Update: Brockwell Park Tree Management

Following a survey of 729 trees in Brockwell Park, Lambeth Council is continuing work to be carried out over the next six months on around 40 trees which are in a state of decline or danger. This is to ensure the welfare of the existing trees and ensure the safety of visitors to this much-loved green space.

Trees being worked on need attention because they are dead, dying or severely damaged by a major fungal infection. The council is prioritizing the most urgent public safety work to take place over the next month, which on the current schedule will see two trees felled and seven reduced in height to make them safe while keeping as much standing dead wood to support wildlife. in the park.

This is the cutting and trimming work that will take place ahead of the Lambeth Country Show and other events at Brockwell Park. Felling trees is always a last resort and the work at Brockwell Park was reviewed by a qualified arborist.

Work on most of the trees in danger will take place throughout the summer to make them safe and best preserved as wildlife habitats. This work will include reducing their height and pruning – which involves cutting off the top branches of a tree.

The Council always aims to minimize tree maintenance and only undertakes felling for safety or legal reasons. The life of all our trees is maximized through careful and sensitive maintenance and when trees die they are also carefully managed to preserve them as wildlife habitat where possible.

When tree work takes place during bird nesting season, the council completes a two-stage verification process, which includes a thorough ground assessment and aerial monitoring where necessary. If a tree has nesting birds, work is delayed until nesting is completed, as required by law. Meanwhile, trees with nests may be fenced off for safety reasons.

This winter Lambeth Council planted 90 new trees in Brockwell Park and at least another 90 trees will be planted in the park next winter. Overall, we planted 1,739 trees this winter in Lambeth, significantly increasing the number of trees in the borough.