Kirklees Council walking a tightrope in managing trees as they face a backlog of complaints from across the district

The potential dangers of taking a lax approach to keeping on top of the borough’s trees were recognised at this week’s meeting of the Kirklees Council’s Economy and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Panel as the council’s Trees Policy is under review.

Joe Robertson, the council’s woodland development manager highlighted that in the UK, there are an average of six deaths each year from falling trees or branches with half of these occurring in public spaces.

The dangers of complacency were dramatically revealed this week as Newcastle City Council is faced with a £280,000 fine following the death of Ella Henderson in an incident that “could have been avoided.” The six-year-old girl died in 2020 after part of a decaying willow tree collapsed on her at Gosforth Park First School, Newcastle.

Mr Robertson told the meeting that the risk of injury from falling trees is regarded to be “broadly acceptable” when comparing it to other areas like road traffic accidents. However, there is a duty for the council to do “everything reasonably practical” to minimise that risk.

For the team, this is through recognising hazards early through a cycle of inspections so people aren’t at risk.

However, the council’s responsibility is made more difficult as a team of just 15 is responsible for around 190,000 trees.

Struggles in recruiting and retaining staff are proving problematic for the department which currently has an “eye-watering” vacancy rate of 28 per cent. Due to this, contractors are being called upon to carry out work but this is a lengthy process.

As a result of these difficulties, the team’s ability to respond to emergencies and carry out jobs has been negatively impacted, with inspectors working at “above average levels” to get through routine inspections.

Inspectors also deal with complaints from the public and are experiencing a backlog of more than 300 cases – enough work for two additional members of staff. The cases were said to be triaged in terms of danger and the backlog made up of instances of “low-level nuisance.”

Mr Robertson said: “If we failed to carry out those repeat tree inspections and that failure then results in tree failure which causes an incident of death, injury, property damage, we will be subject to legal action and prosecution under the Health and Safety Act.”

On the matter, Coun John Taylor (Con, Kirkburton) said: “It sounds like a really small number which is very positive but I also suspect some of that will be in relation to weather incidents, and perhaps that’s work reflecting on, cause I know whenever there is a storm, your guys are just bombed out, but it’s fine saying we need to try and prevent these incidents from happening but some of them are probably impossible to predict in that sense.”

Despite the potential risks, the benefits of having trees in the area were outlined and included positive effects on mental health, pollution absorption, and economic uplift.

Coun Tyler Hawkins (Labour, Dalton) said: “You mentioned that trees are good for mental health but I think I would rephrase that and say the right trees are good for mental health because there are a number of cases in my ward where very very large trees are literally hanging over houses and they’re worried that it’s going to fall in on their house one day and it’s going to have disastrous consequences.

“Now whether that is an accurate representation of the strength of the tree itself and whether that is likely to happen is a different point really. In residents’ minds, they see that as something that is constantly hanging over them.

“Is there a way we can improve engagement and communication with those residents to make sure that they know that the council is aware of it and is monitoring it and there is more of a steady stream just to reassure people?”

Mr Robertson assured the councillor that this is something that the team is working on and once the policy is amended, there will be a website with frequently asked questions to put people’s minds at rest.