Tree felled in local village leaves residents 'furious'
A tree residents in Tadley fought to save during the pandemic has been felled by the council
A tree residents in Tadley fought to save during the pandemic has been felled by the council.
But the move, claim residents, was done under the cover of darkness by Basingstoke and Deane Council.
“This is another example of the Liberal Democrat/BDI -led Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council getting the communication badly wrong,” exclaimed the village Facebook page.
A tree that residents fought to save in 2020 disappeared before most people were even awake.
“Residents deserve openness – not waking up to find a treasured landmark has gone.”
The council said that ‘reluctantly’ it had to remove a large oak tree on New Road following serious safety concerns.
“During a routine tree inspection, concerns were identified about the condition of the tree, which had developed a significant split in its stem,” said a spokesperson.
“This prompted the council to commission an independent assessment, which concluded that the tree presented an immediate risk to road and path users.
“This was supported by Hampshire County Council’s highways team, who implemented an emergency road closure to enable the tree to be removed safely.
“Due to the urgency of the situation, there was no opportunity to provide information to local residents before the work started.
“Given the severity of the situation and the risk posed by such a large tree, our out-of-hours specialist tree contractors were mobilised and began work at around 5pm.
“They worked throughout the evening and into the early hours to remove the tree and reopen the road as quickly as possible, minimising disruption to road users.
“Due to the nature and scale of the operation, petrol-driven chainsaws and a woodchipper were required to complete the work safely and efficiently.
“Hampshire police attended the site in response to noise complaints from local residents.
“We recognise that this equipment is noisy and apologise for the disturbance caused to nearby residents.
“The council always aims to protect and preserve its trees wherever reasonably possible, particularly trees of such exceptional landscape value.
“We understand and share residents’ sadness at the loss of this significant oak tree.
“However, the safety of residents and road users must remain our overriding priority.”