RESIDENTS who live on one of the UK’s prettiest roads have been left fuming after saying it has been left a “mess” by the council.
Locals have slammed their council for a lack of communication after a number of cherry blossom trees were cut down in Reigate, Surrey.
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Resident Fiona Lamb and her partner are now protesting against more trees being felled in their idyllic neighbourhood.
Fiona and her partner live on Priory Drive and said they have been told by a tree surgeon that roots were damaged when contractors dug trenches to lay new cables, with the affected trees later cut down as a result.
Workers then returned to right the damage but she claims they “just spread a load of topsoil over the grass verge, which made it even worse”.
The couple also said that some trees on the opposite side of the road to where verges had been dug up were also removed with “unsightly” metre-high stumps left behind.
Fiona, 58, said: “It’s sad that we lost those trees. The thing that is really upsetting is the cutting down of the live trees.
“I can see no reason why they took the live trees out, they took the two live cherry trees down and were going to take the live silver birches down. It’s just really sad that we’ve lost some nice trees.”
However, Surrey County Council (SCC) confirmed seven dead or dying trees were cut down on Priory Drive after an arboriculturist carried out an inspection.
A spokesperson said: “The trees were found to be either dead or dying, with very little life expectancy.”
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They continued: “We have temporarily left the lower trunks in-situ to prevent people from tripping over the stumps. However, we are working on a plan to remove these and to plant replacement trees, where appropriate.”
SCC Green Party councillor for Reigate and Banstead, Catherine Baart, has been in contact with Priory Drive residents.
Cllr Baart said: “Communication so far from the county council has been disappointing – resident’s affection for these trees has not been recognised. I have asked the council for timescales for next steps and suggested the residents are involved in replanting plans.”
She added: “The residents of Priory Drive valued their street trees, and the trees were also appreciated more widely for the lovely display of spring blossom.”
SCC added that one of its key ambitions is for residents to live in safe and green communities and said it recognises the value people place on street trees, but that at the end of their life they need to be removed on safety grounds.
Fiona and her partner acknowledged that some of the trees on Priory Drive were already dead but highlighted guidelines that state people are not supposed to dig within one metre of a tree without having had further checks completed.
“Residents had got in touch with the council so they obviously decided to come along – but they took down two live trees which were still flowering.”
Fiona Lamb, 58
They said: “Of course, once you’ve dug through tree roots there’s nothing you can do.
“Some of them did need taking down and it was about four or five needed taking down that had completely died and hadn’t been growing at all for a couple of years.
“They had been reported to Surrey County Council in the past and we’d asked them to come and do some work on those because there were branches falling off.
“Residents had got in touch with the council so they obviously decided to come along and do those at the same time. But when they did that they took down two live trees which were still flowering.”
Fiona and her partner said they were left “quite upset” by the work done.
And they rued how the road “used to be lined with an avenue of flowering cherries” and how it looked “absolutely fantastic in the spring”.
The contractors involved have been contacted for comment.
It comes as locals who claim to live on the UK’s “best street” say that it was a paradise by the sea.
Meanwhile, those who live in a picturesque village say the friendly neighbours, stunning views and cheap houses make it the “best” in the UK.
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