[18 JAN 99] COVENTRY
CITY COUNCIL PRESS RELEASE
Council Prosecute For Damage to
TreesIn a landmark case on Thursday 14
January 1999 the City Council took Hearsall Golf Club to court for wilfully damaging two
mature oak trees that are protected by a tree preservation order.
At Solihull Magistrates Court the Golf Club pleaded guilty and were fined £1,500 and
ordered to pay over £1,000 in costs for the wilful irreparable damage that they caused to
the root system of the trees including an oak tree that is more than 300 years old. The
case was significant because it involved damage to the tree below ground – something
which can be hard to prove.
The two trees sit on the edge of the 14th tee and both were damaged in March
1998 when the golf club undertook engineering works to upgrade the tee. Both of the tress
were damaged, but the larger of the two had so many of its feeder roots severed that it is
feared that many of its branches will suffer ‘die back’ from which they will
never recover.
Councillor Sheila Collins Chair of the Planning Policy Team said,
"There are thousands of trees across Coventry that are protected by tree
preservation orders and people need to know that we take this issue very seriously. We
have some wonderful trees in this city and we will not allow people to get away with any
amount of damage."
NOTES
The two oak trees, one of which is more than 300 years old
and reputed to be a City of Coventry ‘Boundary Oak’, were protected by a tree
preservation order in 1996. The golf club were given 28 days in which to object to the
order but no objection was received.
The larger oak tree is situated in the rear garden of Mr
Don Wood of 11 The Riddings, Canley Gardens, Coventry who originally brought the matter to
the Council’s attention.
At no stage was the City Council approached by the Golf
Club for its consent to damage the trees or for advice from its Tree Officer on how the
works to its 14th tee could have been undertaken so as to minimise damage to
the two trees protected by the order.
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