Brent Council fails dismally to replace felled trees

Brent Council's response to a Freedom of Information Request LINK (converted to an Environmental Information Request) has revealed that in the period 2019-24 1,356 trees were felled and only 762 planted.

How many of the latter survived is not stated. The record for a counci that has declared a Climate Emergency is not very sastifactory.

The full request and not very full answer is reproduced below. For ease I have marked Brent Council's answer in bold:

Environmental Information Regulations 2004

Thank you for your information request received on 12/06/2024. This request is being handled under the Environmental Information  Regulations 2004.
 

I can confirm that Brent Council holds the information you have requested. 
 

Your request and our responses are set out below:

Please could you provide information under the FOIA for the below;

1. How many trees has the local authority, its contractors or other organisations funded by the council planted in the borough between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2024, and how many trees have been removed in the same  timeframe? Where known, please also provide information about the number of trees planted on land the Council has made available to other parties for tree planting. Please provide information in a table with the headings/format below.

- Number of trees planted by the council, its contractors and/or other organisations funded by the council
- Where known, number of trees planted where the council has made land available to other parties for tree planting
- Number of trees removed

2019/20 - 415 felled 464 planted
2020/21 - 192 felled 90 planted
2021/22 - 258 felled 69 planted
2022/23 - 217 felled 83 planted
2023/24 - 274 felled 56 planted

 

For the calendar year 2023 there were 135 (plus) trees planted in parks

2. What are the council's tree planting targets for the period 1 April  2024 to 31 March 2030? How many trees does it intend to plant in the borough over this period (either by the council, its contractors or other organisations funded by the council) and how many does it expect will have to be removed? Where known, please also provide information about tree planting targets on land the council has made or intends to make available to other parties for tree planting. Please provide information in a table with the headings/format below.

- Targets for tree planting by the council, its contractors and/or other organisations funded by the council
- Where known, targets for tree planting on land the council has made or  intends to make available to other parties for tree planting
- Expected number of trees to be removed

2024/25 
2025/26
2026/27
2027/28
2028/29
2029/30

 

For the calendar year 2023 there were 135 (plus) trees planted in parks. A difficulty in providing information is the wide range of tree sizes that the Parks Service manages, from seedlings to mature trees. While the total structural tree canopy may possibly be increasing, the numbers of trees planted or removed can be complicated also by the numbers of trees that arise naturally or are removed naturally. 
 
We do not hold any estimates or targets for trees to be planted, or removed by Parks, for future years up to 2029/30 therefore this is a refusal under regulation 12(4)(a) under the EIR 2004 for this part of your request.