The Isle of Wight Council has submitted documents notifying the planning authority of its intention to carry out tree work in the conservation area around Big Mead and its surrounding roads in Shanklin.
Recently, Sandown residents voiced their concerns about tree works carried out by the council in Los Altos Park, as pollarding work cut back a number of trees.
Over 60 trees inspected
More than 60 trees were inspected in Shanklin and given a resulting action, ranging from further monitoring in the future to pollarding, branch thinning or removal.
Twelve are set to be removed and replaced, but six could be removed completely.
A 25-metre tall mature birch tree has already been removed as the work was deemed urgent due to a cavity in its base.
Trees to be removed or pollarded
A sycamore tree, which is 18 metres tall, is to be removed and replaced as it has honey fungus and is at danger of falling into the playground as it leans that way.
Three trees will be pollarded, with one, an 18-metre tall lime tree reduced to half its size as a new fungus was found in the tree.
Three more trees will be cut back to a main stem, with a 11-metre tall horse chestnut, which leans over a path, being halved in size.
A 19-metre sycamore will be reduced to a six-metre monolith as it has a canker and bacterial weeping.
Reducing height of cypress tree
Trees around St Blasius’s Church will also be tackled, with the 18-metre Lawson cypress tree near the front door, which is currently unbalanced due to loss of part of its central crown, being reduced in height to ten metres to eliminate the chances of the tree falling on the church.
A 16-metre ash tree at the back of the church’s courtyard on the west side will be removed and replaced, as it has a bacterial infection. Recently, limbs from the tree had fallen into the graveyard.
No date has yet been set for the work to go ahead as there is still time for tree preservation orders to be made.
View the application
To view the full list of works proposed to the trees you can view the application, 21/00245/TW, on the council’s planning portal.
Anyone interested in works on trees can gain further insight from our Woodland Journeyman mini-series.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is part of. Read here to find about more about how that scheme works on the Island. Some alterations and additions may have been made by News OnTheWight. Ed
Image: Street Donkey under CC BY 2.0
