£200 a branch! Neighbours fined £3k for pruning tree
For years the striking mature cedar was a distinctive feature of the tree-lined street.
Today the old tree still catches the eye – but for all the wrong reasons after two residents took a saw to it.
Now BA pilot Gareth Williams-Gardner and company director David Evans have been fined a total of £ 3,000 for chopping 15 branches off the protected tree.
A court heard that Williams- Gardner, 45, and Evans, 39, feared falling branches would damage their £750,000 homes and could put lives at risk.
Williams-Gardner had also been told that, because the 50ft tree is on his land, he would be liable if any debris injured passing pedestrians or damaged cars. However, the cedar was subject to a 36-year-old Tree Preservation Order (TPO), which prevents unauthorised pruning of prized trees.
The neighbours were accused of ignoring that order when they removed 15 branches last July and the council took them to court.
Both men admitted wilfully damaging the tree and were fined £1,500 each – effectively £200 per branch – and ordered to pay £800 costs by magistrates in Poole, Dorset.
Andy Dearing, of Poole council, described the value of the tree to the street scene as having been ‘ mullered’. He added: ‘The tree has been significantly disfigured and stripped back ... It is still living but there is a concern that it will not recover. The branches absorb the wind and the more you take off the more the tree suffers the impact of wind damage.’
Mr Dearing said: ‘They decided the tree was, in their view, a health and safety hazard ... What is surprising is that these are both professional individuals and they didn’t seek permission and get a professional in to do the work.’ A neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: ‘I’m not surprised they have got in trouble for it, I think it looks awful now.’ However, Pamela Green, who lives opposite, said: ‘It’s an enormous tree and if that came down it could fall on my home too. I know it has a TPO but it’s ridiculous some of the trees they’re preserving.’ Williams- Gardner and Evans declined to comment.
‘Concern it will not recover’