Old Trees Get The Chop

Horse chestnuts felled on Ealing Common

A number of residents contacted Ealing Today over the weekend expressing concern about trees being chopped down on Ealing Common.

Several mature horse chestnuts were felled on Saturday leaving empty spaces in the previously leafy row.

Locals expressed dismay at the sight and wanted to know if it was really necessary.

The trees have apparently been attacked by Bleeding Canker, a disease which has shown a marked increase in the last ten years, not only in the UK but in other European countries.

At present there is no chemical treatment to cure or stop its development.

The horse chestnut trees were planted early last century, and their lifespan is between 75 to 120 years, so it was also time to be thinking about replacements.

A council spokesperson told us:

'' Three horse chestnuts were felled at the weekend because they were diseased and it would have been dangerous to leave them. Some other trees on the common are also infected with the canker, but are at a less advanced stage of the disease.

''We are continuing to regularly monitor them to ensure they don't present a health and safety risk. The trees which were removed are being replaced by the council. The council's tree service spoke at a meeting of the Ealing Common Society to let them know in advance about the tree felling.''

March 29th, 2010