‘£240,000 of work needed to make county’s trees safe’

TREES across a swathe of South Wales need about £240,000 of work to cut safety risks to the public and ensure the health of the trees, a new report shows.

Bridgend county council is responsible for more than 430,000 trees in the local authority area.

As part of a recent review of trees near roads and schools, as well as town centre car parks and by offices, inspections identified a number of trees at “significant risk”.

Work has already started on the trees with a large tulip tree having been chopped down outside the civic offices in Bridgend last month due to safety concerns. It was found to be diseased and suffering from extensive decay.

As part of the new policy the council will no longer act on public requests to carry out works to trees that are considered “non-essential”. The most frequent non-essential requests, according to the policy, involve carrying out works due to loss of light, appearance, loss or disruption in relation to TV or satellite signal, loss of views, overhanging branches and the shedding of leaves and fruit.

Responsibility for funding the tree works falls on different departments in the council, depending on where the tree is located.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Councillor Phil White said: “There is a liability on this authority towards 400,000 trees that we have but we should also be looking at it as an asset as well.”

He added: “I know it’s a burden on every directorate going forward to try and find the financial resource but that is the obligation we must undertake.”

Council leader Huw David said: “Our trees are critical green assets for the county borough – not only do they prevent flooding but they’re banks for carbon dioxide and help with pollution as well and of course they are a vital habitat for lots of rare species.”

The most common trees in the county are ash, hawthorn and goat willow.

According to the report, the authority’s 439,000 trees remove 61 tons of airborne pollutants a year and 2,080 tons of carbon dioxide, and would cost £142m to replace.