Nine trees have been planted in Military Road, Chatham after the previous trees were deemed a 'health and safety hazard' by Medway Council. A Freedom of Information request put forward by Future Chatham revealed that six Gleditsia triacanthos, one Red Oak, one Turkish Hazel and one Sweet Chestnut were cut down as part of the £4m public realm improvements along Military Road between St. John's Church and the Pentagon Shopping Centre. Routine tree inspections discovered the stems and buttress roots of the Gleditsia tricanthos had been 'significantly damaged by the cages and grills placed around them' since the pedestrianised areas of Chatham town centre were re-paved in the 1990s. This damage rendered them 'unsafe to retain' after a mature Gleditsia tricanthos failed in March 2016 in nearby Church Street - which had suffered with decay below the tree grill. Over the years, it is understood the stems had rubbed against the cages placed around them at the time of planting, resulting in 'large wounds'. The base of stems and buttress roots had been severely restricted by the grills and more particularly the framework used to support the grills. Routine inspections would have picked up damage caused by the cages, and in places by the grills, but the more significant damage caused by the frames supporting the grills only became evident 'during the course of the wider refurbishment work' in Military Road last year. Three trees next to the Red Menswear clothing store were inspected at the same time, which found the Sweet Chestnut and Red Oak were 'in decline' and the Turkish Hazel had 'significant impact wounds on the stem'. A decision was taken to remove and replace these trees in part due to their poor condition, but also because it allowed the opportunity to significantly increase the size of the tree planting pits which will assist the establishment of the newly-planted trees. Five trees were cut by Medway Norse in the week beginning 22 July, 2019, while the remaining four were cut by T Loughman & Co’s tree cutting specialist sub-contractors in the week beginning 17 February, 2020.
A replacement for each tree removed was planted by T Loughman & Co in the week beginning 9 March, 2020, with all the new trees being Ginkgo biloba (Maidenhair). The tree planting was overseen by sub-contractors responsible for tree maintenance, Baylis Landscape Contractors Ltd. The works were funded through the Chatham Placemaking and Public Realm Package, which was awarded £4.2m Local Growth Fund from the South East Local Enterprise Partnership, at no additional cost to Medway Council. Comments are closed.
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August 2023
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