Guildford Borough Council say safety had to take priority in felling of protected trees

A council leader is promising compensation will be pursued if anyone is found to be responsible for damage to two protected oak trees that have now been cut down.

Councillor Joss Bigmore, leader of Guildford Borough Council, spoke after the trees in Stoke Park were cut down by the council last week after their roots had been damaged.

The council came under fire for planning to remove the trees, which had been protected while new student accommodation was built on the site, because some claimed they could have been saved.

Cllr Bigmore said: “The question the council needed to answer with these trees is are they dangerous? Could we save them is almost secondary.

“They were, in their current state, a danger to public safety, near a footpath in a very busy park. So for us, the primary consideration is public safety.”

He said that a council tree specialist and an expert sent by the developer of the site had told him there was a small chance of cutting the trees back to get them to grow again and saving them but that this still wouldn’t remove the public safety risk.

He added: “So the question is not could we save the trees. The question is, what is the balance of risk to public safety versus the chance of the trees being saved?

“Ultimately if someone were to climb one of the trees or a branch would break, or they would come down in high winds, the council is corporately liable if we’ve been advised to take them out.

“So that unfortunately is the primary concern, as sad as it is to take them out.”

He said that now an inspection of the planning documents was needed to find out what was agreed with the developer and if all those conditions were met.

He said: “I think there was a condition that said that all of the footings around those trees had to be hand dug. I’m no expert but they certainly didn’t look hand dug to me.

“The investigation has got to run its course and we will do everything we can, if someone is culpable, to pursue compensation.”

The council has confirmed that the trees will be replaced.

Environmental campaigner Daniel Hill said he thought the council should have sought an external second opinion before felling the trees.

He said: “There’s a lot of outcry from residents wanting second opinion. As soon as the council say to people it’s a health and safety issue that shuts people down.”

He believed the trees could have been saved. He said: “Even when you saw the stumps, it’s a very healthy tree. There was no rot, there’s no damage coming up from from what had happened.

“Obviously the roots are damaged, but that damage wasn’t causing the tree to fail.

“The reason you have these Tree Protection Orders is because it’s important to keep these trees.”