Mobile: 0794 120 1995
The latest justification from WC.
At its meeting on Tuesday, Hilperton Parish Council resolved to add its weight to my serious concerns about the tree 'work'.
The latest diatribe (below) now includes the 'professional reasoning' WC relied on. It would seem that each time it has to justify its disgraceful actions, WC refines its excuses and justification.
'Thank you for your email regarding the tree work that has been undertaken on the Paxcroft Mead Estate. The estate was built on clay soil which is influenced by moisture content and therefore prone to volumetric change. Where council owned vegetation is located near to houses and gardens there is a high risk of subsidence occurring due to soil moisture uptake by the vegetation, causing the underlying clay to shrink. In recent years there has been an increase in the number of claims against the council arising from subsidence caused by council owned trees.
As Councillor Clark is aware, all of the trees that have been removed posed a risk to the properties, as all trees exert a zone of influence over the surrounding soil. Depending on the species of tree the level of risk posed can increase, this is due to the volume of water that is used by certain trees to fuel their life processes. The water usage requirements and species of tree commonly found in the UK are classified into three categories: high, moderate and low according to the National House Building Councils (NHBC) publication Building Near Trees Chapter 4.2, those species which grow to the largest size will tend to have the greatest radial spread of roots and might therefore have the highest water usage. The highest water usage trees can be considered to be the species that pose the highest risk of causing damage to structures through indirect damage (subsidence). However where a moderate demand tree is located within sufficient distance from a structure its roots may still have an influence over the moisture within the soil where the foundations are located, this may also cause damage as readily as a high usage tree.
Therefore in some cases where the trees were some distance away from the properties they were still within influencing distance hence their removal. For instance poplar is a high water usage tree has been found to cause damage to properties within 30m distance willow is a high water usage tree with damage found within 40m, Acer (field maple and sycamore) is moderate water usage tree with damage found within 20m, hawthorn is a high water usage tree with damage found within 12m, birch is a moderate water usage tree with damage found within 10m and plum is a moderate water usage tree with damage found within 11m. Distances to property for damage have been taken from the results of the Kew Root Survey by Cutler & Richardson and a more recent study by Mercer, Reeves and O’Callaghan.
In some areas the works that we have undertaken has been limited by the tree species present, size and width of the blocks of vegetation, in areas where the vegetation is 10m wide we have been able to clear a strip of vegetation from properties but in areas where the vegetation is only 3m wide we have been limited to removing or reducing the vegetation i.e. the trees along the cycle path. The intention for the vegetation that runs along the cycle path is to allow it to regrow and it will then be maintained as a hedge.
The Council will not replace the trees and shrubs that we have removed. This is due to the risk of subsidence that is posed to properties and replacing the trees and shrubs on council land would be counterproductive to the works we have undertaken. Furthermore we do not have a budget to cover replacement planting as the budget we have been allocated by insurance to cover this scheme of works has been used in its entirety. The contractors will rectify any damage that they have caused to the grassed areas, clear the footpaths of mud and debris and repair the Councils fences that they have had to remove in order to undertake the works.
I trust that the above provides you with further context as to why we undertook such large scale works across the Paxcroft Mead Estate.'