Tree-lined Streets at Risk as Claims for Damages Soar

The great Victorian oak, lime, sycamore and ash trees lining the streets of Britain's finest cities could slowly disappear because of "inconvenient" maintenance costs and compensation claims of almost £133 million a year.

Councils in Newcastle, Birmingham, Manchester and parts of London are replacing the turn-of-the-century favourites with smaller species, some of which grow to just a fifth of their height.

Government tree surveyors and charity groups claim that councils are "playing safe" and overreacting to the threat of litigation by removing large trees that could give rise to subsidence claims.

But local authorities say they have been forced to act after the courts ruled in compensation cases that councils are liable for "foreseeable" housing damage caused by the roots of trees such as lime trees and London planes.

Mature trees such as lime can also cost up to £10 per year more than other trees to maintain - and most city councils deal with thousands.

According to Zurich, the main insurer of local authorities, subsidence claims cost councils £199 million last year. The previous year, the last for which figures are available, two thirds of the claims arose through alleged tree root damage. A government report on the tree population of Britain is due to be published this summer. It is expected to show a trend in species replacement by local authorities.

Chris Britt, a project director at the horticultural advisory service Adas, who is compiling the tree survey, said: "There is definitely a problem - lime trees, plane trees, oaks, sycamore and ash are all getting lost in cities because of their inconvenience and because they are fearful of compensation claims.

"Councils need to think hard about what they are doing. Many of them are playing safe and heavily pruning the tree, or cutting it down rather than exposing themselves to risk. In many cases it has gone too far."

He said the replacements tended to be smaller trees such as cherry and rowan.

According to a Daily Telegraph survey of 11 city councils and five London boroughs, almost 30,000 trees have been felled in the last decade - probably a significant underestimate as some councils could not provide the information. Although tree plantings outstrip removals in many areas, they are of a different, smaller species in many cases and experts say almost three quarters of juvenile tree replacements are likely to fail.

Newcastle has replaced more than 6,000 trees in the last decade, Birmingham plans to remove 133 over the next year and Manchester replaces trees when they reach the age of just 50.

Nottingham, Cardiff, Oxford and Bristol city councils said they try to replace "dangerous" trees with similar species but are unlikely to do so on narrow streets.

The combined sum paid out in compensation claims by four of the councils contacted came to almost £2.65 million over the last decade.

A spokesman for the Local Government Association said: "As long as solicitors encourage claims from people on a 'no win, no fee' basis, local authorities will have to take action that residents won't necessarily welcome.

''They would rather use the proceeds of council tax on services than on payouts to people who have slipped as they walk under a lovely old lime tree."

source: The Telegraph (Last Updated: Saturday, 26 March, 2005)

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