Victory for tree campaign

The story of a community coming together to save a tree and beyond

“Nothing is holier, nothing is more exemplary, than a beautiful strong tree” – Herman Hesse. (1877-1962)

Last weekend, local residents, homeowners and climate and ecological activists celebrated a rare campaign victory after a four-year battle to save a century-old plane tree (affectionately nicknamed ‘Platanus’ – the tree’s official genus).

For the activists, the story began in 2022, when the Haringey Tree Protectors discovered that the tree was blamed by insurers of causing subsidence in two nearby properties in Oakfield Road, Stroud Green. Because Haringey Council “owned” the tree, the insurers (Allianz and Aviva) were demanding they chop it down or face the cost of underpinning the properties.

Similar claims have led to an epidemic loss of thousands of mature trees across London and other cities around the country, and insurers only have to claim that a tree is “implicated’ in subsidence in order to potentially dodge the financial bullet and pass costs on to the public. But locals point to the clay ground, shifting due to hotter summers and drought, and to examples of other homes facing subsidence problems that are not near trees.

Campaigners also point to poor tree management, calling for the area at the base of the tree to be opened up (‘tree pits’) and vegetation planted, to encourage community watering and other irrigation solutions. Many councils (including Haringey in 2019) have declared climate and ecological emergencies, and activists want to see a real commitment to protecting trees as a manifestation of policy. Studies show many climate and ecological benefits such as cooler pavements, support for biodiversity, and cleaner air, as well as direct links to lower crime rates and better mental health.

So in Haringey, campaigners decided to take a stand, with guardians engaging with the local community, and a rota of volunteers living and sleeping high in its branches for months.

Local homeowner Andrew, had already been fighting his insurance company for a decade, until finally the Insurance Ombudsman ruled that an engineering solution must be found and the tree left in place, but that turned out not to be the end of the threat to Platanus.

The Haringey Tree Protectors’ campaign was triggered by the council planning to go ahead and fell the tree, due to a second insurance company claim relating to a neighbour’s property. The council issued a ‘Notice To Quit’ to the tree protectors, and under duress Haringey’s cabinet member for climate action was forced to attend a public meeting which attracted nearly a hundred local residents and a temporary climbdown. In December 2022 a judge granted a stay of execution pending a further hearing in March 2023.

Just days before that hearing, scaffolders woke local residents in the very early hours of a Sunday morning, arriving in lorries and building a huge structure around the tree, while security guards from BML Group Ltd. set up fences and an on-road office and began a 24/7 presence at the site. Although BML appears to be a properly accredited firm, many of their guards failed to display SIA badges, even when asked, which is in contravention of the Security Industries Act 2001, and begs the question – why is Haringey council doing business with a company like this?

One of the residents at the centre of the issue applied for an emergency injunction against the council, and at the end of a tense week, campaigners were jubilant when this was granted and the scaffolding had to come down. The whole scaffolding and security debacle obviously cost tens of thousands of pounds, and one councillor has admitted that the total figure relating to this tree could reach into the hundreds of thousands.

The court appeal finally ruled that no felling could occur until the Insurance Ombudsman gave their final judgement, which finally came in the summer last year, forcing the insurers to underpin and ending the pressure on the council.

That might have been the end of it, but the ruling didn’t stop Haringey Council from claiming that the tree should still be removed ‘to prevent future damage’. Campaigners point out that with that logic, almost all urban trees would be under direct threat. Because prior to felling the Council had to at least hold a public consultation, activists mobilised once more, rallying hundreds of local residents to take part.

After a very long wait, the council finally published the result last month, which showed the overwhelming majority of almost 750 respondents in favour of saving the tree. Last weekend, some of the many campaigners gathered together and tied a blue plaque on Platanus as a celebration of their success.

What Haringey Tree Protectors did in North London was incredibly important, not just because a whole community came together to protect this single century-old Plane tree, but because it highlighted a nationwide scandal, it promoted better tree management and preventive strategies, it inspired others and showed how ordinary people can take on the might of insurance companies and councils and win, and it raised awareness of the many different ways in which the care and preservation of urban trees is critically important.

“Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky” Poem by Lebanese-American poet Jubrān Khalīl Jubrān (1883-1931)