OK, there has now been an official response from the council, and I have to say, it's not good. First and foremost, and despite the fact that the tree IS still alive, Plymouth City Council have announced that the tree will still come down as planned at the end of the month, although I have to say, the reasons that they are giving are flawed and sounding more like they just want to take the easy way out and fell the tree irrespective of its condition, than face being sued by someone that might get hurt by a possible falling branch in a high wind.
Apparently, after their own 'Inspector' examined the tree and found some decay in the trunk, a second 'Contractor' was requested to examine it (so, no actual Arborists then?), who decided that the main trunk of the tree itself has suffered 27% of some form of decay, which is not really that uncommon in a lot of trees that still go on to thrive irrespective, I might add.
Think the Major Oak (Robin Hoods Tree) in Nottingham here, which has also suffered from decay to the point that its structure has seriously weakened, and needs supports to prevent it from falling down. Nottingham though clearly values its old trees far more than the tree-loving Plymouth City Council does.
The councils main concern here though, it would seem, is that they fear that the Monterey Pine might fall and injure someone, which let's face it, is something that could happen to any tree in the park given the right storm conditions. Indeed, one fell just recently in a particularly violent storm within the last year and hurt nobody, because nobody was stupid enough to be out in the park in a force ten gale when it actually fell!
The council then goes on to say that it will of course be mindful of the nesting season when it fells the tree, despite its past abysmal record with trees, and despite the fact that it pollarded three trees in Francis Place last year during nesting season, and subsequently killed one of them.
But I digress. Despite the councils apparent display of faux regret that they are going to have to reluctantly chop down yet another tree, the rare and endangered Monterey Pine is still scheduled for destruction as planned on the 30th April, despite it's conservation status on IUCN 3.1, and NatureServe.
As expected...
Included below is the official (syntactically flawed) response from Plymouth City Council in regards this matter, which I'm sure you might agree, is somewhat the joke.
Many thanks once again to all who supported this petition to prevent this felling from happening....
PCC RESPONSE
We've got some disappointing news about the large pine tree outside of the Devonport Park café.
As part of our routine round of tree surveys, an inspector recently noted some potential of decay within the stem of the tree. Because this tree is so significant to the park, we got a second opinion from an independent contractor, who was able to use some more specialist equipment to measure the extent of any internal decay.
Unfortunately, the results (shown in the picture) were not good and found that 27 per cent of the trunk of the tree at a height of around one metre has suffered from decay from which it cannot recover and significantly reduces its ability to resist stresses in the future.
Given its proximity to the café and the play area, it is therefore with regret that the tree will need to be felled and will be removed at the end of April.
We are absolutely aware that the bird-nesting season will have started by then. A wildlife survey will be conducted before any work takes place to ensure that we comply with current legislation over the protection of nesting birds.
No one wants to lose this tree; not us, not residents, but faced with cold, hard ecological fact we have to act in the interested of the safety of park users.
And while it’s a sad farewell to this specimen, there is much to be positive about across the city as we continue to work with local community groups to plant the trees for the future, in and around Devonport Park and at countless other sites across the city.