Since July on behalf of FOPA residents we approached the council about the safety of the elm trees on the west side of the Square gardens. Raised on behalf of residents due to how the trees were bending/moving over in high winds.
Further to this, the council’s Cityparks team sought specialist advice on some of the trees in question. A tree specialist and skilled surveyor performed a type of scan of some of the trees in particular that were causing concern. The brief given to the tree inspector for this report was focused entirely on health and safety and management of the trees. It is also important to emphasise that the technology used for this survey was because of the high amenity value of the trees which is used only when Cityparks have suspicions about significant decay but cannot be sure.
The surveyor’s report with recommendations has come back. The main recommendation is to pollard the trees down to a height of around 10m. This is quite a substantial proposal but should give you a clear insight to the need to do this for structural safety reasons. These works have been marked as urgent and will therefore most likely be completed in the coming months.
If you have any questions about this work please let us know by email to info@fopa.co.uk and we can liaise with City parks and the council members.