Enfield oak felling: ‘Against the law in opposition to 500-year-old being’

There was once anger and unhappiness amongst individuals who became out over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend to protest on the destruction of a tree in Enfield considered as much as 500 years previous.

“This is a crime against nature,” mentioned one campaigner. “It’s a crime against a 500-year-old being.”

Hundreds of other folks collected on Sunday to protest the felling of an historical oak tree in Whitewebbs Park in north London.

The pedunculate oak, which was once reduce down on 3 April, was once situated at the fringe of an Enfield council-owned park in north London and lost sight of the Toby Carvery pub.

The council leased the land on which the tree stood to the Toby Carvery.

The felling of the tree was once now not found out by means of the council till closing week.

On Wednesday, Enfield Council’s chief branded the felling “an outrage” and mentioned all criminal choices have been being regarded as.

Mitchells & Butlers, the homeowners of the Toby Carvery pub chain, mentioned they reduce down the tree after being advised it was once lifeless.

In a remark, the corporate mentioned it had won recommendation from contractors, who mentioned “the split and dead wood posed a serious health and safety risk”.

They therefore added in a later remark that it had taken “necessary measures to ensure any legal requirements were met”.

Thousands of other folks have signed a petition that has requested Enfield Council for an impartial investigation into what came about.

Here have been one of the vital reactions over the weekend to the felling of the tree.

Independent tree session Russell Miller advised BBC London: “We think this is one of probably less than 100 [trees] in London of this size, so it’s a very significant loss.

“It is imaginable the tree will shoot, however the likelihood is that the injuries on it are so giant it is going to desiccate, as even if the shoots will develop, they’ll then die for the reason that entire machine fails.”

The tree, with a girth of 20ft (6m), was a nationally significant pedunculate oak listed on the Woodland Trust’s ancient tree inventory.

News of the destruction of the oak came just days after a report from the charity Tree Council and environmental group Forest Research warned that trees were only indirectly protected, with some “vital criminal gaps”.