BTF response: OBJECT

 

 

19/02739/VC | Ash trees - T1 to T11 - Fell. | Land at Junction of Avon Way and Old Sneed Road Bristol

Objection on behalf of Bristol Tree Forum

I am the Chair of Bristol Tree Forum. I visited the site on Wednesday 03rd July 2019. The weather was fine, sunny and dry.

The site is a triangle of land of about 373 square metres. It is bounded on the east boundary by Old Sneed Park and on the north boundary by Avon Way. A public footpath runs along the southwest boundary and connects Old Sneed Park and Avon Way. There is a laurel hedge running along the boundaries of Old Sneed Park and the pubic footpath.

I counted 18 trees on the site as follows starting from the junction of Old Sneed Park and Avon Way going anticlockwise (because of the difficulty of measuring some trees covered by extensive ivy growth or because they were not easily accessible, my measurements are approximate. I used a DBH tape) Some trees have been pruned:

1.       A Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) – DBH 79cm.

2.       An Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) – DBH 39.5cm. The is a large scar as the base of the tree on the northern, road side. Query evidence of some disease in the scar? I believe that this is tree ‘T1’ in the Tree Location Plan annexed to the report of Hillside Trees Ltd and dated May 2019 (the Plan).

3.       An Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) – DBH 32.5cm. ‘T2’ of the Plan?

4.       An Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) – DBH 22.5cm. ‘T3’ of the Plan?

5.       An Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) – DBH 25.5cm. ‘T4’ of the Plan?

6.       A Beech (Fagus sylvatica) DBH 28.5cm.

7.       A multi-stem Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) – x three stems of DBH 35cm, 35cm & 25cm.

8.       A Beech (Fagus sylvatica) Unmeasured. This tree is immediately behind 6 and has fallen over. It is covered in ivy.

9.       An Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) – DBH 25cm. It is covered in ivy and may be dead. ‘T5’ of the Plan?

10.     An Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) – DBH 23.5cm. ‘T6’ of the Plan?

11.     An Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) – DBH 32cm. ‘T7’ of the Plan?

12.     A multi-stem Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) – x two stems of DBH 21cm & 13.5cm.

13.     An Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) – DBH 21cm. ‘T8’ of the Plan?

14.     A Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) – unmeasured because of ivy growth.

15.     A Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) – unmeasured because of ivy growth.

16.     An Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) – unmeasured because of ivy growth. At the junction of Avon Way and the public footpath. ‘T10’ of the Plan?

17.     A multi-stem Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) – x two stems of DBH 32.5cm & 35cm. Growing in the laurel hedge on the boundary of the public footpath.

18.     An Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) – x two stems of DBH 11.3cm & 13.2cm. Growing at the junction of the public footpath and Old Sneed Park. ‘T11’ of the Plan.

Whilst the trees on the site are not, perhaps, the best specimens of their kind, the stand, taken as a whole and bounding as it does the public highway, forms a very pleasing grove offering significant public visual amenity which adds to the overall leafy character of the neighbourhood. Save for query about the Ash at 2 above, to my untrained eye, I could see no evidence of any disease.

Independent evidence of the presence of disease ought to be obtained before any decision is made to allow the Ash trees on the site to be felled. However, if it is the case that the Ash trees are suffering from Ash dieback, then they still do not need to be felled just because of this. The advice of Forest Research (https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/pest-and-disease-resources/chalara-ash-dieback-hymenoscyphus-fraxineus/) is:

“With the exceptions of felling for public safety or timber production, we advise a general presumption against felling living ash trees, whether infected or not. This is because there is good evidence that a small proportion will be able to tolerate H. fraxineus infection. There is also the possibility that a proportion of ash trees can become diseased, but then recover to good health. These, too, would be valuable for our research, although it is still too early to know whether there are such trees in the British ash population.

However, by keeping as many ash trees standing as possible, we can identify individuals which appear to survive exposure to the fungus and which can be used for breeding tolerant ash trees for the future…”

I object to this application. The trees should not be felled. In view of the threat to them, they should be made the subject of a group Tree Preservation Order to ensure that they are protected into the future.