Proposal to cull all the lime trees in Ealing borough have been scrapped following significant opposition to the scheme. The decision was announced at a full meeting of the Council which took place this week.

Outside the meeting campaigners including the Ealing Green party and Liberal Democrat pariliamentary hopeful, Cllr. Gary Malcolm held up banners to greet councillors as they arrived.

Originally the Council was considering chopping down 4,450 mature limes and replacing them with trees which were easier and less expensive to maintain. Cllr. John Delaney who has cabinet responsibility for the department which maintains the trees said that the plan had been reconsidered because the business case did not justify it.

A spokesperson for the Council said, "Claims there were secret plans to remove all 4,500 lime trees were totally untrue. The business case is now finalised and it has not been proven. Therefore, no lime tree will be removed under this proposal. The council will however continue to carry out routine inspections and maintenance work."

Cllr. Nigel Sumner, the Environment spokesperson for the Conservatives, said, “ It is hard to believe that in this age of pollution and global warming that Labour should only be interested in pursuing a policy which they say would have saved money – no mention of the investment that these trees make in the borough in providing oxygen, biodiversity, visual amenity, noise and pollution control and shade and wildlife habitat.”

He thanked residents for their roll in getting the proposals changed. Earlier he had delivered a petition which was signed by 1071 residents against the cull.

Each year the council spends around £400,000 maintaining the trees, repairing damage the trees have caused to highways, as well as paying out on compensation claims to residents whose properties have been damaged by the trees' roots. The council also receives several hundred complaints each year from angry residents who say pavements outside their homes are damaged by the trees, making them unsafe, plus sap from the trees is damaging their cars and making pavements slippery. Some of the trees' roots are also so strong they damage the roads.

The council's Parks and Countryside Service is to continue with its annual programme of removing basal growth from each tree and pruning a percentage of them to control their height and branch spread. Trees that are unsafe, unhealthy or are the subject of residents' complaints will be assessed on a case by case basis.

 

April 29, 2005