Bretton oak tree: Council hits back over security and legal costs

Peterborough City Council has hit back at critics of its decision to spend £49,000 to fell the 600-year-old Bretton oak tree after the Peterborough Telegraph revealed the true cost this week.

The authority won a long-running battle with campaigners seeking to protect the tree, in Blind Lane, after a county court dismissed a legal challenge last month due to a lack of jurisdiction to decide the matter.

Campaigners were ordered to pay £5000 but still had the option to going to the High Court; however the council acted quickly to seal the area off and begin the felling the following day.

The council has now insisted that the original cost was due to be around £8000 but that due to the legal fees and fees associated with hiring fences, dog units and security guards, this figure inflated to £50,000.

Initially, campaigners both climbed the tree and surrounded it on the ground, before being moved on by police. Blind Lane was closed to the public for the duration of the three-day works.

Records obtained via a freedom of information request, however, show that tree surgeons alone were paid £20,371.08 for just three days work.

Councillor Nigel Simons, cabinet member for Waste and Street Scene and the Environment, said: "The decision to fell Bretton Oak tree was not one that we took lightly. Although the felling was expensive, the alternative could have cost the council hundreds of thousands of pounds in repairs and legal fees.

"It would also have meant that the council had no money to plant additional trees in the city or maintain its existing tree stock.

"Originally it would have cost £8,000 to fell the tree and plant additional trees. However, the total cost was much higher (£49,000) as it included legal fees and security etc needed on the day to manage the protest safely.

"A total of 100 young oak trees - up to two metres high - will be planted this autumn/winter across the city to mitigate against the environmental impact of this decision.

"We also intend to work with cross party councillors and other representatives in the coming months to communicate and enhance the existing policy for managing tree related subsidence claims made against the council."