Islington Green Party have lodged a formal complaint after Labour Councillors ordered that a pear tree, valued at £10,000, be felled against the advice of their own tree officers.
The pear tree on Gillespie Road, Highbury, was felled earlier this month against the advice of specialist tree officers and Islington Council’s own policy
The shock decision by Labour Councillors to axe the pear tree in Gillespie Road followed a complaint made by a local resident who is allergic to wasp stings that the tree was attracting the insects. However, subsequent investigation by the Islington Council Tree Officers found no evidence of wasp habitation or reports of stings from local residents and advised against removing the tree.
Although Islington Council’s own policy proscribes against felling healthy trees, three Labour Councillors for Highbury West – Theresa Debono, Richard Greening and Andy Hull – intervened, and the tree was axed on March 4th. The issue has since been covered on both local and national news.
Speaking on the Islington Green Party website, Green Party campaigner and lawyer Emma Dixon, who has lodged a complaint on behalf of local residents, said:
“These shocking events show Labour councillors behaving as though they are above the law. The tree in question was valued at £9,173. That’s nearly £10,000 of council tax-payers’ money. To replace its value immediately would require the planting of nineteen further trees, on the Council’s own figures.
“But this chain of events raises issues going beyond the felling of a single tree. Councillors have no right to intervene in this way to force a decision for which there is no reasonable basis. We believe that the councillors’ actions amounted to an abuse of their position as councillors and a breach of the Council code of conduct, and that the decision to remove the tree was unlawful. We will accordingly be submitting a formal complaint to the council as a first step to a complaint of maladminstration to the Local Government Ombudsman.”
To add your name to the formal complaint, please contact islington@greenparty.org.uk.