Hello again lovely supporters, nearly 2,500 of you now! (If we keep this up, the government may have to issue a response… 10,000 signatures, dare we dream?). 

Update on the tree

Very sorry to report that according to Wivenhoe Town council, the old oak tree is still being felled Monday 13-Wednesday 15th January alongside two other trees in the vicinity. As such we are trying to garner further support and input but we are very concerned that in a week's time the tree will be chopped and there will be nothing more we can do. This is the most final of acts possible. Time is of the essence.

The campaign team is doing the best they can but more support is needed with raising awareness of our tree being felled and of the specific circumstances that we believe warrant at the very least a delay to the felling to allow dialogue and evidence as per this petition.

Raising awareness

One way we will try to raise awareness is through our event being held on Saturday 11 January from 2pm at the KGB field and playground in Wivenhoe by the old oak tree. See full information on our event page here. Please come along to support us and celebrate this wonderful tree. Wear yellow if you have it and practice the words to 'tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree'. This is intended as a family friendly event.

We also are staying in the news, with another article published today.

Alongside our existing Facebook community we now also have a Twitter (X) account. Please follow and share far and wide.

Detailed update

 Despite all our efforts and the impressive support for our campaign, the council are not listening to our varied concerns. These include:

• That the process to choosing to fell the tree has not been transparent and still we do not trust that the tree can be to blame for subsidence. The unique location of nearby buildings as located adjacent to the significant railway cutting and our splendidly gravelly soil could also be major factors. Our expert advice received suggests that more evaluation is warranted, before such a final, definitive act that felling a tree represents is taken.
• That alternatives have not been considered fully nor has there been enough push back on the insurer to really rule these out to our knowledge. These include root management, crown management, moving the tree (sounds far fetched, but we have a rough quote for these works and it's not impossible, happens all the time in Japan). Then there is the potential to underpin any affected buildings too. We understand the insurer to be very likely Aviva. 
• That there may be bats roosting in the tree. We have had no confirmation that full surveys have been undertaken to be sure that a wildlife crime, namely a bat crime, isn't due to be committed in the felling of the old oak tree, and even in the other two trees being felled. 
• That the value of the tree itself has not yet been established. Methods exist to quantify the monetary value of the tree and we will seek to estimate this ourselves. This would be useful information to factor, alongside the alternative management methods should they be warranted, before choosing to opt for felling of the tree (of course the cheapest option of all).
• That there is a real risk of further subsidence to the nearby properties as a result of this old oak and two more trees being felled. Given the ground conditions described, these trees likely actually help to hold the ground together. Removing them could create real risk of landslide in the future onto the railway line. We are not sure if Network Rail and others have been consulted. 
• That we now have clear evidence that so many people from our community now and from decades ago, as well visitors to it, don't want to see this tree gone. We know the hearts of our community will be broken by it's loss in the knowledge that with more time we may have been able to find a solution together addressing the issues and where we all come away from this happy. 

Overall we are set to lose in the next seven days a considerably valuable amenity, carbon and wildlife asset that is frankly irreplaceable and we all love. As an older oak sited next to a children's playground no replacement tree planting in another position can even begin to 'offset' the loss we will feel if this tree is felled.

We haven't lost hope yet that the council may yet see sense. We want them to know should they change their position and be open to more collaborative methods we are here and ready with considerable resources at our disposal, with huge numbers of arborists, engineers, lawyers and more contacting us via our campaign who are lending their support and who are all on our side. Join us on Saturday to see for yourselves how much this tree means to the community you serve.

We feel saddened by the stories we are hearing of other communities in a similar position and the national scale of loss of old oak trees this nation faces due to similar circumstances. We hope our story will help to change things for the better elsewhere as well as here in our little town.

To conclude, we have not lost all hope yet but the deadline is drawing near. The car park is being closed from Monday and we expect felling will start sometime late Monday or early Tuesday. The tree being felled is a final and totally irreversible act.

We are going to keep doing our best to try to save the tree and plodding on with emails and communicating our message as far and wide as we can. If you can help us with anything we would really appreciate support. We have developed a list of actions for supporting community to assist us with - see our Facebook page for info and to stay in touch with more regular updates.

Thanks again for your continued support. Wish us luck!