Council admits to felling 65 mature trees as Tooting residents raise questions

A Freedom of Information Request has led to Wandsworth Council's admission that 65 mature trees have been felled in the borough over the past 12 months.

The request was submitted by Merton resident, Tom Killick, who received answers from 8 councils in total.

"We really need to know why those trees were cut down, so I've now submitted supplementary requests to Wandsworth and Merton," Mr. Killick told Nub News.

This comes just as a new felling site was spotted next to Tooting Bec Lido by climate change activist, Suzanne O'Donnell.

The stump of what was a mature willow tree is located outside of the main gates to the pool, and was cut down before 7am on the 23rd April, according to Ms. O'Donnell.

Speaking on the matter of whether there is enough conversation between council and residents on issues of nature preservation, Suzanne told Nub News:

"They need to be more clear about what (trees) are in their borough, and what they plan to protect… It is all well and good to pledge to be the greenest inner city borough, but what are they doing to make what we already have last for longer?"

A spokesperson for Enable Parks, who are responsible for managing many of the green spaces across Wandsworth, said:

"The willow was almost entirely dead… only one (stem) had any live growth left."

"It was necessary to remove the dead stems urgently, given the lido's reopening and how close this tree is to the queueing area."

"We appreciate the works are quite drastic, but given the state of the tree they were necessary. We hope that one, possibly two, of those stubs will resprout and we can manage the tree at it's new size."

A spokesperson for Wandsworth Council told Nub News: "We are committed to keeping Wandsworth one of london's leafiest and greenest boroughs.

"Over the past three years we have planted more than 1,200 in our streets and parks and during this winter's planting season another 750 were added.

"Overall we look after more than 50,000 trees in our streets and open spaces. We take these important responsibilities seriously and will only agree to a tree being lost if there is no alternative.

"Of the 65 trees felled last year, many were either dead or diseased or unsafe. They will be replaced in future planting seasons.

"All trees have a finite life span which can vary greatly from 30 years to 300 years depending on the species, with natural causes the most common cause of death."

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