the last 40 years I can honestly say the protected trees have caused no real problems at all. To destroy live trees would be a tragedy." Another objector, whose house backs on to Keegan's, paid towards the cost of previous tree works in a gesture of good will. They said: "I am in total agreement that tree maintenance and action is required to the trees. My objection is with some of the proposed action." A third objector said: "The face the trees are now considered a nuisance shouldn't necessitate their wanton removal, after all the trees were there long before the houses were built." Keegan won three Division One Championships, two UEFA Cups, one FA Cup and a European Cup in his playing career at Liverpool, and also won the Ballon d'Or twice. As a manager, he is famous for his "I would love it if we beat them" rant at Sir Alex Ferguson as his Newcastle side threw away a 13-point lead and lost the Premier League title to Man Utd in 1996. The former England boss moved to his five-bedroom Cheshire pad in 2002 and has since added a loft conversion, two dormer windows and a rear conservatory. Officials at Trafford Council gave the go-ahead for the tree felling by April 2027, but ordered that new trees should be planted. They said: "The sycamore trees proposed for removal are all in poor condition, most have areas of dead bark on the lower stem, structural weaknesses in the crown and poor leaf budding rates. "Decay is evident in several previous pruning points and these trees are likely to become hazardous in the near future if they remain." 3
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
A hundred trees to be felled at historic hall
Work will begin to fell a hundred trees suffering from ash dieback disease on a historic estate during nesting season. The National Trust, which manages Ormesby Hall in Middlesbrough, was granted planning permission for the work to begin in January, but it was pushed back for an ecology assessment to be carried out. The trust said it was satisfied with measures in place to protect wildlife and described how the trees potentially posed a risk to the public should they become too weak and collapse. The disease is a fungus which infects ash trees, attacking leaves and branches, causing lesions, and eventually leading to their death. Mark Bradley, countryside manager with the National Trust, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that "it was not ideal" to be carrying out the work during nesting season. He said there was a benefit to carrying the work out during the drier season and that exclusion zones had been set up around nesting sites. "To manage risks, before we began the tree work, we assessed the site and considered what needed doing against the potential impacts on wildlife and the environment. "We also do what we reasonably can to avoid disturbing or damaging birds' nests," he said. Most of the trees affected on the estate had been planted in Pennyman's Woods in the 1980s. However, some older trees running along the nearby roadside, were probably more than 200 years old but would also have to come down. Mr Bradley said: "As Europe's largest conservation charity, we take all our work of this nature extremely seriously and operate to what we believe are the highest standards. "Our risk management of nest sites is above and beyond the norm." Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. Trees hit by 'notable increase' in ash dieback Disease will kill 'more than 180,000 trees' National Trust
BBC News
19-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Middlesbrough's Ormesby Hall to fell trees due to ash dieback disease
Work will begin to fell a hundred trees suffering from ash dieback disease on a historic estate during nesting National Trust, which manages Ormesby Hall in Middlesbrough, was granted planning permission for the work to begin in January, but it was pushed back for an ecology assessment to be carried trust said it was satisfied with measures in place to protect wildlife and described how the trees potentially posed a risk to the public should they become too weak and disease is a fungus which infects ash trees, attacking leaves and branches, causing lesions, and eventually leading to their death. Mark Bradley, countryside manager with the National Trust, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that "it was not ideal" to be carrying out the work during nesting said there was a benefit to carrying the work out during the drier season and that exclusion zones had been set up around nesting sites. "To manage risks, before we began the tree work, we assessed the site and considered what needed doing against the potential impacts on wildlife and the environment."We also do what we reasonably can to avoid disturbing or damaging birds' nests," he of the trees affected on the estate had been planted in Pennyman's Woods in the some older trees running along the nearby roadside, were probably more than 200 years old but would also have to come Bradley said: "As Europe's largest conservation charity, we take all our work of this nature extremely seriously and operate to what we believe are the highest standards."Our risk management of nest sites is above and beyond the norm." Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
