‘DANGEROUS TREES COULD KILL’
TREE BRANCHES reaching 16ft in size are crashing into back gardens in Lower Earley.
Ashfia Ali, who lives on Maiden Place believes the trees are now “an imminent danger to public health” as the branches continue to fall “a frequency of three per week”.
Ms Ali said the problem, which started in 2017, hasn’t been resolved by the London-based landowner, Estates & Management Ltd.
She said: “The landowners are not taking responsibility for maintaining the trees where loose branches are falling into adjacent land, including on my back garden — inches away from my daughters play area — and public pathway.”
The largest branch cracked and fell into Ms Ali’s garden lastmonth, when she was on a walk with her daughter, Hannah.
She added: “I have repeatedly emailed the estate management team to take responsibility and have even paid £800 a couple of years ago to remove the branches from my airspace due to lack of cooperation
“There are lots of weak branches with sharp angular edges that may cause a fatality if immediate action is not taken.”
Last week, Wokingham borough council sent one of their team to look at the problem.
Ms Ali said she was worried nothing would be done, as the council had told her they “do not get involved with trees that are in private land”.
A spokesperson for Wokingham Borough Council, said: “We were contacted about some branches that had fallen on a footpath in Lower Earley. Officers visited the site and agreed to meet with local residents to discuss the issue.
“The trees were inspected and found to be safe. We have contacted the landowner to remind them of their responsibilities and advised they may want to have the trees cut back to alleviate residents’ concerns.”
A spokesperson for Estates & Management said: “E&M, as the agent for the landlord at Cannock Way, has responsibility for some of the common parts with FirstPort, the appointed property manager, responsible for the day to day maintenance.
“Having been informed about the issue of falling branches and potentially dangerous trees, we instructed FirstPort to attend the site and advise on the exact location of the trees to determine whose responsibility they are.
“Under the terms of the lease, the maintenance responsibility for this tree at the development is demised to a leaseholder.
“FirstPort has written to the leaseholder reminding them of their obligations under the lease and requesting that they make the tree safe. Should the leaseholder fail to comply, we will take further action.
“We are grateful to Ms Ali for raising this issue with us directly and we have kept in regular communication with her as we progress this matter.”