In a time of climate uncertainty and rising urban temperatures, more and more local groups are working to stop unnecessary felling of trees in city streets. Although councils all around the UK are often all too ready to fell healthy old trees, it seems the real culprits tend to be insurance companies, as well as a system which is skewed towards protecting property and profit over nature.
Real Media first reported on the Oakfield Road plane tree more than three years ago, when local campaigners fought off initial felling attempts, with a rota of guardians along with overnight vigils in a hammock high amongst the leaves.
The issue was that the insurers, Allianz and Aviva, were refusing to pay for subsidence remedies for two houses next to the tree, after their surveyors claimed the tree was ‘implicated’ in the damage.
Campaigners believe that the word ‘implicated’ does a lot of heavy lifting in such cases, and cash-strapped councils don’t have the will to argue, instead taking the apparent easy route of felling trees identified as problematic, or face court costs and potential damages in a fight with a huge and well-funded insurance industry.
In this case, the homeowners had already been fighting their insurers for over a decade, and thankfully vowed to carry on, while campaigners called a well-attended public meeting to try and pressure Haringey to take a stand. Someone had to, because the problem is widespread. In just one street 18 mature trees are under threat, and around 200 across the Borough of Haringey alone. A 2017 report revealed that around 10,000 trees per year are felled across London.
In 2023, the council brought in a security company and erected scaffolding around the tree in the early hours of a Sunday morning in a bizarre and expensive operation to overcome the campaigners by using force. Masked security (refusing to show SIA badges as required in law) kept a 24-hour vigil over several days, costing the council a reported £96,000. But a High Court judge ruled that the tree must not be felled at that time, and Haringey Council’s intransigent and expensive folly was ended.
One of the homeowners was granted a further injunction which ordered that, although it would be lawful for Haringey to remove the tree, it should not be harmed until the outcome of an ombudsman’s complaint against the insurers.
So the legal battle continued, but finally after 15 years of fighting their insurers, the homeowners were recently told that underpinning and repairs would at last be paid for.
This seemed like a powerful victory, but for reasons local residents can’t fathom, Haringey Council have nevertheless issued a notice that due to ‘future risk’, the tree (affectionally known as ‘Platinus’) will be removed. Local resident Gio Iozzi, interviewed in our film, says that trees shouldn’t be felled just in case of future damage – “with that logic, virtually every tree in Haringey would need to be removed”.
New statutory requirements mean that Haringey have to hold a public consultation prior to removal, and anyone can take part, so Haringey Tree Protecters are asking people to urgently comment before the deadline next Monday 17th June. On their website there are some suggestions for issues to be raised in responses, as well as full details of how to take part in the consultation.
Find a simple email template at:
https://www.haringeytreeprotectors.co.uk/object
Campaigners are mystified why the council is pursuing this after the insurers have now settled, and they suspect that the authorities might be concerned not to set any precedent that may interfere with future felling, but whatever the reason, we must surely face the fact that trees are incredibly important in urban environments. They contribute a substantial cooling effect in hot weather, they help retain biodiversity, they help clean our air and protect our lungs, and studies have shown that they even have a calming psychological effect.
It’s over six years since Haringey Council declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency, and that declaration looks more and more performative as time marches on.