Dear Guardians,

Thank you again for all your heartwarming support. We’re delighted that we’re so close to reaching 50,000 supporters calling for justice for the Whitewebbs Oak!

Can you help us reach our target?

🌳 Share this petition with your friends and family today!

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A beautiful new film about our protest and commemoration for the Whitewebbs Oak has just been released. The film, shot by Jo Syz and edited by Sam Gracie Tillbrook, features heartfelt speeches, poems and singing, showing the community standing together to demand justice for our beloved tree, and gathering in numbers against Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (Spurs)’s devastating proposals for Whitewebbs Park.

🌳 Watch and share our Whitewebbs Oak Protest film

You are likely aware of the recent conviction of two men who felled the Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland. The men who cut down this iconic tree, believed to be around 150 years-old, have been found guilty of criminal damage and are likely to face jail time when sentenced in July. Meanwhile, we continue to call for justice for the Whitewebbs Oak, a far more ecologically valuable tree.

The contrast with the case of the Whitewebbs Oak is, unfortunately, stark. The Metropolitan Police has closed its investigation into the felling of this 500 year-old healthy specimen, claiming the case is a civil matter. 

However, the unauthorised chopping down of this ancient oak was reported by Enfield Council to the police as criminal damage. The council did not give permission for the tree to be felled. 

We know from ancient tree experts that the tree was completely healthy, with no signs of disease. No information has been provided about the contractors who carried out the work and the detailed circumstances surrounding the felling have not been disclosed. We are yet to see evidence that the Whitewebbs Oak was even within the lease area of the Toby Carvery. 

From assessing maps by the Land Registry, a tree survey carried out by Spurs, and the Whitewebbs Wood Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) by Green Space Information for Greater London (GiGL), it appears that the tree sits outside of the Toby Carvey lease area. It makes sense for an ancient oak to be situated within the conservation area, as seen on the GiGL map.

Sarah Dodd, the founder of Tree Law, a firm that specialises in legal disputes over trees, says: “If the tree is on land outside Toby Carvery’s leasehold interest then it could be trespass and criminal damage. It could potentially reopen the issue with the Metropolitan Police.”

Enfield Council has so far refused to answer Freedom of Information (FOI) requests asking for the location of the oak to be confirmed as either within or outside the lease area for the Toby Carvery.

We refuse to be left in the dark. We will not cease until the truth is known and the perpetrators of this ecological crime are brought to justice.

And we continue our struggle to save 207 more trees at risk of destruction in Whitewebbs Park (a further 40 are due to be transplanted). Spurs’ plans for Whitewebbs have been rejected by the whole community, and should be refused by the Mayor of London and Secretary of State. To help Save Whitewebbs, please write to the Greater London Authority and the Government requesting that they reject Spurs’ planning application.

🌳 Get involved with our campaign to save Whitewebbs! 

Visit our website for more information, sign up to our newsletter and join our WhatsApp group.

Solidarity & love,

Guardians of Whitewebbs

Pictured - a nearby surviving oak on the site.