Melton Mowbray Town Estate announces extensive tree management programme
Melton Mowbray Town Estate has announced a major programme of tree management following an exhaustive tree survey of the Town Estate’s parks by RGS Arboricultural Consultants (RGS) of Nottingham.
The report from RGS indicates that while the majority of the Town Estate’s trees are thriving, many need extensive maintenance, and approximately 6 mature specimens must be removed entirely for reasons of safety.
Melton Mowbray Town Estate’s programme of tree management will be carried out over the next 3 months in order to make safe the trees which have been identified in the survey. At the same time the Town Estate will undertake an extensive tree planting programme, in partnership with The Woodland Trust, to bring a new generation of trees to Melton’s parks, and planting at least three trees for every tree lost to old age.
Andi Henton, Melton Mowbray Town Estate’s head landscape gardener, said, “This survey shows us in detail what we already understood in general terms: that the Town Estate’s trees are in good health, but that there are a number of them that require action because of their age and condition. Remedial actions on the park’s trees will include deadwood removal, pollarding, thinning and, in a few cases, felling. As living organisms, some of these trees are reaching the end of their life, and in order to keep the parks and gardens safe for everyone, the best course of action is to remove them. This is a sad but very necessary step.”
Henton continued, “RGS classified all trees needing work into three risk categories. Only a small number of trees were categorised as high risk, meaning that work on them must be carried out as a priority. Happily, most of our trees fall into the low and medium-risk categories, requiring less urgent action, and simply need maintenance to avoid posing unacceptable risks to park users. Over the next year, we will be planting hundreds of new trees in partnership with the Woodland Trust to ensure that our parks will be green and pleasant spaces for centuries to come.”
Graham Bett, Chair, Melton Mowbray Town Estate, said, “We are all saddened by the imminent loss of a few of our largest, oldest and most loved trees, but to ensure the safety of the public and all visitors to our parks, several must be felled over the coming months. Many of our trees were planted more than a century ago by our predecessors at the Town Estate, and it is their vision that we enjoy today. We hope that future generations will see our extensive planting programme in the same light as those saplings grow into majestic adult trees, and they continue to provide amenity, habitat and visual grandeur to Melton Mowbray.”
