Lesson in elf and safety: School to axe chestnut over ‘slippery leaves’
A SCHOOL is to cut down a century- old chestnut tree because its ‘slippery’ fallen leaves are a health and safety concern.
Teachers at St John’s Primary School in knaphill, Surrey, say the tree has to go as its leaves could cause accidents in the playground.
Staff are also said to be tired of having to clean play equipment of droppings left by birds sitting on the tree’s branches.
However neighbours called the plan ‘mad’ and said it would deprive children of the ‘fond memories’ of spending their break times with nature.
Councillor Louise Morales told a meeting of the local planning committee: ‘I don’t think we need to protect our children to such an extent that having a tree in their playground is considered a health and safety risk.
‘My son fell over and broke his arm playing football in a school playground once – children fall over on empty ground with nothing on it.’
Woking Borough Council put in place a tree preservation order to protect the 60ft sweet chestnut in October last year, after learning that the school wished to remove it.
In a report on the issue, a tree officer said: ‘The concerns surrounding the falling chestnuts and falling leaves is a seasonal issue that can be resolved by establishing an appropriate cleaning regime.
‘Although the removal of the tree in question would reduce the amount of leaf fall in the area, the proximity of adjacent trees would mean that the problem would not be eradicated – as such this is not justification for the removal of this tree.
‘For generations before and after, this tree has and will pro- vide a valuable educational resource. This tree is approximately 100 years old and based on similar examples of the same species could last for another 200 years plus.
‘Within the local area, there are only a few others of similar significance.’
However, members of the planning committee voted for the preservation order to be thrown out. The school now intends to fell the chestnut within the next few months.
Head teacher Sarah May said the work was necessary because of the ‘ very slippery’ fallen leaves, which had already caused some staff to fall.
She said the school had already had to close areas of the playground for over an hour during autumn ‘to ensure the health and safety of the children’ by sweeping away chestnuts. The school also argued that the tree limits the range of activities it can offer children – adding that pupils cannot use bikes and trikes in the area because of its size. Mrs May said the school has ‘a large number of trees on site’, but the benefits of the sweet chestnut had been outweighed by ‘ the negative impact it has on the learning experiences of the children’.
She added: ‘ The plan is to remove the tree.’
One local said yesterday: ‘The world has gone completely mad. What next – no playgrounds for fear of children getting their feet wet in a puddle?
‘How many of us grew up with playgrounds full of fallen chestnuts and lived to share fond memories of our childhoods?
‘Health and safety? More like hopeless and sad.’
Another said: ‘Heaven forbid the children coming in contact with nature, or the real world, no we can’t have that can we?’
‘Hopeless and sad’