Illegally cut trees on Monmouth Street removed

Date published: 12 September 2023

A tree which had been illegally cut on Monmouth Street has been removed after falling onto a car and blocking the road.

Two trees had been illegally cut on the grass verge, causing one to fall and block the road on Friday afternoon (8 September), but not before hitting a car and taking out a lamppost.

Councillor Shahid Mohammed said the incident took hours to deal with, after he reported it to the police, and the council.

He said: “A local resident contacted me around 4.30pm about an incident relating to the trees on Monmouth Street.

“When I arrived on the scene, I was told that unknown persons had cut the large trees on the grass verge. One of the trees had fallen and hit a car and was blocking the road. The other tree was still standing but was cut halfway through and its safety needed assessing.

“I made a number of calls including to the Council's Forward Incident Officer (FIO) who was immediately deployed and attended promptly, she began coordinating with all the services. It became apparent that a street lighting column had also been taken down by the fallen tree and road was fully blocked.”

The FIO liaised with Electricity North West for the street light power to be disconnected and to make a safe working area, and with Highways officers to close the road at both ends.

An arboriculture contractor arrived on site to clear the trees; a cherry picker had to be brought in so that the second badly damaged tree could be cut down safely.

Due to the size of the trees, the contractors were unable to clear all the logs so it was agreed they would be cleared by Environmental Management during the week of 11 September.

Councillor Mohammed continued: “Photos and CCTV footage will be passed to Planning Enforcement and the Police for them to consider any enforcement action.

“The arborist contractor crew were very professional and efficient; they completed the whole job in a timely manner and cleaned the area before they left.

“I'd like to thank the local residents for their patience, cooperation and support. They very kindly brought out jugs of water for everyone on site; it was a hot and dusty environment, so the rehydration was very much appreciated.”