Cllr Butt confirms his attendance at Brent Street Trees meeting on Wednesday January 15th

Cllr Butt, leader of Brent Council, has confirmed his attendance at the forthcoming meeting on Brent policy on trees. Since Furness Road LINK residents kicked off the campaign to save street trees from unnecessary removal requesting clearer information on criteria for removal, discussion on alternatives to removal, and early notice of the intention to fell, Groups and individuals from other areas of the borough have also been raising the issue including areas as distant from each other as Alperton, Kenton and Queens Park.

The meeting of residents, councillors and council officers will be held at Newman Catholic College, Harlesden Road, Willesden, NW10 3RN from 7pm - 8pm on Wednesday January 15th.

The recently formed group Brent Trees said:

Councillors and senior council officers have agreed to meet with local residents to discuss their policy on tree removal and pavement renewal. The recent campaign to save eleven condemned trees in Furness Road has been extremely successful and has resulted in the council reducing the number of condemned trees to just three. The purpose of the chaired and curated January meeting is to push for a fundamental change in the council's current policy on trees and pavement renewal (replacement of flagstones with asphalt across the borough) so that it complies with the climate change emergency that Brent council has itself declared.
 

Storm Gareth fells a few more of Brent's trees

Wellspring Crescent beside Wembley Asda car park

A second tree on Wellspring Crescent

Storm Gareth felled a number of street trees in Brent including the two above on Wellspring Crescent which are along the pedestrian avenue that links the Lycee (former Town Hall) steps to Chalkhill Park.  Both trees are comparatively young.

This is an ornamental cherry on Salmon Street, Kingsbury. It is the second to be lost on that street, another was knocked down by a lorry backing out of a building site for a house rebuild. Other cherries have been lost on the nearby Pilgrims Way and may have been reaching the end of their natural lives.

Trees on the east side of Fryent Country Park, which are mainly hedgerow trees, have survived better than I had expected but the one above did not escape.

A number of large mature trees have been blown down on Eldestrete, the footpath at the bottom of Barn Hill.

However, the tree below is a living example of the adage 'a creaking gate hangs the longest.' Hollowed out by woodpeckers, parakeets, woodlice and other insects it still stands in an exposed position on top of Barn Hill near the pond. A neighbouring tree in a similar condition came down a year or so ago.

If you have news of other trees in the borough please comment below.