Trees 'in the wrong place' removed by Wakefield Council

The local authority said trees weren't suitable for "every" street and garden.

Hundreds of ash trees are already being chopped across Wakefield as a result of the contagious ash dieback disease, which causes a public safety risk as branches die and fall.

But other healthy trees have been felled because they were causing some kind of obstruction, it has emerged.

Speaking at a climate change scrutiny meeting on Monday, Labour councillor Olivia Rowley said the placement of trees was a common grievance among local people.

Coun Rowley, who is the chair of the scrutiny committee, said: "People want to be environmentally friendly and the whole thing at the moment around that is around planting some trees.

"I won’t be around as a councillor to hear a lot of the complaints in the future, but I get a lot at the moment from residents who say that they’ve been put in the wrong place.

"People say either they are blocking out the light through my windows, or they’re leaving droppings on my car or they’re making the road slippy.

"I’m just worried they’re going to be in the wrong places causing a problem."

In response, the council's Streetscene manager, Charlie Tindill said: "That’s certainly an issue.

"They’re not suitable for everyone’s garden or for every highway.

"We do remove healthy trees, sometimes because of some of the issues you’ve just mentioned."

In July, the council committed to planting 600,000 trees over the next four years as part of its involvement with the region-wide White Rose Forest programme.

Local Democracy Reporting Service