Felling notice placed on tree at West House.

Felling notice placed on tree at West House.

Lambeth Council’s Tree Service have been in touch with WERA regarding a ‘felling’ notice, and other work to trees on the estate:

The Tree Service received a request via Lambeth Streetcare from Veolia contractors to attend Weir Estate regarding trees which impede the collection of refuse from the estate. A joint site visit was arranged on a recent collection day so that I could appreciate the tree related problems that the Veolia driver was experiencing in carrying out his task.

The Veolia refuse vehicle is a large purpose built vehicle with an on board hydraulically operated crane which lifts and empties the estates bin pods. The estate roads are narrow and the siting of the bin pods next adjacent to (and under) trees hinders the task of refuse collection. The crane requires significant clearance to safely lift the bin pods from their containers and then position them over the truck for emptying. There were a number of locations where the crane was striking trees; this not only makes the driver’s task more difficult, but could be a hazard if the hydraulic operating cables were damaged and may also damage the actual tree.

There were a number of trees identified as conflicting with refuse collections, these were;

1. Anfield Close – Willow – 3 limbs to be removed, Ash – 1 limb to be removed.

2. Weir House (near Olding House) – Sycamore – 1 stem to be removed.

3. Weir House (near Quennel House) -Birch 1 limb removal, Birch 1 stem removal.

4. West House – Ash removal.

The refuse vehicle crane strikes the tree outside West House; this tree is very close to the structural walls of West House and for that reason has been heavily reduced in the past. When a tree is heavily reduced any regrowth is weak and prone to fail, which leads to constant maintenance and loss of visual amenity. The tree has significant future growth potential and it is prudent to take the opportunity to remove the tree. A new tree will be added to the replanting list and a replacement should be planted at a more suitable location subject to site survey and funding being available.

Tree to be removed at West House

A ‘Felling Notice’ has been posted on the tree to be removed. We normally post a 14 day notice on a tree to give members of the public/residents a consultation period. However, given the nature of the original enquiry and the imminent festive period we have reduced the notice to 7 days so that the works can hopefully be carried out prior to the holidays.

I would also like to take the opportunity to inform residents that the estate is due programme works on our cyclical maintenance programme. Trees on the programme are maintained to our contract specification, that is to say they are lifted (the lower branches removed over footways and highways), cut back from property structural walls and light columns and may be thinned (some of the leaved area removed) where necessary. Some trees may not require any maintenance at all. We no longer reduce/pollard trees unless either it has been reduced in the past or there is a specific reason. Reduction tends to spoil the natural form of the tree and causes a loss of visual amenity.

The Tree Service hopes that we have explained the reasons behind our planned maintenance and the removal a tree on the estate.
May we also take this opportunity to wish all residents a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Should you have any further queries about these works, please contact us, alternatively you can contact the Tree Service directly on 020 7926 3542.